Cholesterol (myth) and Eggs

[Warboss Alex]

Because you guys seem so hysterical about cholesterol and eggs ..

Among numerous health myths, one particularly skewed belief is that eggs are bad for your heart; however, eating eggs on a daily basis may prove to hold numerous health benefits, especially a decreased risk of heart disease. Research showed that, in healthy adults, eating eggs every day did not produce:

* A negative effect on endothelial function, an aggregate measure of cardiac risk.
* An increase in cholesterol levels.

Additionally, in their effort to blow the "egg myth" out of the water, researchers assessed the effect both egg and oat ingestion had on endothelial function in 49 adults. Participants were assigned to eat two eggs or oats every day for six weeks.

Throughout the study period, researchers noted that flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which measures how well the endothelium acts to keep blood moving by widening the blood vessel, was stable in both groups and did not significantly differ between them.

Effects of Eggs/Oats on Cholesterol

Not only did the results prove that dietary cholesterol from eggs had a much smaller effect on cardiac risk than saturated fat, it also showed that six weeks of:

*

Egg consumption had no effect on total cholesterol or LDL.
*

Oat consumption significantly lowered levels of both total cholesterol and LDL (a finding that may perpetuate a flawed belief that oats may be better for you).

International Journal of Cardiology March 10, 2005; Volume 99, Issue 1, Pages 65-70

 

[Rumpsteak]

Good "news"! I love eggs. How many yolks a day are ok do you reckon?

 

[semag]

i've been throwin down about 6 whole eggs a day.

 

[Visceral]

"Omega Eggs" - feeding chickens a specialized diet results in eggs that have most of the normal saturated fat replaced by omega fatty acids.

 

[Warboss Alex]

How many yolks a day?

123812904702372907590237. On toast. With black pepper and chilli powder.

YOU CANNOT COOKIE-CUTTER THIS STUFF. It all depends on the rest of your diet, your fat intake, is your body okay with eggs, etc ..

I've been on a 24-eggs-a-day eating phase at some point in my life, would I recommend that to anyone here? Unless they had identical genes, dietary disposition, workout regime and protein/fat requirements, then NO.

Eat as many as you think you need, pure and simple. Then adjust accordingly as you monitor results.

"Omega Eggs" - feeding chickens a specialized diet results in eggs that have most of the normal saturated fat replaced by omega fatty acids.

Omega eggs are purely a marketing ploy and give no more benefits than 'normal' eggs. Pouring flaxseed oil over the chicken feed supposedly increases the omega-3 content of the eggs - but eggs aren't deficient in omega-3s or 6s anyway, even with regular feed - and definitely the EFA content isn't altered by different feed.

Stick with flax, fish, walnuts, seeds etc for omega 3s.

And normal eggs contain very little saturated fat, most of it is mono and polyunsaturated fat.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Sorry for the confusion. I wasn't thinking of protein/fat and other basic nutritional values of eggs, just of the cholesterol. I skimmed through some of the studies and they seem to all be based on 1-2 eggs/day. It's obviously individual but I was referring to the cholesterol solely.

Has anybody seen a study of 4+ eggs/day with an otherwise high protein/low sat. fat diet?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Oh, good god mate. You're sounding like an old woman.

A friend of mine is a powerlifter, eats 12-24 eggs a day and his cholesterol is actually lower than the average.

What about the mercury in tuna? You're supposed to have two servings of tuna PER WEEK. I eat three cans a day. Again, so far I haven't got mercury poisoning.

If you're serious about adding some muscle and eating big, then you've got to let go of all these trepiditions - drinks lots and lots of water, take your vitamin/mineral supplements, plenty of fruit and veg, couple all this with exercise and weights and you'll be in perfect health.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Thanks.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Alright pal, calm down. I can understand if you're frustrated with dieting newbies afraid of eating certain foods. For the record, I never believe in any of the crap that is written in newspapers to scare old ladies.

I believe the reason that many are concerned with cholesterol is the fact that heart attacks are a very common cause of death in the western world, whereas mercury poisoning is not. I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm not willing to sacrifice 30 years of my life to be big. Let's face it - certain foods are bad for your health.

This discussion is over, since I'm now convinced that eggs are indeed not a major reason for high blood cholesterol levels unless combined with other unhealthy foods.

Thanks for the input. I'm off to boil some eggs.

Edit: typo

 

[Warboss Alex]

I believe the reason that many are concerned with cholesterol is the fact that heart attacks are a very common cause of death in the western world,

Because everyone sits on their arses all day, is grossly overweight (obese), take no exercise and eat prepared meals packed with saturated fat. THAT'S WHY.

 

[Rumpsteak]

Because everyone sits on their arses all day, is grossly overweight (obese), take no exercise and eat prepared meals packed with saturated fat. THAT'S WHY.

Indeed. I never thought eggs was the reason people died in their fifties, but I wanted to know more about increasing the daily cholesterol intake to 500% of recommended values. I believe saturated fat intake and not exercising are problems of a much higher severity.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Man, you'll find that daily recommended values 1) are cookie-cuttered for a non-existing body template (much like jeans sizes), 2) generally fall short of practical needs and 3) in our, case DO NOT take into account the fact that we're bodybuilders/athletes, not 'average 9-5 office job' people as indeed, most of these RDAs are intended for.

So stuff the RDAs. Have the occasional health check if it makes you feel better, but DO NOT GO BY RDA NUMBERS.

 

[Rumpsteak]

I know. They suck for our purposes and I have never used them. I was just wondering how come they had such a low recommendation in cholesterol intake if this doesn't affect blood cholesterol. I completely understand RDA:s are very counter-productive for building major muscle mass.