Hello all

As a newcomer I was wondering if eggs are good as part of a diet.

I always thought they were totally out 'cause of the negative cholesterol talk ( stores even have that egg alternative which I do not like ) BUT in the posts here from learned people I often see " eat liberal amounts of eggs "

Just wondering what is the general view / wisdom on this matter.

many thanks

Welcome...your right, they kept telling us eggs were a no-no, now my hubby's cardiologist and my dr. said a few a week are fine. Stay tuned, I'm sure it will change again! Your best bet from my own experience is stay away from alot of carbs., like potatoes, pasta, bread etc. I cut back quite a bit the last 6 months and my numbers did go down, not greatly, but they went down. Good luck, and read the posts here, alot of good info. Take care!! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif JJ

I think you need to be careful when reading some of the resposes on this board. Many here advocate a low carbo, high fat/protein diet. This falls directly against the AHA guidelines.

I had a cholesterol level of 240 (52/171) trigs 75. I went on a no fat diet. Lots of fish, pasta, and vegetables. I also exercised 3 times a week. Nine months later my numbers went to 182 (57/116) trigs 70.
Maybe their way is easier but I can only tell you what I did. There is no short cut.

You may be surprised to learn exactly how eggs acquired such an undeservedly bad reputation for so many years. It all started about 60 years ago when a research study sponsored by the Cereal Institute demonstrated that feeding eggs to animals and humans would raise their serum cholesterol level. However, the problem with this study was that their conclusions were based on feeding dried egg yolk powder, not fried or poached eggs, as eggs are usually eaten. In recent years it was proven that dried egg yolk powder is an oxidized form that is toxic to the blood vessels. By rights, all of those early powdered egg yolk studies should have been thrown out as invalid. The results of the powdered egg yolk studies of 60 years ago have not been borne out in later studies done in the 1970s and 1980s. There have since been over a dozen published studies showing very little, if any, cholesterol elevation from eating eggs.

Fact:Eggs are high in cholesterol. Are they the poison we've been led to believe? Answer: Who knows? I've seen studies that say eggs aren't neccesarily bad for you. Some suggest that dietary intake of high cholesterol foods may not have much of an effect on serum levels. All I know for sure is that when I changed my diet to severely limit my intake of cholesterol and saturated fats my numbers dropped dramatically. If your levels are a problem try restricting your intake for a few months. If it works, keep it up. If it doesn't you won't be any worse off than when you started. Just one other recommendation, allow yourself an "unhealthy treat" once in a while(once a week). It won't hurt you and it can make the routine bearable.

Be that as it may, the fact is that eggs are a source of complete protein, and are as close as you can get to being a perfect food source. They are rich in many vitamins and minerals, and are especially rich in lecithin, which is beneficial to heart health. To even suggest that they are a poison is totally ridiculous. And for any doctor to even so much as suggest that it would be best to discard the yolk and just eat the egg white is just plain stupid. That makes almost as much sense as peeling an orange, then discarding the orange and only eating the orange peels. Virtually all of the nutritional value in an egg is concentrated in its yolk.

This from another list


Do EGGS really increase your CHOLESTEROL?

Dear Friend,

Due to the many requests, I'm sending this tip out again. As a food, eggs are not just incredible and a near perfect food, they contain ingredients to develop a living, healthy body. They contain just about all the essential nutrients, including B-1, B-6, folic acid and B-12.
They also contain minerals such as calcium,magnesium,potassium, zinc
and iron. Choline and biotin, which are important for energy and stress reduction, are in eggs too. They are complete in all amino acids (protein building blocks) - which are found in the egg yolk.

The fat in the yolk is in nearly perfect balance. These
essential fats are crucial in the regulation of cholesterol. This is because the antidote to cholesterol is lecithin (helps dissolve cholesterol). And the yolk is loaded with lecithin. Without these fats in your diet, your risk for heart disease is increased. Eggs have almost zero carbohydrates. They also have the highest rating in complete proteins (containing all the amino acids) of any food. Amino acids are necessary for repairing tissue, making hormones and brain chemicals.

But everyone knows people are scared of eating egg yolks because of cholesterol. The fact is most of the cholesterol in our blood is there not because of what we ate; in fact our own liver makes most of our cholesterol. Our liver produces 75% of the cholesterol in our blood. If
cholesterol were so bad, why would our body make so much?

1. We only absorb 2-4mg. of cholesterol per day per kilogram of body weight. So even if we ate a dozen eggs each day, we'd only absorb 300mg. That is the recommended maximum per day.

2. The second safeguard we have against cholesterol is what I said before; our body makes most of the cholesterol in our body. The more cholesterol we eat the less the body will make. The less we eat,the more the body makes. Actually, every cell in your body makes cholesterol, even your heart cells. The purpose of cholesterol is to regulate the chemicals that enter and exit the cells, to help make hormones, and to insulate and allow our nerves and brain to transfer electricity. Don't overcook the egg yolk, this will destroy the
lecithin.

The Framingham study (the most accepted and long term scientific study), for example, found no relation between egg consumption, blood cholesterol and coronary heart disease. Modern social trends in the marketing of "food" products such as margarine and fake eggs are partly
responsible for the misinformation. Cereal commercials tell us over and over how healthy their products are despite being filled with sugar.
Ed Ahrens, Jr., professor at Rockefeller University says, "I think the public is being hosed by the NIH (National Institute of Health) and the American Heart Association."

And one more thing – I have been eating 4-5 organic eggs everymorning for the past 6 years and never felt better.

Have a great week,
Dr. Berg

Hello, One egg has less total fat than 3 oz. of beef, but more total fat than 3 oz. of skinless chicken breast. Two eggs have the about the same amount of total fat as 3 oz. of beef. At one time they were considedered a no no, but now it's more in how many are you planning to eat? I eat 1 egg every 2-3 weeks as a "treat." I don't think one a week would hurt, but my hubby's cholesterol went up when he had one a day. You might want to ask your doctor if you're a heart patient. If you're healthy, why worry? I got my info. from a food values book put out by Pinkerton.

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Magpie

Here is a clip on eggs.

Dietary cholesterol
Most dietary cholesterol comes from egg yolks. Eating eggs has increased serum cholesterol in most studies.29 However, eating eggs does not increase serum cholesterol as much as eating foods high in saturated fat, and eating eggs may not increase serum cholesterol at all if the overall diet is low in fat.30

Egg consumption does not appear to be totally safe, however, even for people consuming a low-fat diet. When cholesterol from eggs is cooked or exposed to air, it oxidizes. Oxidized cholesterol is linked to increased risk of heart disease.31 Eating eggs also makes LDL cholesterol more susceptible to damage, a change linked to heart disease.32

Whether or not egg eaters are more likely to die from heart disease is a matter of controversy. In one preliminary study, egg eaters had a higher death rate from heart disease, even when serum cholesterol levels were not elevated.33 However, another preliminary study found no evidence of an overall significant association between egg consumption, and risk of heart disease or stroke, except in people with diabetes.34 Until more is known, limiting egg consumption may be a good idea, particularly for people with existing heart disease or diabetes.

I still eat eggs for the vitamin B contents and other
good things that help my PMS, low blood sugars.
Some day, I hope to cut my consumption of eggs back to
3 mornings a week, and use cereal the other 4.
(This was the guideline I used to follow on an old
WW program, and helped me regulate my weight, also.)
When I cut back to 3 eggs, I will recheck my cholesterol. I cannot take statins, so will try Cholest-Off.
I just love the source of protein an egg provides
at breakfast. Otherwise, I am hungry too soon for lunch! Always feel damned if I do, or damned if I don't when it comes to eggs.

Hello, This is just a thought. I am not an egg lover, but I do eat an occational egg. Could the main problem be what we eat with the egg or how it is cooked? If you have meat with the egg, you are now adding additional cholesterol and fat. If you fry the egg, instead of boiling it, you also add extra fat depending on what you fry it in. Maybe the egg should be concidered as the meat/protein part of the diet. If you're on a low-fat diet, 1 egg is lower in fat than 1 serving of lean beef. The question is can you eat just one?

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Magpie

If you can find farm fresh, range fed hens who have a rooster that lives with them........then you can have your eggs. It takes a rooster to produce the substance within the egg that will allow you to eat eggs without the fear of cholestrol. Store bought eggs are not good for cholestrol people.