Dietary cholesterol is a subject shrouded in controversy and confusion. You may have heard that you get high cholesterol from eating too much of it in food. Not so. Although cholesterol in food has a small effect on bad cholesterol in some people, the real culprit behind high blood cholesterol is the saturated fat in your diet. Cholesterol is a cousin, and frequent companion, of saturated fat, however. They meet in meat and dairy products, so it's advisable to reduce your consumption of high-calorie, full-fat versions of these foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued guidelines on cholesterol consumption for the general public, but different rules apply if you have a health condition such as high cholesterol or diabetes.
Dietary Reference Intake
Because your body makes all the cholesterol it needs for biological functions, you have no need for dietary cholesterol whatsoever. Think of it quite literally as serving only one purpose: extra calories. The Institute of Medicine, a private nonprofit that issues guidelines on how much of various nutrients you should consume, did not establish an intake level for cholesterol.
Dietary Guidelines
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, a joint venture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, says most Americans should cut back on their dietary cholesterol, advising that you consume less than 300 mg per day. People who are at high risk of heart disease, such as people with elevated blood cholesterol, diabetics and those with a family history of heart disease, should strive for less than 200 mg of cholesterol daily. These recommendations are based on years of clinical study involving food modeling, according to the Institute of Medicine. According to the Life Sciences Research Office, research has demonstrated that the minimum amount of cholesterol you can take in and still meet all your nutrition needs while maintaining a low risk of disease is actually somewhere between 160 and 212 mg per day. Public health authorities advise 300 mg for healthy people because this amount is healthy and attainable. The Institute of Medicine recognizes that it's impossible to avoid dietary cholesterol altogether and that trying to cut back too much might leave you at risk of getting too little of other nutrients, like protein and certain vitamins.
Average Intake
Despite repeated public health messages that people should reduce their dietary cholesterol, actual intake of cholesterol hasn't changed very much. On average, men consume 350 mg of cholesterol each day and women about 240 mg. All sources of dietary fat, including cholesterol, compose close to 20 percent of the calories Americans eat each day.
Top Sources of Cholesterol
The main suppliers of cholesterol in the typical American diet are eggs, chicken and beef. By limiting these items, you can help lower your total dietary cholesterol intake. You can also prepare eggs by using only egg whites or egg substitutes to avoid cholesterol.
References
- USDA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients
- "Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients)"; Food and Nutrition Board; 2005
- Life Sciences Research Office; The Scientific Evidence and Approach Taken to Establish Guidelines for Cholesterol Intake in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States; Catherine J. Klein; November 2006
- National Cholesterol Education Program; Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol With TLC; December 2005
