Eggs are Egg-cellent

Interesting article...
I find it sort of interesting that it conflicts with the advice given via the SP nutrition tracker. If I had two eggs for breakfast I'd already be over the amount of dietary cholesterol recommended for my calorie range. When I do go over the range, the nutrition feedback cautions to be careful how much cholesterol you consume.

If all the studies quoted in this article are true about dietary cholesterol not necessarily raising blood cholesterol, why is the nutrition tracker and feedback cautioning me? - 12/19/2012 8:06:11 AM

I love eggs and never really gave them up. Read 'The Fat Flush' by Ann Louise Gittleman and she wrote that the main reason the industry demonized eggs was to promote the cereal industry and I truly believe that to be true. Long live the egg. I usually eat and make Egglands Best eggs because of the higher Omega 3 content and lower Saturated fat due to the fact that the hens are fed an all-natural, all vegetarian diet with no animal fats or animal by-products, hormones or antibiotics. That sells me. - 12/8/2012 9:53:58 PM

See my beloved egg isn't so "evil" moderation and the way you prepare them is key. I eat usually hard boiled and pouched eggs. I feel like I have a tone of energy when I eat 2 eggs with my apple (sometimes other fruit) and some sort of granola either with yogurt or bar from. That has been the best combo for energy for me. - 9/19/2012 9:41:59 AM

Having raised chickens for eggs over the past 10 years, the information about eggs doesn't seem quite right. I don't know anything about the nutrient value but I can tell you from experience that the my free range hens are not vegetarian. Chickens are in fact naturally carnivorous because they love to eat insects, bugs, beetles, worms, moths, etc.

Even being fed flax and organic feed my heirloom breed chickens naturally forage, far and wide. Crack open any egg from the store and put it next to our eggs and the color is obvious. Pale lemon compared to bright and shiny orange. And the test is rich and flavorful.

I live down the road from a cage-free chicken farm. They truck the eggs from here in Wisconsin to California. Walk in the front door of the clean offices and the first thing that hits your nose is the horrendous smell. The cage free eggs are in giant rooms with skylights and are packed together like sardines in a can. No foraging happens there. I know a man who works there and he says they collect the dead birds every morning. I sell my eggs for between $2 and $4 dollars and people can't get enough of them. Real free range chickens produce tasty eggs. I cannot believe that they aren't more nutritious as well.
- 8/4/2012 11:10:48 AM

Don't throw out that yolk! It has so much good stuff in it (such as choline).

Dietary cholesterol DOES NOT EQUAL blood cholesterol! Eat a few eggs and don't feel guilty about it. Damn "nutritionists"..
. - 5/17/2012 2:48:44 PM

Egglands Best eggs, on their nutrition label say they have only 174mg cholesterol, this is the egg that is allegedly from vegetarian fed hens. I think they can't put that on their label if it is not true so I always but these "designer" eggs and eat them several times a week for breakfast. Having an egg with whole wheat toast for breakfast leaves me satisfied until lunch. - 5/4/2012 8:14:51 AM

I have 6 chooks on my property, although we don't get many eggs from them now, they're all fairly old in chook terms! We have 2 new girls arriving tomorrow so I am really looking forward to adding fresh eggs to my nutrition - YUM - 4/8/2012 3:53:37 PM

One thing to remember is that while eggs contain cholesterol they also contain lecithin, which can help prevent the body from absorbing cholesterol. Of course, this doesn't mean you can eat eggs with abandon. - 2/6/2012 4:15:32 PM

I love eggs, and I love all your egg puns. I used to have backyard chickens, and when they were laying a lot of eggs I was eating 2 or more every day. At all my checkups my cholesterol levels are in the very healthy range. My doctor even asked my what my secret was! I told her I chose my ancestors wisely. - 12/8/2011 12:42:57 PM

If eggs are so good for you, then why are they never on my meal plan? I eat them anyway. - 12/6/2011 2:50:36 PM

I am so glad I live where I do. I have no problem eating meat / consuming food from animals, but I am glad that hormones, antibiotics, tiny cages etc are not part of my province's chicken farming / egg production practices. Luckily the largest Chicken / egg producer in Canada is located in my province as well!
I have done a good bit of research into Canada's egg / milk / meat industry and I'm much more comfortable now. I get eggs from a friend of mine who has some hens, but only occasionally.
Still, ideally we'd all be able to afford to raise our own meat / buy local organic! Ah, a girl can dream :)
- 12/6/2011 10:10:28 AM

Wow, what a little debate we have going on here!

Personally, I eat an average of one egg and two egg whites per day. My cholesterol is a tad bit high (228) but my HDL and LDL are equal. When I had my Navy health assessment, I was told that a general practitioner would likely look at my overall number and freak out, instead of looking at my amazing ratio and realizing that I'm going to live forever. (No, seriously, that's what she said -- she was practically doing back-flips that someone who wasn't an admiral came in with triple-digit HDL).

She suggested I take a fiber supplement to help lower my LDL for the sake of less knowledgeable general practitioners.

For all these studies that show eggs and meat are bad for your heart, I wonder about the quality of the food. I don't shy away from meat, but since I can't afford organic, grass-fed meat, I stick to lean meat and add a little bit of "good" fats. I do think that's key. Someone who is eating ground beef in a tube from the grocery store is eating meat from an animal that had no grazing space, was given antibiotics and hormones to help it grow faster, and ate a grain diet instead of its natural grass diet. That's one unhappy, unhealthy cow, and eating too much of that would surely lead to an unhealthy human. I won't touch the stuff. That's not food.

I would love to see if there were any studies that compared the quality of meat and its effects on humans, but I'm not sure something like that would get funded. So I continue to eat my way and just hope for the best! - 12/6/2011 6:51:58 AM

The AHA says 213 mg. of cholesterol. Anyway, as I posted before, ask your doctor, and here's more from the American Heart Association (link: http://www.heart.
org/HEARTORG/
Conditions/Ch
olesterol/Pre
ventionTreatm
entofHighChol
esterol/Commo
n-Misconcepti
ons-about-Cho
lesterol_UCM_305638_Article.jsp).

I recently read that eggs are not so bad for your cholesterol after all, so I guess I can go back to having my two eggs for breakfast every morning.

One egg contains about 213 milligrams of dietary cholesterol. The daily recommended cholesterol limit is less than 300 milligrams for people with normal LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. An egg can fit within heart-healthy guidelines for those people only if cholesterol from other sources — such as meats, poultry and dairy products — is limited. For example, eating one egg for breakfast, drinking two cups of coffee with one tablespoon of half-and-half each, lunching on four ounces of lean turkey breast without skin and one tablespoon of mayonnaise, and having a 6-ounce serving of broiled, short loin porterhouse steak for dinner would account for about 510 mg of dietary cholesterol that day — nearly twice the recommended limit. If you're going to eat an egg every morning, substitute vegetables for some of the meat, or drink your coffee without half-and-half in the example above. And remember that many other foods, especially baked goods, are prepared with eggs — and those eggs count toward your daily cholesterol limit. People with high LDL blood cholesterol levels or who are taking a blood cholesterol-lower
ing medication should eat less than 200 mg of cholesterol per day. Learn more about cooking for lower cholesterol. - 12/9/2010 3:53:55 PM

The most relevant comment for me is from TEAGIRL3:

"I just checked the American Heart Association's website and they recommend eating the egg whites only.

I don't know who has the better study here, but I think to be on the safe side I'll go with the more current info (since the study quoted is 10 years old)."

I looked up SP info. and found that a poached large egg has 211 mg. of cholesterol. That's a fairly substantial amount. SP should not recommend levels of egg consumption; instead, it should advocate strongly that you ASK YOUR DOCTOR about what is healthy for you. To do otherwise is irresponsible.

Please note also that SP receives MAJOR ADVERTISING DOLLARS from Egg Companies. Of course, SP needs advertising revenue, this at least raises questions about potential conflicts of interest, and the need for an SP full disclosure policy. - 12/9/2010 3:26:19 PM

In Canada the terms "free range" and "organic" are highly regulated, so it does benefit Canadians to purchase these eggs for whatever reason you are motivated to do so (I buy free range). - 12/7/2010 1:08:31 AM