They may have gotten a bad rap from the cholesterol counters.
When it concerns the fitness of body, mind or spirit, the editors at American Health are there, staying on top of up-to-date medical research, separating fads from facts, and helping you preserve and improve life's most precious gift—your good health. Here are just a few items culled from recent and upcoming issues, including the continuing eggs/cholesterol controversy.
The results are in: Eggs from hens allowed to range on pasture are a heck of a lot better than thos...
Since antiquity, people worldwide have used garlic to prevent and combat a long list of infectious ...
Tests show free-range eggs are more nutritious and have half the cholesterol of supermarket eggs....
Have an eco-friendly Easter by coloring eggs with plant-based dyes, or preparing eggs from 'Easter-...
Garlic and other foods can help you battle the unseen dangers of the plaque monster....
Eggs are one of nature's most economical and nutritious foods. At 80 calories, one egg has about as much fat as an ounce of mozzarella cheese—and egg fat is less saturated. It also provides six grams of high-quality protein (more than 10% of the daily requirement) and good amounts of vitamins A, D and B-12 and iron. But that same egg also provides about 275 milligrams of cholesterol, close to the 300 milligram limit recommended by the American Heart Association for an entire day. The concern is that eating too much cholesterol will raise blood cholesterol—a known risk factor for heart disease.
Recent research, however, suggests that the amount of cholesterol in the diet may be less important than the amount of total fat and saturated fat. Eating eggs, for example, doesn't always increase blood cholesterol, and taking them away doesn't always lower it. Many people compensate for added cholesterol in the diet by making less in their bodies. (About four-fifths of the cholesterol in our blood is made internally, and only about a quarter to a third of healthy people respond to excess dietary cholesterol with increased levels in the blood.)
Saturated fat and cholesterol are usually lumped together because they occur together in so many foods. For example, three ounces of lean ground chuck has about 87 milligrams of cholesterol, but beef fat is about 50% saturated—more than chicken and much more than fish. Eggs, on the other hand, contribute 10% to 30% of our dietary cholesterol, but only 2% to 4% of our dietary fat. That makes eggs one of the few high-quality proteins that are moderately low in fat—and calories. And, depending on what else you eat, those benefits can offset the danger of cholesterol in eggs.
"Excluding eggs is the least effective way of dealing with a high cholesterol level," says University of Arizona nutrition researcher Dr. Donald McNamara.
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