Eggs, dietary cholesterol and disease: Facts and folklore

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word myth as; 'a popular idea concerning natural or historical phenomena ... that has no foundation in fact'. The popular idea in this context is that eating dietary cholesterol, typically from eggs, increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD), because it increases blood cholesterol. This contentious idea prevails, despite a lack of scientific foundation to support its existence, and almost global re-vamping of dietary recommendations to lift restrictions on the intake of cholesterol-rich foods. In an attempt to dispel the mythical status of dietary cholesterol and CHD, the following chapter will examine the role of dietary cholesterol in relation to what has been well established in terms of the relationships between blood cholesterol, diet and CHD. © 2011 Woodhead Publishing Limited All rights reserved