Eggs in general and egg yolks in particular have gotten a
bad rap for raising cholesterol and increasing the risk for heart attack and
stroke. This is not the case and in
fact US Dietary Guidelines have been changed as per this quote from the Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) “cholesterol is not considered a nutrient
of concern for overconsumption.”
Not only are eggs and egg yolks not bad for your health the
fact is that egg yolks are full of essential nutrients including cholesterol!
That’s right you heard it here – cholesterol is an essential
nutrient. In fact it is so essential
that every human being manufacturers cholesterol in their liver every day. The more cholesterol you take in from food
the less you have to make because make no mistake if we eliminated all
cholesterol from your body you would soon die!
For the vast majority of people intake of cholesterol and saturated fat
have little impact on circulating levels of cholesterol and of the “bad” types
of cholesterol including LDL. In fact
high egg consumption (including the yolk) has been linked to increases in the
HDL (good cholesterol).
Egg whites are primarily albumin which is a highly
absorbable from of protein, but unlike egg yolks, no one worries about egg
whites being unhealthy. Besides
cholesterol egg yolks contain several key micronutrients. For example, yolks (but not whites) contain
vitamins A, D, E and K along with omega-3 fatty acids. Egg yolks
also contain more beneficial folate and vitamin B12. The yolks also contain far
more of the nutrient choline than the whites, and all of the
antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin.
So why all the negative press on egg yolks and why do
bodybuilder always choose egg whites only?
It all started with the research of a guy named Ancel Keys. In his famous “7 Countries Study” Ancel Keys
deliberately elected to only base his analysis and conclusions on 7 countries
vs the 22 countries he actually looked at.
Why? Because this is the only way
he could show a link between dietary fat intake and coronary artery disease aka
heart disease. Once you add in all 22
countries the supposed link disappears!
This deception is
a fact and easy enough for anyone to verify by taking a little time to look at
Key’s research and the research refuting his conclusions including long term
longitudinal research studies like the Framingham Study which are the gold
standard. Even in the case of the
Framingham Study people tried to twist the facts. However this quote from William Castelli, the
former director of the Framingham Heart study, says it all: "In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated
fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower
the person's serum cholesterol. The opposite of what… Keys et al would
predict…We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most
saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most
physically active." It has taken a
while but the facts are finally starting to penetrate the American Nutritional
Recommendations. Now we are in no way suggesting you deliberatly eat more saturated fat and cholesterol or that eating more will make you more healthy - but clearly cholesterol is not something to be afraid of!
As to body builders not eating egg whites they are focused
on maximizing protein and minimizing calories so while yolks are not bad for
you they do have more calories and fat than the whites which are mostly
protein. However you should keep in
mind that a whole egg (yolk and whites) has about 78 calories with the vast
majority coming from the yolks. Make no
mistake calories DO count, and a little fat goes a long way because fatty foods
contain twice the calories of non-fatty foods!
Eggs are a very healthy food choice with high levels of
protein and nutrients (if you eat the yolks!), and if you choose free range,
organic eggs you are eating a veritable nutrition powerhouse. Another good compromise is to eat say one whole egg and mix in more egg whites to maximize protein without loading up on fat! Like
all things it is probably best to eat them in moderation, but egg yolks are not
something to be afraid of!
No comments:
Post a Comment