What Causes High Cholesterol? The Truth About Eggs and Cholesterol Levels
We’ve often been told to limit egg consumption or avoid the egg yolk due to the cholesterol. Is that true? Since there is so much misconception around eggs, let’s dive into the research on dietary fats and cholesterol.
Nutritional Facts About Eggs
First, what is the nutritional value of eggs? In terms of cholesterol, one egg and its yolk, contains 200 mg. There are also 2 grams of saturated fat and 6 g of protein—all that totals about 75 calories.
200 mg cholesterol
2 g saturated fat
6 g protein
75 calories
To give context to what this means in terms of cholesterol, The American Heart Association recommends limiting your daily cholesterol intake to about 300 mg.
I know you may thinking that's a lot of cholesterol, so is it safe to eat eggs frequently? To answer this question, we first have to lay down a foundation of how cholesterol works in our bodies.
How Cholesterol Works in the Human Body
Research has shown that our bodies produce about 75% of our cholesterol. Only about 25% of our cholesterol is from what we eat.
75 percent of cholesterol is made by the body
25 percent comes from food
That means that our body’s cholesterol levels don’t necessarily go up just just because we eat more cholesterol. When we take in more cholesterol through diet, the body compensates by producing less of it through an internal regulating system.
Most individuals have a marginal change in serum cholesterol in response to dietary cholesterol. In other words, the cholesterol level in your blood only goes up a little when you eat more. This is due to feedback regulation. The body detects more cholesterol in what you eat and lowers the amount it makes in response.
The take-home message here is that eating foods high in cholesterol, particularly eggs, does not mean your cholesterol levels will increase.
Are Eggs Safe to Eat? What the Research Says
Let's go back to the question are eggs safe to consume regularly, given what we now know about cholesterol regulation and their cholesterol content? There's been numerous clinical trials conducted on children, women, men, and older adults consuming additional cholesterol in the form of two to three eggs a day over four weeks.
The results have shown either no or minimal changes in their serum cholesterol. In addition, a case study was done on an 88-year-old man who compulsively ate 20 to 30 eggs a day for years. Surprisingly, his serum cholesterol levels were normal. This means that most people who consume eggs frequently can regulate their cholesterol levels without adverse effects on their serum cholesterol.
Are There Benefits to Eating Eggs?
For most, eggs are safe and will not increase your cardiovascular disease risk. In fact, they're:
Low in saturated fats
Amazing sources of protein
A dietary source of Vitamin d
Good source of antioxidants- lutein
The short answer is that moderate egg consumption, including egg yolks, can be part of a healthy diet and heart healthy lifestyle. I'm not recommending you eat them every day, but it's okay to lean toward them rather than be fearful of them.
Risk Factors for Dietary Cholesterol and Disease Control
However, I do want to make a note here that there is a small subgroup of people who are more sensitive to dietary cholesterol. For them, the response to eating more eggs was a slightly higher serum cholesterol level. So, if you're a part of that group, it is definitely a good idea to be more mindful of your cholesterol intake.
What Will Make Your Cholesterol Worse?
So, if eggs don't make cholesterol worse, what does?
First, we need to understand that there are two types of cholesterol.
One is low density lipoprotein (LDL), which we consider the "bad" cholesterol. LDL can block your arteries and lead to an increased risk of heart disease, including coronary artery disease. LDL cholesterol comes mostly from trans fat found in processed foods, which contain partially hydrogenated oil. That's why going through the drive-through is typically less healthy than cooking food at home.
The other one, high density lipoprotein (HDL), we consider "good" cholesterol because it will remove LDL cholesterol from the body. It grabs onto the LDL cholesterol in the body and carries it back to the liver for removal.
What Raises LDL Cholesterol Levels?
Trans and saturated fat intake have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases through their effect on increasing concentrations of low density lipoprotein. You should avoid trans fat as much as possible and limit your saturated fat intake.
Trans Fat's Role in Total Cholesterol
Most trans fat is a result of processed foods. Processing often adds hydrogen to vegetable oil, which causes fats to solidify, similar to lard. That makes food less likely to spoil but also creates an unhealthy product that raises blood cholesterol levels and increases risk of heart disease.
Saturated Fat's Role in Cholesterol Blood Levels
You can also get some LDL cholesterol from saturated fats. While not as harmful as trans, saturated fats in large quantities can negatively impact your health. Saturated fats are naturally occurring. The fat marbling you see in a piece of beef is saturated fat. It is also found in chicken skin, or on pork products like ham. Coconut oil is another source of saturated fat.
Major dietary sources of saturated fat in the United States are dairy products and red meat. Supporting this is the Lyon Diet Heart Study where participants adopted more of a Mediterranean-style diet focused on reducing saturated fats and increasing fiber. This was found to be associated with a 72% reduction of recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with prior heart attacks.
The take-home message here is that dietary cholesterol is not the culprit; rather, it is saturated and trans fats in our diet that increase our cholesterol and put us at risk for adverse chronic diseases. You should avoid trans fat as much as possible and limit your saturated fat intake.
What are Healthy Fats?
As a society, we have been trained to think eating more fats means we will get fatter. As a result, we've become fearful and maybe avoid them altogether. The good form of fat, or healthy fats, provide the healing type of cholesterol, HDL.
Monosaturated Fats
Healthy fats are cardio-protective, meaning they are good for the heart. While trans fat will block your arteries putting you at risk for a heart attack or stroke, monounsaturated fats help clear away the gunk to open them back up. A monosaturated fat is are usually liquid at room temperature but solidify when chilled.
Examples of heart healthy monosaturated fats include:
Olive oil
Avocados
Nuts
Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fats are also a form of healthy fats which remove LDL from the body. Like monosaturated fats, they are typically liquid at room temperature and solidify when chilled. The difference between monosaturated and polyunstaurated fats is the number of carbon bonds in the molecule.
Examples of polyunsaturated fats include:
Salmon
Mackerel
Sardines
Flaxseed
Chia seeds
The Mighty Take Home Message on Cholesterol and Disease Risk
So during my research, I came to a few conclusions:
Cholesterol levels and their relationship to cardiovascular disease are complicated and yet to be fully understood.
Studies have shown that high LDL is bad, but very low can also lead to a higher risk of mortality. So, the truth is somewhere in between.
There's no perfect diet. There are numerous studies out there that contradict the benefits of one over another.
Moderation is key.
We here at Mighty Health don't believe in being extreme. Instead, we prefer just being consistent. What I'm trying to say is that deep down many of us know what foods are good for us and what foods are not.
We all know sodas, candy, fried foods, and baked goods are not good for us. We also know that we should eat more vegetables.
Every day we can only put so much in our bodies so we constantly have to ask ourselves what we are trading off and if it is the healthy option. For breakfast, how many of us attempt to avoid eating too many eggs but reach for milk and cereal instead? As a result, we fill our bodies with refined sugars that we know are not good for them. If we would just eat two boiled eggs, we not only stay full longer but get a good source of protein and healthy cholesterol in our bodies.
For dinner or out of fear of eating meat and avoiding a quality piece of steak, maybe we reach for a bowl of pasta drowned in sauce. The steak does contain some saturated fats, but it is also rich in protein and keeps you full longer. That bowl of pasta, on the other hand, is loaded with carbs that ultimately break down into sugar.
My takeaway here is to swap out some of the extra carbs and sugars and lean to healthy fats and veggies.
My Favorite Breakfast
Before I wrap up this episode, I want to leave you with one of my favorite breakfasts involving whole eggs. In fact, I just made it this morning.
Put two eggs carefully into a pot of water and boil gently for six and a half minutes. This will give you the perfect soft-boiled eggs with an amazing yolk consistency. I have them with a splash of ponzu or citrus-based soy sauce. I also put them over a bed of arugula with a splash of salad dressing. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Okay, I look forward to connecting with you all again soon, and if you want more written content about these topics feel free to check out the lesson tracks in your Mighty Health app. For those not part of our mobile app family, check us out and Mightyhealth.com for more. We're striving every day to be the modern holistic home for healthy aging.
