We can all eat eggs again. Cholesterol is no longer bad for you.

[Tellenbach]

The US is about to drop its decades-old warning against cholesterol

One of the six core goals since the 1970s has been to limit the intake of cholesterol to less than 300mg per day, however the present Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) does not believe that cholesterol consumption is something we need to be worried about.

This is a 40 year old consensus scientific opinion that's been overturned and it's about time. There have been multiple studies a good decade and more that raised some serious doubts as to the validity of that consensus. Not to gloat too much, but I've been saying this for 3 years now.

The change in thinking about cholesterol consumption is just part of an evolving body of opinion about the healthiest diet choices. Just this week, a new study of the data available in 1977 concluded that the original Dietary Guidelines were based on inadequate evidence and should never have been issued.

Next is the faulty saturated fats are harmful consensus. That also needs to go.

 

[á´…eparted]

This is very interesting, and I am happy to see this come about. It's not too entirely surprising if you get right down to it. It's not so much the cholesterol itself that is a problem, but the biochemical systems that use it that is the problem. It's been shown over the past decade and some change that these systems are by and large governed more by genetics than diet. In otherwords, if you have "bad cholesterol levels" (meaning, carrier protein levels), it's because of genetics. This is part of the reason why statin drugs (drugs that lower cholesterol levels) were such blockbuster cash cows over the past decade and a half (though this has since decreased with new research suggesting there are detriments to statins that have been overlooked) because it fixed long standing cholesterol problems in individuals who had bad levels that seemed completely static despite all kinds of external changes.

Diet is a tricky thing. It's really complex, and inexact. It will forever be inexact too just by the nature of our bodies and biochemistry. Maybe in the future we'll have a firmer grasp on it, but it's going to take quite some time and a deeper understanding. I wouldn't be surprised if in another 50 years the current guidelines we operate under will look like night and day. On a personal level, I don't really take much of it to heart because how often it changes. I'll loosely watch things and adjust slightly as new information comes to light (i.e. I try and limit my sugar level intake some), but if you look at it from certain angles; anything you put inside of you can kill you. There are SO many variables that you need to decide between being fearful, and enjoying food. I err slightly more on the side of enjoyment, combined with the notion of "everything in moderation".

 

[SpankyMcFly]

*Busts out the 'Theatre Style' Extra Butter popcorn*

 

[prplchknz]

*Busts out the 'Theatre Style' Extra Butter popcorn*

are you trying to kill me?

 

[Tellenbach]

I first became suspicious when I learned that cholesterol is an integral part of every cell membrane. Cholesterol is also a precursor to hormones like testosterone.

 

[á´…eparted]

*Busts out the 'Theatre Style' Extra Butter popcorn*

The problem with that isn't so much cholesterol, but diacetyl.

Looks like your extra butter will have to wait... oh who am I kidding, that shit is DELICIOUS! .

Edit: I should be clear, the safety profile of diacetyl is contended, so it's difficult to say how much of a problem it truly is.

 

[21%]

After serious research on the internet and experimenting with my own diet, I've found that as long as you are fairly active and eat in moderation, you can eat pretty much anything.

I'm glad I never followed that advice about eggs, because I liked eggs too much

 

[Vasilisa]

This is why you shouldn't rely on trend science for your foodways.

more nutritionism.

Starch (Carbs) Is the Devil! ... So is sugar!

I have proof!

Practitioners of nutritionsm (trend science, journalism and marketing) -as the new priesthood, telling you which component to demonize and sanctify this month/year only to have it change in the near future.

From Food Culture to Food Science. The last important change wrought by the Western diet is not, strictly speaking, ecological. But the industrialization of our food that we call the Western diet is systematically destroying traditional food cultures. Before the modern food era — and before nutritionism — people relied for guidance about what to eat on their national or ethnic or regional cultures. We think of culture as a set of beliefs and practices to help mediate our relationship to other people, but of course culture (at least before the rise of science) has also played a critical role in helping mediate people’s relationship to nature. Eating being a big part of that relationship, cultures have had a great deal to say about what and how and why and when and how much we should eat. Of course when it comes to food, culture is really just a fancy word for Mom, the figure who typically passes on the food ways of the group — food ways that, although they were never “designed” to optimize health (we have many reasons to eat the way we do), would not have endured if they did not keep eaters alive and well.

The sheer novelty and glamour of the Western diet, with its 17,000 new food products introduced every year, and the marketing muscle used to sell these products, has overwhelmed the force of tradition and left us where we now find ourselves: relying on science and journalism and marketing to help us decide questions about what to eat. Nutritionism, which arose to help us better deal with the problems of the Western diet, has largely been co-opted by it, used by the industry to sell more food and to undermine the authority of traditional ways of eating. You would not have read this far into this article if your food culture were intact and healthy; you would simply eat the way your parents and grandparents and great-grandparents taught you to eat. The question is, Are we better off with these new authorities than we were with the traditional authorities they supplanted? The answer by now should be clear.

 

[Chthonic]

Good thing I ignore all government health warnings because I estimate in my life so far I have consumed approximately 22,756.5 eggs. That's a lot of guilt.

 

[1487610420]

After serious research on the internet and experimenting with my own diet, I've found that as long as you are fairly active and eat in moderation, you can eat pretty much anything.

I'm glad I never followed that advice about eggs, because I liked eggs too much

even cyanide

 

[Ivy]

Ten years ago my midwife "prescribed" me 6 eggs a day and as much watermelon as I could hold, when my BP spiked at the end of one of my pregnancies. Other than that, throughout my adult life I've probably eaten 2-3 eggs at least 2-3 times a week. My cholesterol has been in the ideal range every time I've had it checked.

 

[21%]

even cyanide

I knew this kind of post was coming

 

[swordpath]

 

[sprinkles]

I've always eaten eggs because I like to live on the edge like that. It's so thrilling to live dangerously and by the seat of your pants.

 

[ceecee]

Oh well, I never paid attention to that anyway. I have 1-2 eggs every day. Sometimes more. And real butter on my occasional popcorn. My TCL is under 200, thankyouverymuch.

 

[wolfy]

I used to eat ten a day. Still do some days.

 

[Totenkindly]

Interestingly, my great grandmother lived to be 89. The last decade or more of her life, she was walking with a cane in each hand and looked as if she fell over, she'd just roll down the hall (not really exaggerating, it's one of my unique childhood memories!), but from the stories my parents told me, one of THEIR memories of her is that when they had beef or steak or ham, people would always pass her all the fat they'd cut off from their meat (which of course can be a sizeable pile, depending on the cut), and she'd actually eat all the fat!

Yet she outlived everyone else in her family.

My cholesterol sucks and I'm on a statin right now. I need to get tested now again and see if it made a difference. I'm not sure if I like it or not; I think it depletes my energy level.

 

[PeaceBaby]

This is a 40 year old consensus scientific opinion that's been overturned and it's about time. There have been multiple studies a good decade and more that raised some serious doubts as to the validity of that consensus. Not to gloat too much, but I've been saying this for 3 years now.

No, it's not worth gloating about. Knowledge is always evolving, and people try to do the best with what they know at any given point in time. Constantly pointing out things now proven to be incomplete or incorrect as though you yourself knew better or would have known better all along is akin to playing armchair quarterback. Yeah, a lot easier to call it from the sidelines.

 

[Dannik]

I used to eat ten a day. Still do some days.

Perfect!
I love to eat hard-boiled eggs.

 

[Jaguar]

I never stopped.