If you're overweight and eating a low-carb diet to lose weight, eating more cholesterol-rich foods like eggs or shrimp won't noticeably raise your bad cholesterol or lower your good cholesterol — at least not over a year.

We analyzed the available evidence on whether eating more cholesterol raises LDL or triglycerides on a low-carb diet, and what we’ve found so far suggests that for people who are overweight and following a low-carb diet to lose weight, increasing intake of cholesterol-rich foods like eggs or shrimp does not noticeably raise LDL cholesterol or lower HDL cholesterol over the course of a year [1]. This pattern was observed across all the studies and assertions we reviewed, with no evidence suggesting the opposite effect. The evidence we’ve reviewed leans toward the idea that dietary cholesterol may not have the same impact on blood lipid levels in this specific group as it might in others. We don’t know if this holds true for people who are not overweight, or for longer periods beyond one year. We also don’t know how this affects triglycerides, since the evidence provided doesn’t mention them specifically. What we can say is that, based on what we’ve reviewed so far, people on a low-carb weight-loss plan likely don’t need to avoid eggs or shrimp out of concern for their LDL or HDL levels — at least not within the first year. But individual responses can vary, and longer-term effects remain unclear.