Basically cholesterol is a highly essential substance required to produce vitamin D, certain hormones and for the building of cell membranes. The LDL cholesterol also referred to as the bad cholesterol, should be kept below 100 mg/dl otherwise, its accumulation in artery walls can lead to plaque build up resulting in atherosclerosis or the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, a dangerous condition that often manifests itself in heart diseases or even stroke.

Going on a low fat low in cholesterol diet combined with regular exercising has been proven to lower LDL cholesterol and significantly raise the good HDL cholesterol responsible for preventing the LDL cholesterol from sticking into artery walls.

However, there is another factor, which has great impact on the levels of LDL in your blood, regardless of your diet and what other measures you have taken to lower LDL cholesterol. It has been studied that Low Density Lipoprotein receptors or LDL receptors play a vital role in managing blood cholesterol.

LDL receptors are simply proteins that lay in the surface of the liver walls. As the liver produces cholesterol, these receptors latch on LDL cholesterol draw in into the cell then they carry it into the bloodstream and remove it from the blood. On the way these LDL receptors are responsible for producing the necessary hormones from the LDL cholesterol.

Studies have also shown that a gene called PCSK9 produced an enzyme aimed at controlling the number of these low-density lipoproteins receptors that are found on liver walls. Some people with genetic mutations where the PCSK9 gene is inactive have lower levels of the enzyme needed to control the production of the LDL receptors. Thus, these people will have higher amounts of LDL receptors in their blood.

On the contrary, when there are genetically very few LDL receptors or they are defective; there are high levels of LDL in the blood causing it to stick to artery walls, which can results in atherosclerosis, heart disease and strokes.

 Controlling the number of LDL receptors can be done through proper diet where saturated fat foods and high cholesterol foods known to damage the LDL receptors’ function, are limited or eliminated from the diet. There are however, genetic tendencies where the LDL receptors are defective and there is also the age factor, for which doctors still debate whether it does contribute to the breakdown of LDL receptors causing high blood cholesterol levels among older people.