It has become clear through ongoing research and studies that excluding high cholesterol foods from the diet, such as eggs, has little beneficial affect on Cardiovascular Disease risk, and may, in fact, have a negative impact on the nutritional quality of the diet.(1-26)
In a healthy population, there is insufficient evidence to restrict egg intake as part of a healthy diet. In fact, eggs should be considered in a similar way as other protein rich foods and selected as part of a varied diet that is low in saturated fat and high in dietary fibre.
As a high quality animal protein, eggs are important for health maintenance, especially for the growing fetus and infant as well as the elderly. High quality animal protein intake lowers the risk for a low birth weight infant – which has life long effects on health.
For seniors, this protein slows the rate of muscle loss and facilitates muscle development. Evidence also suggests that eggs can play an important role in weight loss as part of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet thanks to their low fat content and their satiety effect on the appetite.
The cholesterol stigma needs stamping out once and for all. Even the American Heart Association has taken notice of the evidence that cholesterol from eggs is not the risk factor for heart disease as once thought and accordingly their new consumption guidelines permit an egg a day, rather than only three a week. (1)
Eggs – one of nature’s original health foods.
References
1 Blanco-Molina A, Castro G, Martin-Escalante D, et al. Effects of different dietary cholesterol concentrations on lipoprotein plasma concentrations and on cholesterol efflux from Fu5AH cells. Am J Clin Nutr 1998;68:1028-33.
12. Schonfeld G, Patsch W, Rudel LL, Nelson C, Epstein M, Olson RE. Effects of dietary cholesterol and fatty acids on plasma lipoproteins. J Clin Invest 1982;69:1072-80.
26. Knopp RH, Retzlaff B, Fish B, et al. Effects of insulin resistance and obesity on lipoproteins and sensitivity to egg feeding. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2003;23:1437-43.
