The truth about eggs and cholesterol: how eggs can actually LOWER your cholesterol and
blood pressure I see a lot of disinformation about eggs and
their cholesterol - almost everywhere.
A lot of people seem to think that eggs are unhealthy.
Others will tell you that eggs are one of the best sources of high quality protein and
that you should eat them weekly.
Who is right?
Are eggs healthy?
How many eggs should you eat?
Let's find out THE TRUTH ABOUT EGGS.
Hello, this is Katherine from 00Kidney.
I'm making this video not just for the kidney patients but for everyone who wants to eat
healthy and who wants to take care of his own cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
The video you're watching right now is different from the others you may have watched here
on Youtube, because I'm basing what I'm saying on the very latest studies published about
cholesterol in eggs.
There was an important study published just some months ago that really changed how people
will be looking at eggs.
I'll explain you why in a moment.
So, today, my main purpose is to bust some eggs related myths and to show you that you
can actually EAT EGGS TO LOWER your blood cholesterol and EVEN BLOOD PRESSURE.
Now, organizations like the American Heart
Association have been demonizing eggs for decades, convincing a lot of people that they
should avoid eating eggs.
BUT, today we know that a lot of the diseases that were imputed to dietary fat and cholesterol
are now well known to be caused BY SUGAR CONSUMPTION.
So, they told us eggs were causing obesity, heart disease and high cholesterol... then,
studies found out that what was really causing all these diseases was sugary foods all the
time.
But still people are afraid of cholesterol in eggs.
Now, that's our main concern with eggs: THEY CONTAIN CHOLESTEROL.
But, where do we trace the line between what's really dangerous about eating eggs and what's
just a myth or disinformation?
Let's clarify one thing immediately.
High blood cholesterol is a real danger for our health.
Higher cholesterol levels are associated with higher risk of heart disease and stroke.
High blood cholesterol is also associated with high blood pressure, the second leading
cause of chronic kidney disease.
So, it is definitely not a myth that high cholesterol levels are dangerous.
Given this assumption, it seems very clear why a lot of people just prefer to avoid eggs
altogether.
There's cholesterol in eggs... so don't eat eggs.
Problem solved, right?...
But, on the other hand, eggs have excellent nutritional values.
And there may be very compelling reasons to still eat them.
Let's see what there is, in an egg.
One large egg weights about 50 grams and contains 78 calories.
There are 5 grams of fat, mostly saturated fat.
There are 6 grams of high quality protein, very nutritional, very digestible protein,
with the perfect amino acid profile.
Really good for your diet.
Then there's some sodium and potassium, not very much.
Basically no carbs.
And then, as you can see, there's cholesterol.
We're talking about 187 milligrams.
We'll get back to this quantity because it's important.
And vitamins.
Eggs are rich in vitamin A, useful for cell growth, immunity and with antioxidant properties.
There's a lot of vitamin D, useful for the health of our bones and teeth.
There's also B6, cobalamin, iron, magnesium... all these micronutrients are very useful for
our body.
So basically, we can see that eggs are rich in antioxidants and vitamins.
And there's high quality protein in them.
Protein is the cornerstone of the correct way of eating.
We call high quality protein all the protein sources that are easy digestible and contain
all the necessary amino acids.
Our body really needs those amino acids.
They are the building blocks of all the tissues in the body.
We can't function without amino acids.
So we need high quality protein on a daily basis, and eggs are great when it comes to
nutritional values.
So, eggs are bad for their cholesterol but good for their high quality protein and vitamins.
Now you may say: Katherine, there are a lot of other sources of high quality protein we
could use instead of eggs... like fatty fish, lean cuts of meat, beans... all of these are
totally free from bad cholesterol.
Even some dairy has less cholesterol than eggs.
So, why even bother with eggs?
Because there are studies showing that dietary cholesterol has a very little connection with
blood cholesterol levels.
Yes, eating cholesterol rich foods won't significantly affect your blood cholesterol levels.
Ok, now wait a minute before rushing to that McDonalds to eat all the cholesterol rich
junk food you have been avoiding for the last ten years.
Dietary cholesterol is still dangerous.
As I was telling you in the first part of the video, there's a very large research,
published just a few months ago on The Journal of the American Medical Association giving
us some new information on dietary cholesterol.
They MAY have found out that there's a direct correlation between number of eggs eaten per
day and the risk for cardiovascular disease.
So it seems like the more cholesterol you eat, the more you are at risk.
This is especially true for people with a predisposition for cholesterol problems
They also gave us a range: 300mg of cholesterol per day.
That should be a safe range for people with cholesterol problems.
Eat less than that if you have high blood cholesterol levels.
One egg yolk contains about 187mg, so remember this number, when doing your meal planning.
Considering the most recent findings, what I'm recommending is to eat egg yolks in moderation.
Don't eat more than 2 or 3 per week.
But, don't obsess with cholesterol in eggs because it is far from proven that dietary
cholesterol is the cause of the problem, especially if you don't have high blood cholesterol levels.
Now, as I was telling you, it's actually possible to use eggs to lower your blood cholesterol
levels.
Let's see how As you can see, all the cholesterol is in
the yolk.
So, if you don't want more cholesterol in your diet, while preparing an omelette or
a frittata with veggies, you just have to discard the yolk and use just the white.
This works because the egg white, which contains only protein, has been proven to actually
lower bad cholesterol levels.
Another study found out that eating just the egg whites can lower blood pressure.
Egg white is as powerful as some common hypertension medications, according to researchers.
This effect is due to a peptide, a fragment of protein, found in the egg white.
So, do you have any friends suffering from high blood pressure or high cholesterol?
Share this video with them, they may find this information useful.
In conclusion, it's better not to eat more than 300mg per day of cholesterol if you suffer
from high cholesterol levels.
But you can definitely eat egg white as a primary source of high quality protein.
This is good and healthy both for kidney patients and for people who just want to follow an
healthy eating plan.
But do not obsess over egg yolks, they're not that bad.
Trans fats, like those present in junk foods, are the unhealthy fats.
And remember that if you're a kidney patient you may need to limit protein too, according
to your kidney disease stage and your renal function.
More info about this in this video.
See you next time!