Cholesterol intake and plasma cholesterol: an update.

The misperception that dietary cholesterol determines blood cholesterol is held by many consumers in spite of evidence to the contrary. Many studies reported over the past 2 years have shown that dietary cholesterol is not a significant factor in an individual's plasma cholesterol level or cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Reports from the Lipid Research Clinics Research Prevalence Study and the Framingham Heart Study have shown that dietary cholesterol is not related to either blood cholesterol or heart disease deaths. In a similar manner, 10 clinical trials (1994 to 1996) of the effects of dietary cholesterol on blood lipids and lipoproteins indicate that addition of an egg or two a day to a low-fat diet has little if any effect on blood cholesterol levels. This observation was noted in young men and women with normal cholesterol levels as well as older subjects with elevated plasms cholesterol concentrations. The consistency of the clinical and the epidemiological data demonstrating that dietary cholesterol has little effect on plasma cholesterol in most individuals raises a number of questions regarding the justification of population wide restrictions on dietary cholesterol intake and egg consumption.