Does eating eggs raise my cholesterol or is bad for my heart? This is a question that I frequently get whenever I am delivering my public talks and nutrition consultation.
Why Does Eggs Has This Bad Rep?
Egg yolk contains high amount of cholesterol, where one yolk could contain around 178 mg of cholesterol (i.e. around 60% of the earlier recommended intake of 300 mg per day). Back then, as it is known that high level of cholesterol in the blood can promote atherosclerosis, it was logical to avoid excessive cholesterol intake from our food.
What Does Recent Research Says?
Research has shown that most of the cholesterol in our body is synthesize by our liver and it does not derived from dietary cholesterol. However, our liver is stimulated to produce cholesterol upon consumption of saturated fat and trans fat (i.e. made through the chemical process of hydrogenation of oils) from food.
Sources of Saturated Fat
· Animal fats (e.g. lard, poultry skin, fatty meat)
· Butter
· Ghee
· Palm oil
· Coconut oil
Sources of Trans Fat
· Commercially deep-fried food
· Pastries
· Cakes
· Biscuits
· Vegetable shortening
· Hydrogenated / Partially-hydrogenated oils
In essence, consuming saturated fat and/or trans fat would raise cholesterol more than from dietary cholesterol.
Does It Means That I Can Eat More Eggs?
Eggs are not only easy to prepare, but they are also packed with various nutrients. For instance, egg yolk and the albumin in egg white contain various beneficial nutrients such as choline, which is good for the brain and nerves, lutein and zeaxanthin which are good for eyes and vitamins such as vitamin A, B (riboflavin, folic acid, B12) and D that are essential for our body functions. In fact, just a single egg would contain around 6g of protein, which is equivalent to around 12% of our daily recommended needs – recommended protein intake estimated based on 0.8 g per kg of bodyweight for a 65 kg person.
For most healthy individuals, consuming one or two eggs a day will not increase their blood cholesterol significantly and will provide many good nutrients. However, for a small percentage of people (i.e. particularly individual who have diabetes and very high blood cholesterol levels due to genetic factors), it is recommended that they discuss with their doctors/nutritionist as their cholesterol (i.e. particularly bad cholesterol) will rise more than others when they consume food containing cholesterol.
Nonetheless, how you prepare your eggs and how you cook the eggs matter greatly as well. The saturated fat in cheese, butter, bacon and sausage would raise your blood cholesterol much more than the cholesterol in eggs.
Nutrition Content Of Eggs Cooked with Different Methods
Poached Egg (1 whole)
Photography Credit: Elise Bauer
Nutrition Information
Calories: 75 kcal
Protein: 6.2 g
Total fat: 5.6 g
Saturated fat: 1.7 g
Cholesterol: 214 mg
Carbohydrate: 0.2 g
Dietary Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 43.5 mg
Hard Boiled Egg (1 whole)
Photography Credit: Jamielyn Nye
Nutrition Information
Calories: 73 kcal
Protein: 6.4 g
Total fat: 5.3 g
Saturated fat: 1.6 g
Cholesterol: 208 mg
Carbohydrate: 0.1 g
Dietary Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 60 mg
Omelette with Cheese (1 portion)
Nutrition Information
Calories: 129 kcal
Protein: 9.6 g
Total fat: 9.2 g
Saturated fat: 4.9 g
Cholesterol: 102.5 mg
Carbohydrate: 2.1 g
Dietary Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 662.4 mg
Sunny Side Up (1 whole)
Photography Credit: David Rosengarten
Nutrition Information
Calories: 134 kcal
Protein: 6 g
Total fat: 12.1 g
Saturated fat: 5.7 g
Cholesterol: 187 mg
Carbohydrate: 0.4 g
Dietary Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 78.6 mg
Scrambled Egg (1 portion)
Photography Credit: Alex Lau
Nutrition Information
Calories: 163 kcal
Protein: 10.4 g
Total fat: 13.5 g
Saturated fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 314 mg
Carbohydrate: 0.4 g
Dietary Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: 244 mg
How do you like to enjoy your eggs?
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