If you’re trying to find a great source of protein that has many other nutrients, but doesn’t cost a fortune, you might turn to eggs. Some people worry about eating too many eggs, because they’ve gotten a lot of bad publicity due to their high cholesterol levels. That comes from the fact the yolk is high in cholesterol, which led many people to stick with just eating egg whites. That’s a misconception. When you eat foods with cholesterol, your body doesn’t have to produce as much, so you can safely eat more. Eating a few eggs every day isn’t the problem and won’t cause cholesterol levels to rise.
Your liver regulates the amount of cholesterol your body makes.
There are mixed reviews when it comes to the role that cholesterol plays with heart disease. Your body needs cholesterol and it’s an essential element for all cell membranes. Without cholesterol, it can’t make estrogen, cortisol or testosterone. If it’s not in your diet, your liver produces it. When you eat foods containing cholesterol, your liver produces less. Cutting it out of your diet simply means your liver will make more. If you have high blood cholesterol levels, however, it could cause a modest increase, so follow your doctor’s advice.
Do you need to limit your consumption?
The only thing that’s consistent in science is that it’s constantly changing as we learn more. At one time, people were told to limit their consumption of the yolk of an egg. That’s because it contains approximately 62% of the recommended daily amount of cholesterol. While most recommendations suggest limiting the intake of egg yolks to two to six a week, there’s little scientific backing for that recommendation.
Studies show that while eating eggs may increase cholesterol, it’s the good cholesterol.
One study compared two groups. One ate between one and three whole eggs every day and the other ate egg substitutes or something else. While overall cholesterol levels raised, it was because the HDL or good cholesterol went up, while the LDL or bad cholesterol remained unchanged. Eggs also improved blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant carotenoids. The omega-3 in eggs helped lower triglyceride levels, too. Triglycerides may increase heart disease.
- You’ll get the protein you need and at a discount when you include eggs in your diet. They’re far healthier for you than a pancake or waffle that’s doused with syrup.
- Observational studies showed that people who ate eggs were no more likely to have a heart attack than those who didn’t. However, in some studies, it showed that eating eggs actually reduced the risk of stroke.
- If you have type 2 diabetes, there is some research that shows you might increase your risk of heart disease if you eat too many eggs, which is why you always should listen to the recommendations of your health care professional.
- It’s more important to give up unhealthy high sugar food in your diet and highly processed food than giving up eggs, especially for diabetics. One study showed that when diabetics ate a low-carb diet, eggs actually reduced the risk of heart disease.
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