New Research Shows Eggs Don’t Raise Your Cholesterol—But Here’s What Does

Eggs are probably not responsible for high cholesterol“But new research may have found the real culprit behind the increase in cholesterol levels.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition In July, noted that the saturated fat in food, Not food cholesterol in eggs was linked to higher cholesterol levels. In fact, the participants who ate Two eggs per day For five weeks, I saw Improvement of cholesterol levels.

“When it comes to a cooked breakfast, it is not the eggs you need to worry about – it is the additional bacon service or the side of the sausage which is more likely to have an impact on your heart health,” said Jon Buckley, PHD, author of the senior and executive dean study of the University of Australia allied Health and Human Performance Academic Unit press release.

For years, researchers have gone back and forth on the question of whether eggs increase the cholesterol of low density lipoproteins (LDL) – the “bad” type that can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Indeed, the eggs are filled with cholesterol. A large egg contains about 200 milligrams (MG) of food cholesterol, two thirds of the previously recommended daily limit of 300 mg.

But more recent research has revealed that it is in fact the saturated fat In foods that increase LDL cholesterol. Most high cholesterol foods are also rich in saturated fats, said Buckley HealthBut the eggs have very little (1.6 grams), which sparked the debate.

“For a large part of the last two decades, we have had the fairly strong feeling that it is saturated fats, much more than cholesterol [that raises LDL levels]”” Sean Heffron, MD, preventive cardiologist at the center for the prevention of cardiovascular disease at Nyu Langone Heart, said Health.

The new study put this theory to the test. The researchers divided 61 healthy adults into three groups and made them follow a specific diet for five weeks, turning to live each diet. At the end of the study, 48 people followed the three regimes:

• Check the diet: High cholesterol and high saturated fats, eating a Maximum one egg per week.
• Egg diet: High cholesterol and low saturated fats, eating Two eggs per day.
• Egg -free diet: Low cholesterol and high saturated fats, with No eggs.

The results have shown that saturated fats were linked to an increase in LDL cholesterol, but food cholesterol was not. In addition, compared to the control regime, the egg diet lowered LDL cholesterol (on average 5.7 mg / dl), but the egg -free diet did not do so.

This suggests that Saturated fats increase LDL levels – not food cholesterol, Said Buckley. “We were a little surprised that the effect was so clear,” he added.

It should be noted that the egg nutrition center, a division of the American Egg Board, financed the study.

Although you have been able to assume that eating cholesterol increases your body’s cholesterol level – as experts have done for years – it is not so simple.

Food cholesterol, found in food, is different from blood cholesterol, which refers to cholesterol in your blood, including LDL and cholesterol of high density lipoproteins (HDL).

Most of your blood cholesterol does not come from your diet– It’s done by your liver. Eating a lot of saturated fat can increase your LDL levels, as your liver produces more cholesterol overall and erase less LDL cholesterol from your blood circulation.

Meanwhile, “it is proven that when you increase your food cholesterol intake, your own cholesterol production is reduced to compensate,” said Buckley.

“Food cholesterol is not the villain that he was once considered,” added Melissa Mroz-Planells, DCN, RDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics with private practice in Chicago and Seattle.

Although the message on eggs has changed over time, there is now a large agreement that eggs can be part of a balanced and healthy diet by the heart, said Mroz-Planells Health. Research shows that eating One egg per day is sure for your heart.

But the experts said you may want to limit your eggs to four or five per week if you have a high cholesterol. Michael Miller, MD, cardiologist at Penn Medicine, said Health that the results of the new study cannot be generalized to this group.

For example, eggs can increase LDL levels if you suffer from family hypercholesterolemia, a genetic condition of high LDL cholesterol which affects approximately 1.3 million people in the United States

When your liver cannot regulate cholesterol due to a condition like this, food cholesterol can have a more pronounced impact on LDL levels, said Miller. Other conditions, such as hypothyroidism and several kidney disorders, and certain drugs can also increase LDL cholesterol, he said.

If you are concerned about your cholesterol level, Sharon Palmer, RDN, a nutritionist dietitian from California, suggests sticking to egg whites, because most cholesterol and saturated fats in the eggs are yellow.

Everyone should limit their consumption of saturated fat to support heart health in general, said Buckley. The American Heart Association recommends eating No more than 13 grams of saturated fats per day.