Most of us grew up with a few indisputable truths: Smoking causes cancer, drugs can kill, and cholesterol is bad. We learned to avoid butter and eat margarine instead, despite the latter's own unhealthy processing and partially-hydrogenated oils. But new findings suggest that ever since the mid-20th Century, when the cholesterol scare began, the research has been a little off-the-mark.

Cholesterol, suggests Maggie Mahar in an extensive, two-part essay on HealthBeat, has simply gotten a bad rap. Why? Because as Americans, we tend to latch on to theories that seem plausible before all the facts are in.

Beginning in the 1950s, when Americans began living longer, we also saw a rise in heart disease. Cardiologists and other researchers of the day attributed this to diet, and launched a campaign against butter, eggs, and other high-cholesterol foods. Mahar offers an historical review of the subsequent studies and the beliefs they engendered, from the 1950s to the present.

She suggests that a large part of this anti-cholesterol push has come from drug manufacturers who want to sell more medication to anyone with high cholesterol. This might have seemed like just another consipiracy theory to me if I hadn't just been told by a doctor's office that I need to go on a strict fat-free diet and consider such a medication.

I am 5'10" and weigh 140 pounds.

The doctor's aid told me this over the phone after reviewing my blood test report, which indicated elevated cholesterol levels simply because I had eaten breakfast the morning of my physical. I told her I didn't think this was true, and that I was in very good health. (I was having a physical done on the request of a marathon I'm running this April -- the marathon requires a medical certificate proving good health before you can run.)

Mahar also suggests that the upsurge of heart-related illnesses came precisely because Americans were living longer, and thus had more time to develop such illnesses. This is kind of a tautology, but it contains a valuable piece of wisdom: Cholesterol may not be good for you, but only if you're older than 65, overweight, or otherwise struggling with heart and health issues. Younger, healthier people, she writes, can safely enjoy their omlettes and cheesecakes without fear.

Anyone for brunch?