>While I'm thinking of this, I've recently become curious about the
>cholesterol content (if any) of raw plant foods.  Anybody know what
>these levels are?  What are the components the body uses to
>fabricate cholesterol from?

Plants synthetize small amounts of cholesterol on the pathway that leads to
the other plant sterols wich are structural components in plant cell
membranes and probably serve also as plant reproductive hormones.
However, the cholesterol content of plants is very much less than that of
animals. In fact, the cholesterol in plants is generally much less than 1
mg/100 gms. This is below the level of detection by USDA assay methods, so
the cholesterol content of plant foods is always reported as zero.
[ ] If one consumed nothing but 2400 calories/day of three-leaved yams, the
cholesterol intake would be aabout 48 mgs. This is no reason to forswear
yams although it is notable that yams are such a good sterol source that
pharmaceutical companies use them as a starting point in the synthesis of
steroid drugs such as cortisone.
[ ] Taking the average of all the known plant sources of cholesterol, it'
unlikely a 2400 calorie vegan diet would exceed 10 mg cholesterol/day. By
contrast, omnivores are trying to cut their intalke to 300 mg/day. The
highest reported edible plant cholesterol/calorie ratio (three-leaved yam)
is 5.8 times less than the lowest reported animal cholesterol/calorie ratio
(cottage cheese) with the exception of egg white which is very questionably
listed as a zero cholesterol food. The vegan diet for practical purposes
remains a no cholesterol diet, and there is no RDA for cholesterol.

Taken from The scientific basis of vegetarianism, by William Harris, M.D.

Saludos,
           axel