Chicago Tribune

(TNS) The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Monday, Feb. 23:"OK ... Bummer."Tufts University professor Miriam Nelson, on learning that a federal panel would recommend abandoning its caution about cholesterol-laden foods, The Washington Post, Feb. 10, 2015.Bummer? Yeah, we'll say.Cholesterol, defamed for more than three decades by nutritional science, subject of countless warnings to egg-craving Americans, has now been exonerated as Public Food Enemy No 1. The nation's top nutrition advisory panel has dropped charges against dietary cholesterol, recommending that it can no longer be considered a "nutrient of concern."The new thinking: scarfing down cholesterol-chocked delicacies does not appear to significantly affect the level of cholesterol in the blood for many people. It won't spike the risk of a heart attack, if they don't also gorge on foods high in still-hazardous-to-your-health saturated fats and trans fats.To which we say: Grrrrr. All those years of snubbing scrambled eggs! All those guilty gulpings of cholesterol-chocked grilled shrimp! All that angst, guilt, paranoia ... for what?Current U.S. guidelines tell Americans to restrict cholesterol to 300 milligrams a day. But it turns out there hasn't been much scientific evidence lately to bolster four decades of dire warnings about cholesterol. Studies "were mostly historic, inadequately designed and insufficient in number" to make such a strong anti-cholesterol statement, University of Colorado medical professor Robert Eckel tells us.Why did this conclusion take so many years? "It's just one of those things that gets carried forward and carried forward even though the evidence is minimal," Eckel told The Washington Post.This cholesterol thunderbolt is likely to be part of a new edition of the federal government's influential "dietary guidelines" publication. These guidelines, to be issued later this year, influence the American food industry, what schools serve in lunches, and possibly even what doctors tell confused patients. (Hmmm. How long before clever food marketers label their wares "rich in government-approved cholesterol"?)The panel's U-turn on cholesterol, however, already has befuddled some experts. Lawrence Rudel, a professor of molecular medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, tells us there's no need to back off the cholesterol warnings.Some people as many as a quarter of Americans are sensitive to cholesterol; if they eat too much, the cholesterol level in their blood rises and that can bring health risks. The rest of the population, however, isn't all that sensitive, he says.So the recommendation to avoid cholesterol-rich foods was aimed to help the sensitive, Rudel says. As for the majority, reducing cholesterol intake doesn't hurt anyone's health.One question doctors are likely to hear: Does this cholesterol cease-fire mean Americans can toss statins, which lower blood cholesterol levels? No, says Dr. Neil Stone, a cardiology professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Research shows that high cholesterol levels are often caused by genetics, although in some people diet can play a strong role," he says. So keep taking those pills and keep hewing to a heart-healthy diet.In his 1973 comedy classic "Sleeper," Woody Allen awakes two centuries in the future and asks for wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk.One scientist, eyebrows raised, muses that those are "charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.""You mean there was no deep fat, no steak, or cream pies or hot fudge?" another scientist asks, incredulous.No, the first scientist responds. "Those were thought to be unhealthy precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true."Next up for scientific exoneration: Who knows? The cholesterol bombshell won't be the last time scientists get egg on their faces. Scientific insurrections are underway over salt, sugar and other foods that carry warnings about overconsumption.Science evolves. What's true today may be discredited tomorrow. That's healthy. No need to apologize, scientists. Just pass the omelet, please.Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC