Yotsuba Customer Care Center

Yotsuba Q&A

I’m concerned about cholesterol. About how much cholesterol is in butter?
There is 210 mg of cholesterol per 100 g of butter, but considering that the average serving of butter on toast is 5 to 8 g, this is only 10 to 17 mg of cholesterol. (For comparison, a single chicken egg contains about 200 mg of cholesterol.)

There are various theories that high blood cholesterol levels can cause arteriosclerosis. You might assume that cholesterol is bad for the human body, but in fact, it is an important nutrient which is essential for the sustenance of life.
Generally, cholesterol taken from food is about 300 to 500 mg a day, and organs such as the liver and intestine produce around 1,000 to 1,500 mg of cholesterol each day.
It is said that even if the amount of cholesterol intake increases, the body will compensate by producing less cholesterol internally, so it is unlikely that cholesterol from food will directly increase your blood cholesterol levels.

References:
Japan Dairy Industry Association
Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan Fifth Revised Edition