Eggs are eggselent!

May 6, 2009

I was talking to a friend recently who seemed unaware that the great debate on the cholesterol contained in eggs had been overturned. As she loves her egg and toast soldiers she was limiting herself to one a week but it is now over two years since the British Heart Foundation (BHF) accepted that the evidence on eggs contributing to high blood cholesterol was unfounded.

Research at the University of Surrey has also recently confirmed that the evidence that eggs raise cholesterol levels is based on out-of-date evidence from research done on powdered eggs.

Eggs are little powerhouses of nutrition, containing protein, essential amino acids, vitamins B, D, A, and riboflavin, and minerals, including calcium, potassium, and iron. They are also one of the few good sources of sulphur, which is essential for oxygen transport in the cells – see the story on swine flu. A lack of oxygen can lead to increased cancer risk as well as encouraging fungus, bacteria and mould in the body as they cannot survive when good supplies of oxygen are present.

Yet another reason to have a healthy, real, diet and why were they testing powdered eggs anyway and not actual eggs? Those previous finding for high cholesterol were based on the fact that the problem has always been oxidised cholesterol – cholesterol heated and exposed to air for an extended period. So a boiled egg presents no problem because the yolk sac insulates the cholesterol from oxidation – line up those toast soldiers and plan a long campaign!

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