We’ve all read, or been told, that eggs (especially egg yolks) are to be avoided when it comes to health.
Do you know why?
Is this true?
Here’s what I found:
More than 25 years ago, when scientists were beginning to seriously research heart disease, they learned that high blood cholesterol was closely associated with the disease. It seemed that foods high in cholesterol were the culprit, and so those foods were “banned” from a heart-healthy diet. The American Heart Association’s suggested daily intake of cholesterol for an adult’s healthy diet is approximately 300 milligrams. The yolk from one large egg has about 185 milligrams of dietary cholesterol. Therefore, it followed that egg yolks should not be included in a daily diet.
However.
I also found:
- Since the original research was done, it has been determined that it’s the saturated and trans fats in foods that are the most unhealthy. There is “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol. According to Harvard’s School of Public Health, “A solid body of research shows that for most people, cholesterol in food has a much smaller effect on blood levels of total cholesterol and harmful LDL cholesterol than does the mix of fats in the diet.”
- The way an egg is prepared makes a big difference. Frying a whole egg in butter, for example, is not the best way to enjoy a healthy meal, because the butter is filled with saturated fat.
- Also, the accompaniment of bacon, ham, sausage-and toast with butter- in a meal adds saturated fats. It’s not the egg so much, as what’s enjoyed with it!
- If one has a history-or family history- of heart disease or diabetes-it truly is best to limit consumption of eggs to three a week.
- It’s a good idea to think about how you might be getting eggs in other food, too—cookies have eggs, right? (And sugar, and….again, it’s not the eggs so much, as what goes with them.)
- It’s also a great idea to think about where your eggs come from. This from www.prevention.com: “A 2010 study from Penn State University showed that hens who were kept outside on pastures rather than in a cage laid eggs that had twice as much vitamin E and 2.5 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids [the ‘good’ kind of fat] than the eggs from their cooped-up counterparts.”
So, it IS true that egg whites are great by themselves—they are full of protein and other nutrients that a body needs for health.
It is also true that a whole egg, from a hen you know personally-that’s been eating well and free ranging in your yard and pasture- is, by itself, a delightfully perfect food. If that egg is carefully prepared and served, a healthy person can add it to his (or her) diet without a lot of worry.
Happy Heart Month!!
If you’d like to read more:
A “myth-buster” post: http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/myth-eggs
A post from the UK’s Heart Foundation: http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/food-and-nutrition-facts
An article from the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol
5 Comments
the Lord put the two together, who knows what He is doing. I had Poultry husbandry at Penn State and the professor told us why the two complimented each other, 60 yrs ago and wish I could remember. I am 86 had 3 eggs a week fried in good oil and have my high cholesterol under control. you are right I went nearly all vegetarian cut the meat fats and am doing fine. three cheers for the pastured egg.
I appreciate the article but it’s also outdated. There is no link between saturated fat and heart disease either.
So saying “it was not the eggs, it’s the bacon” is just as bad as saying “it’s the eggs.” Neither is true.
Avoiding butter in favor of margarine and vegetable oil is a sure way to cause additional health problems for the same reason that heart disease skyrocketed to unprecedented levels following the introduction of industrialized foods (think: factory-made fats and refined carbs and canned food– especially MARGARINE) especially after WWI and II, when people relied heavily on those cheap substitutes.
Getting back to “farm living” in the truest sense…. eating eggs, vegetables, meats from grass-fed well kept animals, and cream/cheese/milk straight from one’s personal cow, goat or yak, etc. is where a “heart healthy” diet begins.
My grandmother grew up on a farm and ate PLENTY of saturated fats and 2-3 eggs every day until she was 103. No heart disease anywhere to be found in it.
My memory is when doctors did an autopsy in the mid -1960’s of a fellow that had a massive heart attach and found cholesterol clogging up the works.
Around the same time President Johnson was upset about the price of eggs rising to nearly 50 cents/ dozen and told the Surgeon General to release the info about the heart attack/cholesterol guy PLUS the fact that eggs had cholesterol … to make the connection in the public’s mind.
It was very effective … people stopped buying eggs and the price came down to about 35 cents / dozen.
It’s taken over 30 years for the facts to come out … that eggs are healthy!
(I’m sure you can fine-tune my memory of this, but that is basically it. I’ve kept chickens since that time, so it’s something I paid attention to.)
Found this
Limiting egg consumption has little effect on cholesterol levels. There is no limit to how many eggs you should eat – British Heart Foundation
more at http://www.durhamhens.co.uk/All%20about%20eggs!.html
It has been debunked that cholesterol causes heart disease. 60plus % of people having heart attacks have “normal” cholesterol blood levels. Cholesterol is a vital part of body functions. Our government, at the prodding of pharma lobbyists have been lowering the “safe” level of cholesterol in order to sell more drugs. If it were true that following a low cholesterol diet, taking meds to lower cholesterol and following the USDA food pyramid for the past 50 years, why is heart disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure and hypertenson at epidemic levels?????