We at Fit as a Feminist Issue have been following and reporting on the eggs-good-eggs-bad nutritional controversy for years now. Researchers simply haven’t been able to decide, and we’ve been there to report.
Are all eggs bad eggs? Blogging the controversy
In remembrance of eggs past, or: not bad egg news again!
The new US dietary guidelines, or: just tell me, are eggs good or bad this year?
In late July of this year, a new study came out about the impact of eggs (which contain a low of dietary cholesterol) vs. saturated fat (which isn’t found in eggs) on our LDL cholesterol levels. And guess what? The eggs came out on top!
Let’s take a closer look at what they did and what it might mean.
Note: this blog post is not meant as medical advice. I am a doctor, but of philosophy, not medicine. But hey, I can read an article as well as the next person… 🙂
The study was pretty simple. Researchers created three groups:
- high-cholesterol (600 mg/d), low-saturated fat (6%) including 2 eggs/d (EGG);
- low-cholesterol (300 mg/d), high-saturated fat (12%) without eggs (EGG-FREE);
- and a high-cholesterol (600 mg/d), high-saturated fat (12%) control diet (CON) including 1 egg/wk.
For those who are visual processors, see below:
And what did the researchers conclude? I won’t keep you waiting:
Saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, elevates LDL cholesterol. Compared with consuming a high-saturated fat diet with only 1 egg/wk, consuming 2 eggs daily as part of a low-saturated fat diet lowers LDL concentrations, which may reduce CVD risk. However, this effect on CVD risk may be mitigated, at least in part, by a reduction in less-atherogenic large LDL particles and an increase in more atherogenic small LDL particles.
What does this mean? Well, the study reaffirms what science has known for decades, which is that dietary cholesterol doesn’t contribute to our LDL-cholesterol levels. What does contribute, however, is saturated fat. So, eating a lower-saturated fat diet helps reduce LDL-cholesterol. Which science already knew, but this study shows it. Again.
But what about the business with eating two-eggs-a-day vs. at-most-one-egg-a-week? Aren’t medical folks still recommending not eating a lot of eggs if your cholesterol is higher?
Yes. In this news article, which is about THE NEW STUDY, some medical professionals are still recommending avoiding eggs to manage cholesterol levels.
If you’re concerned about your cholesterol levels, Sharon Palmer, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist from California, suggests sticking to egg whites, as most of the cholesterol and saturated fat in eggs are in the yolk.
What does all this mean? Well, research, especially research that goes against previously-entrenched medical views, is not taken up and incorporated into medical practice very quickly or easily. Also, nutrition science is one of those areas where people vigorously disagree, even when lots of research seems to be pointing in one direction rather than another.
So, what should you eat for breakfast? It’s up to you, and there are lots of considerations, including health, convenience, access, ethical ramifications, and taste.
But, in honor of the season, may I recommend:
