Mythbusters: Eggs

Over the last 40 years eggs have become the global icons for high cholesterol. Eggs were blacklisted from the human diet when, in 1968, the American Heart Association released guidelines on restricting dietary cholesterol. The nutritional messages of “less than 300mg of cholesterol per day” and “no more than 3 eggs per week” were shouted from the rooftops and heard by nutritional professionals and consumers alike.

However, the experts were too quick in banishing eggs from our diets as there was no scientific basis for these recommendations. It turns out that the old theories on eggs (and dietary cholesterol) increasing blood cholesterol was invalid and very poorly scrutinised. The recommended value of 300mg dietary cholesterol per day was selected arbitrarily and based on no sound research. It was a hypotheses based on a mere guess!  In fact, eggs in countries such as Canada and Australia carry the approval logo of their respective heart associations. The current obesity and heart disease rates of Americans really make me question as to why we were listening to these guidelines in the first place.

This lack of consensus from medical and nutritional professionals, along with extensive marketing of low cholesterol food products and diets, has added in creating an unnecessary fear among consumers. In fact, meat and chicken intake account for a higher cholesterol intake in one’s diet compared to eggs. So we ask: should eggs be excluded from a healthy diet?

Nutritional Content of Eggs

Eggs are tasty, inexpensive, convenient, easy to prepare, and an excellent source of nutrition. Eggs are a nutrient dense food: high in nutrients relative to the amount of calories. One large egg contains 75 calories, a little less than an apple at 60 calories, and accounts for only 3% of total daily calorie requirements for women.

Eggs are an excellent source of high quality protein. One egg contains 6g of high quality protein, with 60%in the white and 40% in the yolk. Fat content of an egg is relatively low compared to its calorie content with about 5g of fat per egg most of which is unsaturated fats.

Though it is true that eggs are high in cholesterol, dietary cholesterol does not automatically raise blood cholesterol. The body has compensatory mechanisms to deal with an increasing cholesterol loads. In fact, saturated fat is a bigger culprit in raising blood cholesterol. When excess saturated fat is eaten, the liver releases more cholesterol into the blood stream, thereby slowing down the removal of blood cholesterol. This is why dietary saturated fat is a bigger implicator in raising blood cholesterol then dietary cholesterol. 

So it seems that one whole egg per day is safe as part of a healthy diet. The egg-heart disease hypothesis has failed to be proven by modern research, and should be considered null and void.

Myth = busted!