MYTH: Avoid Eggs Because Of Their Cholesterol Content

Cracking the Fear of Cholesterol!

FACT: At the fundamental level, an egg contains all the necessary nutrients required to nourish and nurture a cell into an organism. Scalloped inside an eggshell is nature’s most nutritively virtuous liquid, and since ages egg is considered to be among the most nutritious food options for all age groups. An incredibly wholesome food although, it is more than often misunderstood as a potent health risk.

The white of an egg is essentially 90% water with proteins like albumin, globulins and mucoproteins dissolved in it. It offers around 6g of protein that is almost 12% of our daily protein requirement. The yolk is home to a splendid array of nutrients like vitamins, essential fatty acids, carotenoid antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, choline, minerals like sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, etc., and offers around 4.5g of fat and 185mg of cholesterol that approximates to 62% of our daily requirement. The presence of this cholesterol has given eggs a bad reputation and driven the fear of heart attacks and strokes in skeptical consumers!

By just knowing that cholesterol raises your risk of cardiovascular disease is only half the information; there is much more than what meets the eyes and this brings us to the need to know how and how much of cholesterol is detrimental. Cholesterol is a sterol (a type of lipid), an organic compound synthesized by the liver and is crucial for the structural integrity of cell membranes and for production of bile, vitamin D and steroid hormones like testosterone and estrogen. It is practically impossible to have a functional healthy life without cholesterol in our body. Since the liver endogenously produces it in a feedback-inhibitory manner, any higher intake through diet leads to a net decrease in its synthesis while lower intake causes the opposite effect. It is a demand-supply chain that keeps cholesterol levels in the body regulated. Also, it is the saturated/trans fats we consume that stimulate liver to synthesize cholesterol and not cholesterol per say.
 
Eating 4-8 eggs per week is an extremely healthy choice and definitely does not add to any extra cholesterol in our body. Rather, it helps increase the good HDL cholesterol level along with a marginal increase in number large LDL particles. Another very critical aspect that many ignore is what is eaten along with the eggs. If you wish to nail the culprits, blame those toasts smothered with butter or fried bacon or similar accomplices. A more insightful choice would be to chaperone along some complex carbs, greens and vegetables.

Ergo, consumption of eggs in moderation can be cardioprotective and contrary to the popular myth, an egg a day can indeed keep the cholesterol away! So shell out a couple of those yellow-eyed delicacies and enjoy one the most ‘eggs’quisitely power-packed foods on this planet!