Ahh…the days are getting longer, spring is in the air, trees are budding, and new growth abounds from the soil. Eggs play a significant role in this season’s holidays as symbols of renewal for Passover’s ceremonial plate, as well as Easter’s ritual of decorating and hiding eggs. Meanwhile it’s also a good time to share this update about eating eggs as two new research papers recently published suggest associations between eggs and cardiovascular disease. Although these studies may reignite the public health debate over eggs and heart disease, it’s important to keep in mind two points about this new research:
1. The studies showed associations, not causation, and may not have accounted fully for other confounding variables, such as red meat consumption, smoking, obesity, etc. among the subjects.
2. Despite other limitations in the research, health experts would not change healthy eating guidelines that emphasize increasing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and legumes, while decreasing red and processed meats, along with sugar in our daily diets.
According to Dr. Frank Hu, Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, who was not involved in the latest research, “For those who are generally healthy, low to moderate intake of eggs can be included as part of a healthy eating pattern.”
Eggs, in particularly egg yolks, have been long-disparaged for their rich cholesterol content that was assumed to contribute to heart disease. Yet as nutrition research has evolved, scientists have proven that dietary cholesterol does not equate to blood cholesterol circulating throughout the body. In fact, the relationship between eggs and heart disease is weak at best.
This is a key pearl when evaluating nutrition claims—
it’s important to not just consider one nutrient in one food, rather in context to the entire diet, especially when compared to what foods they may replace, or, be replaced with.
[If you’ve had enough details, you can scroll down to the Bottom Line;]
In fact, the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans refer to an egg as a nutrient dense food, meaning that the proportion of nutrients contained in an egg is greater than its calorie content. One large egg contains 13 vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D, which is scarce in most other foods. There are 6 grams of protein in an egg, a good source to help meet the average daily need of 50-70 grams. Eggs also contain other bioactive compounds:
· Choline, an essential nutrient that functions in fetal and infant brain development.
· Lutein and Zeaxanthin, phytochemicals contributing to eye health.
· Leucine, an essential amino acid unique to muscle protein synthesis.
All this nutrition in one egg for just 70 calories!
Back to cholesterol, which is actually essential in the formation of brain cells and certain hormones…
The human liver produces an average of 800 mg of cholesterol daily, more or less depending on your genetics. About 80% of blood cholesterol is made by the body, whereas the remaining 20% comes from the foods we eat.
Research has repeatedly shown that eggs actually have little impact on your blood cholesterol. Rather, the main influence on blood cholesterol is not the amount of cholesterol in the food we eat, but from the mix of fats and carbohydrates in our diet. Specifically, saturated fats found in animal foods (beef, cheese, bacon, processed meats, etc., as well as coconut and palm oils) significantly increase blood cholesterol, whereas unsaturated fats (olive, canola oils, etc.) reduce “the bad” artery-clogging LDL cholesterol. The moderate amount of fat in an egg is mainly mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fat. Dietary fiber from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, also reduces blood cholesterol, but refined starches (white bread, pasta, rice, etc.) decrease “the good” HDL cholesterol which actually helps to clear cholesterol from the blood.
Bottom lines:
· Research suggests that eating an egg daily does not pose any cardiovascular risk for healthy people. Enjoying a couple of eggs 2-3 times a week can certainly be part of a healthy diet. Although higher egg consumption could potentially increase the risk for heart disease, especially for people with diabetes.
· Keep in mind that a 3-egg omelet stuffed with cheese and served with sausages, home fries (perhaps cooked in bacon fat) and refined white toast or English muffin is going to stress your health much more than a 2-egg omelet filled with spinach and mushrooms, topped with fresh tomatoes and served with whole grain toast and fresh fruit.
· Enjoy heart healthy, plant-based breakfasts regularly, such as oatmeal (or other low sugar whole grain cereal) with berries and nuts or seeds.
· Shop for locally-produced eggs that can provide a household with six economic meals! (The eggs pictured here were delivered by three neighbor children whose family keeps chickens;) Store eggs in the refrigerator; cook the whites and eggs until solid (egg dishes to an internal 160°F); and wash hands and surfaces having contact with eggs with soap and water.
Egg Recipes:
Southwest Breakfast Egg Scramble Muffins
Crustless Vegetable Quiche - this recipe is for kale and mushrooms, but asparagus, red pepper, etc will work too!
To Your Good Health!
Over Easy,
KC
www.wildberrycommunications.com