Fiction. It’s true that shrimp is higher in cholesterol than other types of seafood, and that once led nutritionists to recommend against eating the shellfish.

But shrimp is low in saturated fat, which impacts blood cholesterol levels more than dietary cholesterol does. And recent studies also suggest that shrimp may have an overall positive impact on blood cholesterol levels, possibly due to heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids.

Ten large shrimp have about 110 milligrams of dietary cholesterol, about half as much as one large egg. That’s still within the recommendations of the American Heart Association, which advises cholesterol intake of less than 200 milligrams per day for people with heart disease, high cholesterol or other coronary risk factors.

A few years ago, researchers from Rockefeller University in New York City rotated test subjects through three low-fat diets that differed only in the amount of cholesterol. The baseline diet included only 107 milligrams of cholesterol per day. An egg diet included two large hard-boiled eggs per day (580 milligrams of cholesterol) and a shrimp diet included 10 ounces of shrimp per day (590 milligrams of cholesterol).When compared to the baseline diet, both the shrimp and egg diets produced similar increases in LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. But the shrimp diet increased HDL, the good cholesterol, much more than the egg diet.

Eating shrimp produced lower ratios of total to HDL cholesterol and of LDL to HDL cholesterol compared to the egg diet, says Jan Breslow, the senior author of the study. The shrimp diet also led to lower levels of triglycerides, another unhealthy fat found in the blood, than either the baseline or egg diets.

The researchers said if shrimp is used as a substitute for other high-fat foods, such as red meat, the overall impact on blood cholesterol could be even higher.

Nutritionists say it should be fine for most people to eat moderate amounts of shrimp, but not more than 10 ounces per day. But they also warn that how shrimp is cooked can add lots of fat and calories, and impact your cholesterol levels. Instead of frying or broiling with butter or margarine, they recommend steaming or grilling.

Markian Hawryluk