Cholesterol in a Vegetarian Diet

Blood Cholesterol and Dietary Cholesterol
The word 'cholesterol' can refer to either 'blood-cholesterol' (the sort the body manufactures in the liver), or 'dietary-cholesterol' (the sort we ingest from food). Dietary cholesterol is obtained exclusively from animal sources (eg. meat, egg yolks, dairy etc) and is absent in plants.

High Blood Cholesterol Related to Heart Disease
Whether vegetarian or meat-eater, a person's blood-cholesterol levels are closely related to the risk of heart disease. The lower the cholesterol level the less chance of heart attack or stroke.

Saturated Fat Ups Blood Cholesterol in Vegetarians & Meat Eaters
Nutritionists and dietitians used to think that a person's intake of dietary-cholesterol affected blood-cholesterol levels, but now things are less clear. It appears that saturated fat-intake rather than dietary-cholesterol-intake is more closely related to raised blood-cholesterol levels. In other words, the higher your intake of saturated fat, the higher your blood-cholesterol levels.

Saturated Fat in Vegan Diet
As a vegan diet contains neither meat nor dairy fats, it is typically lower in saturated fat, which perhaps explains the low levels of coronary heart disease in vegans.

Saturated Fat in Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian Diet
The ovo-lacto vegetarian diet is typically higher in saturated fat than vegan diets but much lower than meat-diets. And ovo-lacto vegetarians too have greatly reduced levels of heart disease. Nonetheless, ovo-lacto vegetarians need to beware their intake of dairy products as well as their consumption of margarine and other processed food that may be high in hydrogenated fats (Trans-Fats) which are saturated.

Heart Disease and Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians - Bottom Line
A heart-healthy ovo-lacto vegetarian diet should contain a maximum of 30 percent calories in the form of fat, of which no more than one third (10 percent of total fat) should be saturated.

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