Science

J. Gray and B. Griffin

Dietary cholesterol in foods such as eggs has only a small and clinically insignificant effect on blood cholesterol, especially when compared with the much greater effects of dietary saturated fatty acids on blood cholesterol. These facts are now well established and, as a consequence, recommendations from major food and health bodies concerning dietary cholesterol have been relaxed in the UK and elsewhere in recent years. However, in the minds of the public, cholesterol in the diet, specifically from eggs, continues to be viewed with suspicion and that view is still reflected in the advice of some professionals.