Previous Cholesterol Dietary Recommendations Debunked

In the past, doctors used to warn us against certain foods. High cholesterol foods like eggs and red meat were considered a no-no, which did cause some angst amongst meat lovers.

But there’s some good news.

The American Heart Foundation has just reported in the journal Circulation that these foods may not be bad for our hearts after all.

But there is a little twist to this still.

Previously, governments and health organizations recommended a daily cholesterol intake of no more than 300 mg, but it seems that cholesterol ain’t that bad after all.

It’s important to note that there are some dietary factors that affect dietary cholesterol.

Fiber, for example, lessens the risk of heart disease amongst people who consume a lot of cholesterol. Another example showed that foods that were high in cholesterol were also typically high in saturated fat – think whole-fat milk and red meat, meaning that studies that previously found dietary cholesterol to be harmful, can’t totally point the finger at cholesterol. Finally, it was found that cholesterol wasn’t so much of a problem if you consumed a reasonable number of calories a day – it was overeating that caused the problems.

Eggs are another example. They contain a quarter of our dietary cholesterol in the US, so why don’t egg eaters have an increased risk of coronary heart disease or have more strokes?

This goes to show that the old daily recommended cholesterol intake of 300mg can be binned.

Instead, the authors recommend following healthy diets like the Mediterranean diet, as these tend to contain healthy grains and fiber that can keep cholesterol in check.

Following a healthy diet is a must to achieve optimum health, but to drop your cholesterol levels to normal, starting today, you need to cut out this one ingredient you probably had no idea you were consuming…