021215caplan.mp3

Cooks and diners rejoice: the US government may be poised to change its cholesterol recommendations. In December, the country's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee released a report reassessing longstanding policies on cholesterol consumption. The next step, then, is for regulatory agencies to give their official blessing. The immediate beneficiary: the versatile, cholesterol-laden, once-maligned egg.

The news may come as a surprise to patients advised to limit cholesterol intake. It would require doctors, nutritionists and medical professionals to re-tool advice to reflect the new research. Medical ethicist Art Caplan joined Boston Public Radio Thursday to discuss the ethical considerations of reversing previously-dear medical advice.

Caplan said there are always two considerations in dispensing medical advice. "Number one, science is hard. And number two, science is fallible."

"In this case the guideline was well-intentioned," Caplan said. "I'd still watch the cholesterol, but they just didn't fully understand" the health implications.

Caplan said when it comes to health and diets, one ancient Greek offered the perfect perspective.

"My favorite doctor is Aristotle. And what Aristotle said all those years ago was, 'moderation in all things, excess in none.'"

Caplan added patients with chronically high cholesterol are treated with medication, anyway. Simple diet changes to reduce bad cholesterol levels wouldn't be effective enough.

"Basically, you want to get your blood tested, see if you're in that bad cholesterol group. [...] Your doctor will handle the cholesterol issue for you."

Caplan's biggest takeaway from the new study? Aristotle again: "Take the moderate course."

Yes, even with eggs.

>>Art Caplan is the head of the division of medical ethics at NYU's Langone Medical Center, and cohost of the Everyday Ethics podcast. He appears most Wednesdays on BPR.