Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is carried around the body in the blood — if you had some on the tip of your finger it would look just like wax. Most of us hear the word ‘cholesterol’ and automatically think it’s bad for our health, but this is not necessarily the case.
Cholesterol is necessary for humans — it can be produced naturally in the body in adequate amounts, therefore we don’t need to ingest it from food. Our liver can make cholesterol and send it out to other parts of the body for the production of important hormones and cell membranes. Even though cholesterol can only be obtained from animal foods, and there is no cholesterol found in plant foods, it can still be an issue for vegans.