Medicine: A Few Kind Words for Cholesterol

A scientific panel says it is calories that really count

Should Americans cut their intake of cholesterol and saturated fats? For years, many health authorities have been strongly urging such reductions to stem the epidemic of coronary disease in the U.S. But last week, in a 20-page report that stirred instant controversy, a panel of scientists from the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, challenged the prevailing wisdom. It said that there was no reason for healthy adults to decrease dietary cholesterol and, in a slap at diet faddists, added: "Good food . . . should...

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