Eating cholesterol raises your blood cholesterol
The core idea stands, but key numbers or details have changed.
TaughtLimit dietary cholesterol to 300 mg a day. Watch the eggs: no more than a few a week, and shrimp and liver are dangerous.
NowThe 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee concluded that cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption, and the 300 mg cap was dropped. For most people, dietary cholesterol has a modest effect on blood cholesterol.
What actually happened
The cap dated to 1961 and rested on the logical-sounding assumption that cholesterol you eat becomes cholesterol in your blood. Your liver, it turns out, makes most of your cholesterol and adjusts production based on intake, which blunts the effect for the majority of people.
The 2015 report is worth quoting because it was unusually blunt: cholesterol is not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption. The specific numeric limit disappeared from the guidelines. Two honest caveats belong here. First, this is not a license to eat anything: guidance still says to keep dietary cholesterol as low as practical within a healthy pattern, and saturated fat limits remain in force. Second, some people are genuine hyper-responders whose blood levels do move with intake. But the flat, universal, eggs-are-hazardous rule your health class taught is no longer official advice.
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Sources
- Dietary Guidelines for Americansdietaryguidelines.gov
- American Heart Association: Dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular riskahajournals.org
Who was taught this
Still standard through 2015, so anyone who finished school between 1950 and 2015 learned the earlier version.