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Government Considers Reversal in Cholesterol Guidelines

The top U.S. nutrition advisory panel is preparing to overturn a long-held dietary guideline against cholesterol in foods.

Dietary Guidelines



The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has convened and laid out a plan for their next wave of recommendations. With it, they propose reversing avoidance of cholesterol in foods due to weak scientific evidence that cholesterol in foods raises cholesterol in the blood.

The panel's Dietary Guidelines affect everything from school lunches to food marketing and diet advice.

The guidelines are revised every five years.

History Of Cholesterol



Doctors have been warning against the ills of cholesterol since 1961, and later the federal government addressed their concerns.

It was thought that cholesterol in food raised blood cholesterol, contributing to heart disease.

Over time, science has discovered the majority of cholesterol is made by the body-caused by genetics and other factors, like patterns of eating and exercise.

To be clear, there is still a link between cholesterol in the blood and heart disease; there is a lack of definitive research between cholesterol in the food we eat and heart disease.

It could be six months before the U.S. government makes the decree official.

Read More:



  • The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol (Washington Post)
  • New Dietary Guidelines May Lighten Caution Against Cholesterol (NPR)
  • New Cholesterol Guidelines Mean These Foods Could be Back on the Table (ABC News)


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