Let me crack the misconception on the Egg (no pun intended). ;)

Years ago lobbyists and bad mainstream media got it in our head that the egg was causing heart attacks, heart disease and a host of other health issues.  

Unfortunately many people still think that you can’t have more than 3 eggs a week because if you do you will end up with high cholesterol and clogged arteries.  

This could not be farther from the truth.  

Here’s why…

60-65 years ago back in the 1960’s the public was warned that eggs were one of the main causes of heart disease yet there was no conclusive evidence to support this. News media ran with this and the egg was the focus for anything cholesterol related with heart disease. 

Then came all the egg substitutes and egg whites only products, meals and recipes.  

Today science shows us all this was for nothing. The egg is not evil like everyone used to think it was. It is actually a healthy component of our diet.

Eggs are among the few sources that have Vitamin D and K naturally occurring.

They also contain the highest source of dietary choline which is a necessary nutrient for the proper nervous system development and integrity of cell membranes.  

One egg provides 6.3 grams of high quality protein, 5 grams of fat that is evenly balanced between saturated and monounsaturated fats. They are also the perfect low carb food. 

The egg also contains 166mcg of lutein and zeaxanthin which are 2 super antioxidants that contribute to healthy eyes and helps prevent common causes of age-related blindness. Research has shown that the absorption of these 2 nutrients is the highest in eggs more so than any other food with higher contents.

Numerous studies in the last 10 to 15 years have been published stating that there has been no connection between egg consumption and heart disease risk.  

For example, Dr Maria-Luz Fernandez and colleagues have been investigating egg nutritional health for more than a decade and have published findings such as:

•    “Revisiting Dietary Cholesterol Recommendations: Does the Evidence Support a Limit of 300 mg/d?”. Overall, no study has yet shown an association between egg intake and risk for heart disease and there is no compelling epidemiological or clinical trial results that show compelling evidence for limiting cholesterol intake to 300 mg/day or restricting egg consumption.

•    “Dietary Cholesterol from Eggs Increases Plasma HDL Cholesterol in Overweight Men Consuming a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet”. Raising HDL cholesterol is often called impossible, but is necessary to protect against plaque build-up in your arteries (HDL carries it away). This study shows that it can be easily increased in overweight men (a population very susceptible to heart disease) by reducing carb intake and using eggs in the diet regularly.

•    ‘Pre-menopausal women, classified as hypo- or hyper-responders, do not alter their LDL/HDL ratio following a high dietary cholesterol challenge”. When 50 pre-menopausal women (another very susceptible heart disease population) were given either an egg a day plus cholesterol from other foods, or a cholesterol-free egg substitute for 30 days, did not experience the development of an ‘atherogenic lipoprotein profile” regardless if they were hyper or hypo-responders to dietary cholesterol.