Eggs and weight loss

by Jonny Bowden, M.A.

Recently, I've heard that eating whole eggs is healthier than eating egg whites or fat-free substitutes. But, traditional wisdom seems to suggest that eggs are bad, so I'm confused. Can you explain?

answer

Eggs are one of nature's near-perfect foods. They contain an easily digestible form of protein, plus loads of other valuable compounds and nutrients. With rare exceptions, there isn't any reason to avoid them, despite what you may have heard.

The reasons dietitians and traditional medical experts have recommended avoiding eggs in the past is because of two substances in eggs that continue to suffer from a terrible reputation: cholesterol and fat. Fat is a subject worth a column all its own, so we'll save that for another time. Right now, let's look closely at cholesterol.

Cholesterol is crucial for every cell in the body, and around 80 percent of cholesterol in the body is produced by the body itself, regardless of how much of it you eat or don't eat.

Most of your body's cholesterol is found within the cells, where it has all kinds of positive effects. Only about 7 percent of the body's store of cholesterol is in the blood, and even then it doesn't do any real damage until it oxidises and begins to stick to our arterial walls. Nature, in her infinite wisdom, also created the egg complete with its own built-in antioxidant. It's called lecithin, and it helps prevent egg cholesterol from becoming a problem. Interestingly, lecithin is found in the yolk, which many people mistakenly discard because it contains cholesterol.

The real point is this: Dietary cholesterol has virtually no effect on serum cholesterol (in our blood). Even Dr. Ancel Keys, author of the famous 'Seven Countries' study that gave rise to the whole fat/cholesterol/heart disease madness in the first place, has said: 'There's no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in the blood. None. And we've known that all along.'

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Eggs and weight loss