Problem: Vast majority of blood cholesterol is endogenous (i.e: non-dietary)

o Heavily recycled and do not need dietary cholesterol

- Most dietary cholesterol is excreted as feces and does not make it into the blood stream

- Exception: Very large quantities of saturated fats CAN raise concentration of apoB lipoproteins

- Why this misconception?

o Rabbits are used for research, and rabbits (and chicken) absorb high amounts of dietary cholesterol and form atherosclerotic plaques.

o We then extrapolated to humans…

o We’ve known this for quite some time, Ancel Keys stated in 1952 that cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption’ (the USDA only stated this in guidelines in 2015)

Review: 14. cardiovascular pathopharmacology