ARE EATING EGGS GOOD FOR YOU?

                                                                               

I certainly hope they are because I eat two eggs  every day of the week.

If you click your mouse on the underlined words, you will get more information.

If there was such a thing as a perfect food, eggs would be a contender. They’re readily available, easy to cook, affordable and contain protein.   The egg is meant to be something that has all the right ingredients to grow an organism, so obviously it’s very nutrient dense, according to Christopher Blesso, associate professor of nutritional science at the University of Connecticut in

the US.

Eating eggs alongside other food can help our bodies absorb more vitamins, too. For example, one study found that adding an egg to salad can increase how much vitamins we get from the salad.

But for decades, eating eggs has also been controversial due to their high cholesterol content in which some studies have linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

One egg yolk contains around 185 milligrams of cholesterol, which is more than half of the 300mg daily amount of cholesterol that the US dietary guidelines recommended until recently.  

Does that mean eating eggs is not an ideal food and might actually be doing us harm too our bodies?                              

Cholesterol, a yellowish fat produced in our liver and intestines and can be found in every one of our body’s cells. We normally think of it as “bad”. But cholesterol is a crucial building block in our cell membranes. It also is needed for the body to make vitamin D, and the hormones testosterone and oestrogen. 

Our bodies produce all the cholesterol we need on our own, but it’s also found in animal produce we consume, including beef, prawns and eggs, as well as cheese and butter                                 

Cholesterol is transported around our bodies by lipoprotein molecules in our blood. Every person has a different combination of various types of lipoproteins, and our individual make-up plays  a role in determining our risk of developing heart disease. (clogging of the four arteries feeding the heart).

Of the blood in the four arteries feeding my heart, the first artery was blocked 40%%, the second one was blocked 90%, the third one was blocked 90% and the fourth one was blocked 95%. That meant that 73 % of my heart wasn’t functioning at all thereby leaving me with only 27% of my heart still  functioning.  Up to this date, I am still alive.  My wife’s explanation of me surviving is that bad people live forever and I am so bad, I will actually out live God. She exaggerates.  I have told her a million times not to exaggerate.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – referred to as “bad” cholesterol is transported from the liver to arteries and body tissues. Researchers say that this can result in a build-up of cholesterol in the blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

But researchers haven’t actually linked consumption of cholesterol to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. As a result, US dietary guidelines no longer have a cholesterol restriction; nor does the UK. Instead, emphasis is placed on limiting how much saturated fat we consume, which can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Foods containing trans fats, in particular, increase our LDL levels. Although some trans fats occur naturally in animal products, most are made artificially and are found in highest levels in margarines, snacks, and some deep-fried and baked foods, such as pastry, doughnuts and cakes.

Now the good news about eggs. They are the only food high in cholesterol that are low in saturated fat. While the cholesterol in eggs is much higher than in meat and other animal products, saturated fat increases blood cholesterol. This has been demonstrated by lots of studies for many years,” says Maria Luz Fernandez, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Connecticut in the US, whose latest research found no relationship between eating eggs and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The health effects of eggs has shifted partly because our bodies can compensate for the cholesterol we consume.

“There are systems in place so that, for most people, dietary cholesterol isn’t a problem,” says Elizabeth Johnson, research associate professor of nutritional sciences at Tufts University in Boston.

When it comes to eggs, cholesterol may pose even less of a health risk. Cholesterol is  in eggs.  When cholesterol is oxidized, it may be more inflammatory, and there are all kinds of antioxidants in eggs that are more harmful when oxidized in our arteries.

Some cholesterol may actually be good for us. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol travels to the liver, where it’s broken down and removed from the body. HDL is thought to have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease by preventing cholesterol from building up in the blood.  However, we should be concerned about cholesterol that circulates in our blood which can lead to heart disease.

However, while most of us are able to buffer the cholesterol we consume with the cholesterol we synthesize in our livers, around a third of people will experience an increase in blood cholesterol by 10% to 15% after consuming it.

Trials have found that lean and healthy people are more likely to see an increase in LDL after eating eggs. Those who are overweight, obese or diabetic will see a smaller increase in LDL and more HDL molecules. So, if you’re healthier to begin with, eggs potentially you could have a more negative effect than if you’re overweight  but if you’re healthier, you’re also more likely to have good HDL levels, so an increase in LDL probably isn’t very harmful.

Research published earlier challenged the recent consensus that eggs pose no harm to our health. Researchers looked at data from 30,000 adults followed for an average of 17 years and found that each additional half an egg per day was significantly linked to a higher risk of heart disease and death. (They controlled for the subjects’ diet patterns, overall health and physical activity to try to isolate the effects of eggs.

The trials found that for every additional 300 mg cholesterol a person consumed, regardless of the food it came from, they had a 17% increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and 18% increased risk of all-cause mortality,” says Norrina Allen, one of the study’s authors and associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University in Illinois. The trials also found that each half egg per day led to a 6% increased risk of heart disease and 8% increased risk of mortality.”

Despite the study being one of the largest of its kind to address this specific relationship between eggs and heart disease, it was observational, giving no indication of cause and effect. It also relied upon a single set of self-reported data, the participants were asked what they ate over the previous month or year, then followed up their health outcomes for up to 31 years. This means the researchers only got a single snapshot of what the participants were eating, even though their diets could  have changed over time.

Further, the study conflicts with past results. Numerous studies suggest eggs are good for our heart’s health. One previous analysis of half a million adults in China, published in 2018, even found the exact opposite being that consumption was associated with lower risk of heart disease. Those who ate eggs every day had an 18% lower risk of death from heart disease and 28% lower risk of stroke death compared to those who didn’t eat eggs.

Meanwhile, scientists are beginning to understand other health benefits of eggs. Egg yolks are one of the best sources of lutein, a pigment that has been linked to better eyesight and lower risk of eye disease, for example.

There are two types of lutein found the retina of the eye where it can protect the retina from light damage by working as a blue light filter since  exposure to light makes the eye deteriorate.

While researchers are a long way from understanding why eggs affect us differently, the vast majority of recent research suggests they pose no risk to our health, and are much more likely to provide health benefits.

Oh yummy, That is good news. I am going to the store to buy two dozen eggs to consume….not all at the same time of course. I will eat them over a period of twelve days.