A ‘So-Called Bad Food?” Uncovering the Egg Myth…

The Much-Maligned Egg Deserves More Respect! See the report on CNN…

Recipe below…

My grandmother’s favorite food in the whole wide world was eggs. She loved eggs so much, we named an egg after her. The “grandmommy egg” was soft-boiled, for three minutes. As it sat in an egg cup, we would slice off the top third so the runny yolk would form a delicious and naturally creamy sauce for the white.

Unfortunately, during the last decades of her life, my grandmother came to see eggs as poison and avoided one of her real food pleasures. Health authorities were warning the public against eating eggs for fear that they were a major cause of high cholesterol levels — the bad kind, low-density lipoprotein, known as LDL — and increased risk of heart disease.

New studies show that the caution may have been an exaggeration. Yes, increased blood cholesterol levels can raise the risk of heart disease. Eggs are high in dietary cholesterol. But does eating eggs raise blood cholesterol and cause heart disease? This is where the story gets somewhat complicated, so stay with me, folks, and I’ll try to make sense of all of this.

First, the research: Most epidemiological research — the kind of research that studies large populations over time and analyzes their diets and their health — has found no connection between eating eggs and increases in heart disease. On the other hand, controlled clinical studies — where researchers feed subjects specific amounts of cholesterol and measure the effect on blood — do show a slight increase in blood cholesterol with increases in dietary cholesterol, though how much depends on genetic factors.

Cholesterol is an important component of all human and animal cells and influences hormone biology, among other functions. Since your body naturally has all it needs, there is no dietary requirement for cholesterol. But the American diet contains plenty, since we eat a lot of animal products. All animal products contain some cholesterol, but they also contain saturated fat, an even more significant culprit in heart disease risk.

“The major determinant of plasma LDL level is saturated fat,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, professor of nutrition science and policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University .

And while eggs are high in cholesterol (186 milligrams – 184 of those 186 in the yolk), they’re relatively low in saturated fat (1.6 grams in the yolk).

“In most people, for every 100 milligrams reduction in dietary cholesterol, one would predict a reduction in LDL levels of 2.2 points on average,” says Wanda H. Howell, professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Arizona.

In fact, during my 20 years of counseling people with high cholesterol, just reducing their saturated fat intake to a range of 4 percent to 7 percent of their calories, causes their blood cholesterols to plummet — a double benefit.

Interestingly, the Japanese, the biggest egg-eaters in the world (averaging 328 eggs consumed per person per year), have low levels of cholesterol and heart disease compared with other developed countries, especially the United States. Why? In part, it’s because they eat a diet low in saturated fat.

Americans do just the opposite. Research has shown that we usually have our eggs alongside foods high in saturated fat, such as bacon, sausage and buttered toast. This meal pattern raises LDL and makes the effect of eating eggs worse than it actually is.

So how many eggs can you eat? That depends on a number of factors. The American Heart Association no longer includes limits on the number of egg yolks you can eat, but it recommends that you limit your cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams daily, or 200 milligrams if you have heart disease or if your LDL is greater than 100. You decide where that cholesterol comes from!

Other experts go further and say an egg a day is fine.

“The amount that one egg a day raises cholesterol in the blood is extremely small, so small in fact that the increase in risk in heart disease related to this change in serum cholesterol could never be detected in any kind of study,” says Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health. “Elevations in LDL of this small magnitude could easily be countered by other healthy aspects of eggs.”

Based on the research, my recommendation is if you eat a healthful diet, go ahead and eat an egg a day. On the other hand, if your cholesterol is high and if you eat the typical American diet — high in saturated fat, devoid of fruits, vegetables and fiber — maybe you shouldn’t be eating an egg a day.

But will taking eggs out of an unhealthy diet make a positive difference? Probably not. I can’t tell you how many times during my career I’ve heard people say, “I’ve cut out eggs, but my cholesterol is still high!” The impact of a healthy, balanced diet cannot be denied here.

Original content by Katherine Tallmadge for The Washington Post.

Good for You

Assuming you’re eating a healthy diet, here are some ways you may benefit by eating eggs

PROTEIN Eggs are considered the gold standard that other proteins are measured against. Because of the superior amino acid mix, an egg’s six grams of protein are absorbed easily and used by the body more efficiently. The egg is also economical and calorie- controlled (74 calories).

CHOLINE Yolks are one of the best sources of this essential nutrient. Choline is needed for brain development in a growing fetus and may also be important for brain function in adults.

LUTEIN and ZEAXANTHIN These two important beneficial phytochemicals found in egg yolks (as well as kale and spinach) help prevent eye diseases, especially cataracts and age- related macular degeneration. While eggs contain less lutein and zeaxanthin than greens, these phytochemicals are more absorbable because of the presence of fat in the yolk.

VITAMIN D Eggs are one of the few natural sources of Vitamin D, important for the bones and teeth. Vitamin D helps the absorption of calcium, which is important for the heart and colon as well.

Eggs Scrambled with Onion, Garlic and Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

This is a regular meal for me any time of the day – quick, easy, delicious, nutritious!

Servings: 1

Saute 1/4 sweet onion and a smashed garlic clove over medium high heat in 1 teaspoon canola or olive oil until almost soft. Add a handful of chopped tomatoes to the pan (or any other vegetables you happen to have such as chopped spinach, kale, mushrooms, or peppers) and cook for another 5 minutes. Turn down heat to very low. In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs. Pour eggs into the pan containing the onion, garlic and tomato – add 1 ounce low fat cheese, if you wish. Stir continuously until eggs are cooked. Pour over toasted whole rye bread.