Shrimp's high cholesterol may not be so bad

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Even though shrimp is low in fat, many doctors tell their patients to avoid it because it's high in cholesterol. The typical serving of shrimp has two-thirds the amount of cholesterol you should consume in an entire day.

Well, shrimp lovers take heart. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says despite all that cholesterol shrimp is perfectly good for you.

For more than two months, researchers at Rockefeller University in New York and Harvard tested several different types of low fat diets on 18 people with normal cholesterol levels, including a diet containing more than half a pound of steamed shrimp a day.

The scientists found the shrimp diet did not raise participants' overall cholesterol levels. They're not sure why, however, the scientists say perhaps it's because shrimp is low in fat and contains fish oils that are good for your heart.

"In fact, consuming shrimp instead of other high fat foods will have beneficial effects," said Elizabeth De Oliveira of Rockefeller University.

While the shrimp diet did increase people's so-called bad cholesterol or LDL slightly, it also boosted their so-called good cholesterol or HDL enough to offset the increase in bad cholesterol.

"If you love shrimp, and you follow a heart healthy diet, enjoy your shrimp with no guilt," De Oliveira said.

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How Shrimp Drains "Bad" Cholesterol From Your Blood?
Published on April 9, 2002

Health-conscious Consumers are concerned about the cholesterol content of foods such as meat, eggs, and dairy products. In the case of shrimp, however, the cholesterol story is different. Research has shown that the high percentage of "good fats" in shrimp reduces the impact of cholesterol. Most people can eat shrimp as part of a balanced diet.

"Good" Cholesterol, "Bad" Cholesterol
Cholesterol travels through the blood stream in lipoproteins, which have been referred to as
"plump little fat and protein packages." A positive ratio between two types of cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), reduces susceptibility to heart disease.

LDL is known as "bad cholesterol" because it may promote production of artery-blocking plaques that can result in a heart attack. HDL is called "good cholesterol" because it returns cholesterol back to the liver for reprocessing of excretion, which reduces cholesterol levels in the blood stream.

Shrimp and Dietary Cholesterol
Cholesterol from food has a negative impact only if it is absorbed, and saturated fat seems to assist absorption. Eating food with a highly saturated fat content raises LDL cholesterol. Most high-cholesterol foods (such as meat, eggs, and dairy products) are also high in saturated fat, and increase LDL.

Shrimp have a high level of cholesterol, but have essentially no saturated fat (slightly over I gram per serving, compared to beef, which can have 10 to 20 grams). And shrimp's cholesterol is harder to absorb than that from other high-fat foods, although the reasons are not known.

In the past, scientists could not differentiate the different sterols and measured them all as "cholesterol". This is why the amount of cholesterol in shrimp and other shellfish reported is very high.

We now know that the amount of cholesterol in shrimp is approximately 130 mg per 3 oz of raw shrimp, or about 12 large shrimp, and with only 2 grams of fat. The amount of cholesterol in a comparable portion of regular ground beef is about 110 mg, with approximately 20 grams of fat. And shrimp have high levels of beneficial highly unsaturated fatty acids, which raise HDL cholesterol levels, so eating shrimp may actually lower blood cholesterol levels.

The Rockefeller University Study
A study performed in the mid 1990s at Rockefeller University (New York, USA) concluded that eating steamed shrimp raised blood cholesterol levels when compared with a low-cholesterol diet. However, the shrimp diet raised levels of HDL (the "good" cholesterol) more than it increased levels of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol"), and the resulting HDL to LDL ratio was favorable. Triglycerides were also lower on this diet when compared to an egg-based diet with equal amounts of cholesterol.

Conclusion
A serving of a dozen large shrimp contains 130 mg of cholesterol. This is not a health concern, because shrimp is low-fat with a rich content of highly unsaturated fatty acids, which lead to the formation of high-density lipids, commonly known as "good cholesterol". Consuming shrimp may actually lower blood cholesterol levels.

Scientists have concluded that a healthy diet can include shrimp, boiled or broiled. As with most foods, it is better to avoid deep-frying, and to limit the amount of oil, butter, tartar sauce, and mayonnaise.