Eggs have gotten a bad rap over the years. Almost everyone knows eggs have cholesterol and
for years health professionals have given warnings that eating eggs are bad for
your heart. Is this true? Does eating eggs raise your cholesterol and
raise your risk of heart disease? For
those of us who love eggs, it was hard to limit our egg consumption. What are the facts?
- Does
eating eggs raise my risk of heart disease?
For most people, eggs are not the
culprit they used to be.
Most of us can
enjoy up to 6 eggs a week or 2 eggs every other day and not raise our risk of
heart disease.
However, some people have
a sensitivity to dietary cholesterol and they should heed the recommendations
of their health professional.
The latest Dietary Guidelines note
that dietary cholesterol such as the cholesterol in eggs are not the primary
drivers of blood cholesterol.
Rather,
the saturated fat in foods is more likely to raise our blood cholesterol.
The
Dietary
Guidelines state, “
Limit calories from added sugars and saturated fats
and reduce sodium intake.” within healthy eating patterns.
A
Swedish
study of 37,766 men and 32,805 women looked at egg consumption and heart
disease including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.
This study found no link between egg
consumption and risk of heart attack or stroke.
Men who ate 6 ore more than 6 eggs a week did have a 30% higher risk of
heart failure.
But study authors noted
this could be from eating bacon with the eggs and not the eggs.
- Should
diabetics avoid eggs?
It was thought that diabetics are
more sensitive to eggs with eggs more likely to raise their blood
cholesterol.
But the latest research
indicates diabetics were no different in their reaction to egg consumption.
WebMD notes that people with type 2 diabetes can
also enjoy up to 2 eggs a day.
The findings suggest that eating two eggs per day, 6 days
a week can be a safe part of a healthy diet for people with type 2 [diabetes].
- How
many eggs can I eat a week?
From this study and other studies,
eating up to 6 eggs a week seems unlikely to cause heart disease.
One has always been able to enjoy egg whites
like an egg white omelet as only the egg yolk has cholesterol.
Rather than focus on eggs, it seems more likely
the food eaten with eggs such as bacon, sausage patties, sausage links are more
likely to raise one’s risk of heart disease as these processed meats have the
saturated fat in them.
As the Harvard School of Public
Health notes in
Eggs
and Heart Disease,
Recent research has shown that moderate egg consumption—up to
one a day—does not increase heart disease risk in healthy individuals.. and can
be part of a healthy diet.
Yes.
As Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian noted
in
Cholesterol
in Eggs May Not Hurt Heart Health, “Eggs are a powerhouse of nutrition.”
The yolk of an egg provides Vitamin D, vitamin
B12, folate and iron, choline, and healthy fats.
The egg white is an excellent source of
protein and many B vitamins.
So enjoy some
eggs this week.
Sources:
Dietary
Guidelines,
Swedish
study,
WebMD,
Eggs and Heart
Disease,
Cholesterol
in Eggs May Not Hurt Heart Health, Image source:
eggs