How much dietary cholesterol you should eat depends on your blood cholesterol levels, your heart disease risk and how much changing your diet changes your blood cholesterol and coronary risk. Most health-related organizations such as the American Heart Association as well as the U.S. government regard a large amount of dietary cholesterol as detrimental and urge Americans to reduce their cholesterol intake. However, low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins Diet believe lots of dietary cholesterol is good.
Sources
Dietary cholesterol is "only found in animal products," including dairy, fish, meats and poultry, reports "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease." Consequently, breads, cereals, fruits, pasta, rice and vegetables have zero cholesterol. Most cheeses, beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey have roughly 25 to 30 mg of cholesterol per serving, according to Ornish's book. The amount of cholesterol in fish varies widely with haddock, halibut and salmon having fewer than 20 mg per serving, while clams, lobster, shrimp and tuna have more than 100.
Significance
Dietary cholesterol causes higher blood cholesterol and more heart disease, according to Ornish and "The Well Adult." The latter book reported that Finland had the "highest rate of heart disease in the world" when its dietary cholesterol intake and 265 mg/dL average total cholesterol was among the world's highest. At the same time, Japan had a very low rate of heart disease when its cholesterol intake and 165 mg/dL average cholesterol was among the world's lowest. Your total cholesterol should be below 200 mg/dL, the U.S. government reports.
Recommendations
A 1984 report by the National Institutes of Health said that Americans were eating 500 mg of dietary cholesterol daily and recommended that Americans eat 250 to 300 mg daily, according to "The Well Adult." The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 recommend a daily intake of fewer than 300 mg daily.
Comparisons
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the author of 18 health books, wrote in "Controlling Cholesterol" that your daily cholesterol intake should be less than 300 mg if your total blood cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL, but should be less than 200 mg if you need to lower your blood cholesterol and less than 100 mg if eating 200 mg for eight weeks doesn't lower your cholesterol.
Expert Advice
You should eat less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol daily if your body's bad cholesterol is above 130 mg/dL, the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program reports. The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes plan also calls for saturated fat being less than 7 percent of your diet, eating less cholesterol and saturated fat and more soluble fiber if your bad cholesterol remains high, losing weight and exercising 30 minutes daily.
Theory
Americans became fatter after reducing their dietary cholesterol and saturated fat, according to "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." The book says that a 50-year study of the residents of Framingham, Mass., showed that "consuming less fat and cholesterol resulted in more weight gain and higher blood cholesterol." People should eat more cholesterol, but eat fewer carbohydrates because they spur body-fat increases, wrote the late Robert Atkins, who acknowledged that most health experts disagreed with him.
References
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "The Well Adult"; Dr. Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels; 1988
- "Controlling Cholesterol"; Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper; 1989
- National Cholesterol Education Program: High Blood Cholesterol
- United States Department of Agriculture: Dietary Guidelines for Americans
