is an invited essay from experts on topical issues in science and technology.
Recently Americans heard some fantastic-sounding news: A federally appointed panel of experts announced that we can stop worrying about cholesterol. Even more surprising, the news is true—sort of.
Every five years the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is legally required to publish a new revision of a government document called the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Its purpose is to help set a course for the country’s future food and nutrition policies. To ensure that the book’s advice will be as accurate and up-to-date as possible, a special Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has been established to read and summarize the latest research on a wide array of topics, ranging from dietary patterns to food sustainability. Nevertheless, parts of the guidelines have remained essentially the same. For one thing, every edition since the first one has advised Americans to consume less cholesterol.
Until now, that is. The 2015 Dietary Guidelines are still being drafted and won’t be published until later this year. But the advisory committee’s latest 571-page report (pdf) has already made headlines by pointedly dropping the usual call for a reduction in dietary cholesterol: “Previously, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended that cholesterol intake be limited to no more than 300 milligrams per day. The 2015 DGAC will not bring forward this recommendation because available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol, consistent with the conclusions of the AHA/ACC [American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology] report.”