Cholesterol is an essential sterol for proper functioning of human body. Human body meets its cholesterol requirement from dietary sources and by indigenously synthesizing it.
However, indigenously produced cholesterol is sufficient to meet the body's requirements. Therefore, for healthy people, there is no need to depend on diet for cholesterol. For this reason, there is no Adequate Intake (AI) or Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) set for cholesterol, for humans of any age.
Foods of animal origin, such as meat and dairy products (milk, cheese, butter) contain cholesterol, ranging from very low to high.
If one wants to avoid cholesterol in diet, and instead consume cholesterol free foods, a variety of vegetarian foods are available. Additional benefit of plant-based diet is that some of them are sources of phytosterols which can help lower serum total and LDL cholesterol.
In the following tables are lists of foods known to be free of any cholesterol (zero cholesterol content).
Table 1: List of fruits and vegetables free of cholesterol.
| Food items | Cholesterol content |
|---|---|
| Bambo shoots, canned, drained solids |
0
|
| Orange Juice |
0
|
| Broccoli, raw |
0
|
| Melons, honeydew, raw |
0
|
| Raisins, seedless |
0
|
| Alfalfa seeds, sprouted, raw |
0
|
| Rasberries, raw |
0
|
| Asparagus, cooked, boiled, drained |
0
|
| Watermelon, raw |
0
|
| Beans, snap, green, frozen, regular pack, drained solids |
0
|
| Apples |
0
|
| Blueberry |
0
|
| Banana |
0
|
| Avocados |
0
|
| Rice, white |
0
|
| Oat bran |
0
|
| Mashroom |
0
|
| Sweet potato |
0
|
| Spinach |
0
|
| Potato |
0
|
| Celery |
0
|
| Cauliflower |
0
|
| Cabbage |
0
|
| Tomato |
0
|
| Lettuce |
0
|
| Garlic |
0
|
| Cucumber |
0
|
| Squash |
0
|
| Onions |
0
|
| Pepper |
0
|
| Bread, rye |
0
|
| Bread, cracked-wheat |
0
|
| Dill weed, fresh |
0
|
| Cocoa mix, powder |
0
|
| Endive | 0 |
| Corn grain | 0 |
| Teff | 0 |
| Cheese subsitute, mozzarella | 0 |
| Cowpea seeds | 0 |