The Institute of Medicine, a private nonprofit that sets recommendations for nutrient intakes, states that there's no required role for cholesterol in your diet. It only acts as a source of extra calories because your body can manufacture all the cholesterol it needs naturally. That doesn't mean you should eliminate it from your diet altogether, however. For one thing, you won't be improving your blood cholesterol levels by eliminating dietary cholesterol, and you might miss out on some important nutrients. Moreover, unless you are a vegan, avoiding cholesterol completely is impractical. You'd be required to make such significant changes that come with unintended consequences and possible health risks. In a surprising paradox, even strict vegans may be at risk of cholesterol problems if they consume too little dietary cholesterol. Nonetheless, moderation is key when it comes to consuming cholesterol. You want to keep your intake low but ensure your diet is nutritionally adequate.
Cholesterol Recommendations
Although the Institute of Medicine has set no range of intake level required for dietary cholesterol, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommends that you consume less than 300 mg daily. Some people, such as those with elevated risk for heart disease, are encouraged to lower that intake to less than 200 mg daily. The major sources of cholesterol in the typical American diet are eggs, chicken and beef.
You May Not Lower Your Blood Cholesterol
Attempting to eliminate cholesterol from your diet may not have the result you intend. You may not affect your blood cholesterol readings at all, because your body uses the saturated fat and simple sugars from the food you eat to manufacture cholesterol. Harvard's School of Public Health reports that for most people, the cholesterol you eat has only a "modest impact" on the cholesterol in your blood. There is a subgroup of people, called "responders," for whom the impact of dietary cholesterol is greater, however, but doctors don't know how to identify them beyond ordinary trial and error.
You May Miss Out on Important Nutrients
A report by the Life Sciences Research Office says the committee that puts forth the recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines studied numerous clinical trials and conducted food modeling experiments to arrive at the 300 mg and 200 mg recommendations. In people following a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, for example, the committee determined that the lowest cholesterol intake those people could have and still get all the nutrients they needed was between 160 and 212 mg per day. The Food and Nutrition Board, a division of the Institute of Medicine, wrote that attempting to eliminate cholesterol from your diet could make you consume too little protein, and you may also get too little micronutrients. For example, B vitamins are only found naturally in animal products. These vitamins are essential to maintaining energy and protein metabolism, building genetic material and promoting healthy nerve function.
You Could Face Health Risks
Moreover, the board states that the effects of eliminating dietary cholesterol may come with unknown and "unquantifiable health risks." Duo Li, a researcher from China's Zhejiang University, reported in the February 2011 "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" that vegetarians might be unwittingly increasing their risk of blood clots and hardening of the arteries, both of which could expose them to heart attack and stroke like meat eaters. That's because by avoiding cholesterol-containing products like meat and dairy, they may also get too little iron, zinc, vitamin B-12 and some omega-3 fatty acids. Vitamin B-12 and other B vitamins help lower a substance called homocysteine, which increases risk of heart disease and stroke. In addition to increased homocysteine, they can experience decreased "good" cholesterol, whose job it is to help dispose "bad" cholesterol from the body.
References
- National Academies Press; Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (Macronutrients); Institute of Medicine; 2005
- USDA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- Hepatitis A-Z; The Cholesterol Controversy; Mark Johnson
- Harvard University School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good
- Life Science 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
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Chemistry behind Vegetarianism; Duo Li; Feb. 2011
