Health-e-Wise
Where Natural Health Meets Longevity and Laughter

Do Eggs Really Increase Your Cholesterol?

By Dr. Eric Berg

As a food, eggs are not just incredible and a near perfect food, they contain ingredients to develop a living, healthy body.  They contain just about all the essential nutrients, including B-1, B-6, folic acid and B-12.  They also contain minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron. Choline and biotin, which are important for energy and stress reduction, are in eggs too. They are complete in all amino acids (protein building blocks) - which are found in the egg yolk.

The fat in the yolk is in nearly perfect balance.  These essential fats are crucial in the regulation of cholesterol.  This is because the antidote to cholesterol is lecithin (helps dissolve cholesterol). And the yolk is loaded with lecithin.  Without these fats in your diet, your risk for heart disease is increased.  Eggs have almost zero carbohydrates.  They also have the highest rating in complete proteins (containing all the amino acids) of any food. Amino acids are necessary for repairing tissue, making hormones and brain chemicals.

But everyone knows people are scared of eating egg yolks because of cholesterol. The fact is most of the cholesterol in our blood is there not because of what we ate; in fact our own liver makes most of our cholesterol.  Our liver produces 75% of the cholesterol in our blood. If cholesterol were so bad why would our body make so much?

1. We only absorb 2-4mg. of cholesterol per day per kilogram
    of body weight. So even if we ate a dozen eggs each day,
    we'd only absorb 300mg. That is the recommended maximum
    per day.

2. The second safeguard we have against cholesterol is what I
    said before; our body makes most of the cholesterol in our
    body. The more cholesterol we eat the less the body will
    make. The less we eat, the more the body makes. Actually,
    every cell in your body makes cholesterol, even your heart
    cells.

The purpose of cholesterol is to regulate the chemicals that enter and exit the cells, to help make hormones, and to insulate and allow our nerves and brain to transfer electricity.  Don't overcook the egg yolk,this will destroy the lecithin.

The Framingham study (the most accepted and long term scientific study), for example, found no relation between egg consumption, blood cholesterol and coronary heart disease.  Modern social trends in the marketing of "food" products such as margarine and fake eggs are partly responsible for the misinformation.  Cereal commercials tell us over and over how healthy their products are despite being filled with sugar.  Ed Ahrens, Jr., professor at Rockefeller University says, "I think the public is being hosed by the NIH (National Institute of Health) and the American Heart Association." 

And one more thing – I have been eating 4-5 organic eggs every morning for the past 6 years and never felt better.

Dr. Berg

Feel free to pass this information on.  To sign up for my health tips, go to my web site at www.nutrition-n-wellness.com.