You can have them scrambled, hardboiled, sunny side up, even poached. It’s the breakfast of champions, the darling of the “tapsilog,” “longsilog,” and “tocilog.”
Eggs. (Chicken eggs.)
You’re going to be eating them for the rest of your life. So it pays to know: Are they a “Go!” or a “No?”
We’ve heard it answered both ways. “Eggs are good for you. Have at them!” “No! Don’t eat eggs, they’ll take you to an early grave.”
Turns out, it’s a harder question than we realize. And we might just be biting off more than we can chew. Here’s why...
Why Are Eggs So Difficult To Pin Down?
Countless studies and researches have been made, budgets have been blown, but why are eggs so hard to crack?
#1 Eggs are difficult to isolate.
Nobody ever really eats just eggs. We eat other foods too!
For breakfast, for example, we have eggs with bacon, longanisa, tapa, and rice. (Then there’s the oil we fry the eggs in.) Eggs are a vital component in cakes, ice cream, and donuts, to name a few. We find eggs in soups, sauces, custards, and mayo.
Any study must deal with this limitation. We can’t say with absolute certainty that the effects we are seeing are because of eggs, and not because of something else. So we take all studies and their results with a grain of salt. Pun intended.
#2 What’s “good” or “bad” hangs on so many factors.
Every time we classify something as “bad” or “good,” we ultimately engage in an oversimplification. This is especially true when it comes to health, the human body, and food.
There are many complex interactions and factors at play here, and these two adjectives might not even be mutually exclusive.
For one, eggs can be good on some level and bad on another.
As something that contains a rainbow of vitamins and minerals, being “good” or “bad” might then depend on the specific nutrients your body needs. Eggs can easily be good for one person and bad for another.
The body is a complex system and different individuals deal with the same substance quite differently, sometimes even in opposite ways. A conclusion that applies to everybody and in every instance just might be like force-fitting a dainty shoe.
#3 We’re learning more things about eggs.
The debate continues. So do the researches. Every morning we eat those eggs for breakfast, we’re also learning more about it.
We’re learning and unlearning things about this most enigmatic and unassuming item on the menu. With better equipment and methodologies, our understanding of eggs, and their specific interactions with the human body is growing by the minute.
We don’t know when we will arrive, if we ever. We only know we are nearer today than yesterday.
In Praise Of Eggs
Not only are they delicious and easy to prepare. Eggs are cheap, readily available, and chockful of vitamins, and minerals.
A typical chicken egg contains:
75 calories
7g of protein
5g of fat
1.6g of saturated fat
There are two elements to each egg. You have the yolk, which has all the nutrients needed by the developing embryo, and then you have the egg white, also called the albumen, which protects the yolk.
These two have different compositions. The yolk contains the bulk of fat, vitamins, and minerals. The egg white, which practically has zero fat, is high in protein. (That’s why some dieters only eat the whites.)
The humble egg is considered by many as a “superfood” because of the basketful of nutrients it contains, including Vitamin A, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Iron, Calcium, Folate, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc, Choline, Iodine, Lutein, and Zeaxanthin.
The human body requires 20 different kinds of amino acids to function properly. Nine of these cannot be synthesized by the body. Guess one of the foods that contain all 9 essential amino acids.
Right! Eggs. They contain the 9 amino acids that can’t be synthesized by the body.
But wait, there’s more! Eggs are known to:
* maintain the proper functioning of cells and tissues
* help the immune system fight infection
* keep bones and muscles strong
* keep hair and nails healthy
* protect the eyes from degeneration
These babies would have been considered the perfect food, if not for one troubling fact. They are high in cholesterol.
The Cholesterol Factor
Cholesterol is a yellowish, waxy substance the body needs to build cell walls.
It also has roles to play in digestion and the production of hormones and vitamins.
Cholesterol is synthesized in the liver--where 70% of the cholesterol in the body is made. The rest is supplemented by the food we eat.
In and of itself, cholesterol is not a bad thing. But in excess, it can be a harbinger of a heart attack or stroke.
Cholesterol in the blood can harden in the arteries, which limits the flexibility of blood vessels as well as narrow them. Over time, cholesterol build-up can practically block blood flow. When this happens in a region feeding an important organ like the heart or the brain, a heart attack or stroke could ensue.
In the 1960s, one of the leading causes of death in America was heart disease. Male, female, white, non-white fell to a host of cardiovascular diseases. High cholesterol, which leads to serious blood flow blockages, was blamed for the mortality numbers in America.
Right around the same time, it was also becoming evident that eggs were carrying high levels of cholesterol. An average egg has around 186 mg of cholesterol, which is already 62% of the recommended daily allowance.
One has simply to connect two and two, and the humble egg was blamed for the kinds of diseases killing Americans. From the darling of the breakfast table, eggs have become a pariah of the food world.
In 1968, the American Heart Association recommended that no more than 3 eggs should be consumed by an individual in a week. And for the next 50 years, especially to the health-conscious crowd, the egg would always have a stigma attached to it.
The Advent Of HDL and LDL
Over the decades, we’ve learned so much about cholesterol. We’ve learned that there are generally two types of cholesterol: High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) and Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL).
One is bad, the other is good.
HDL is considered “good cholesterol” because it carries LDL cholesterol back to the liver where it can be broken down and expelled from the body. (Only 1/4 to 1/3 of the blood cholesterol can be carried off by HDL.)
The remaining LDL, the “bad cholesterol,” is what’s causing damage and blocking the arterial walls. When there’s too much cholesterol remaining in the blood, plaque tends to build up and this condition is known as atherosclerosis.
If you think about it, because of its function, having a high HDL is actually good for an individual and may even help prevent strokes and heart attacks.
Over the years, two findings have brought eggs back to their former place of respectability. First is the discovery that cholesterol in food does not necessarily raise the cholesterol level in the blood. In the 60s, it was believed that cholesterol in food goes straight to the blood and directly impacts an individual’s cholesterol levels.
As it turns out, a high-cholesterol diet will simply signal to the liver to produce less cholesterol. In a study, egg intake didn’t raise blood cholesterol levels in 70% of the subjects. The remaining 30% only experienced a mild impact on LDL.
The second is the discovery that eggs actually help slightly raise HDL or good cholesterol. In one study, 24 healthy subjects added two boiled eggs to their regular diet for 6 weeks. (They were also told to maintain normal lifestyles and routines.) After 6 weeks, their good cholesterol was up 10%.
And if you’re on a carbohydrate restrictive diet, there’s even more good news. In a study of obese men on low-carb diets, eating three eggs a day did not only raised their HDL levels. It reduced their body weight and waist measurements too!
These studies, and many others, have lead the medical community to change their minds about eggs.
Since 2015, egg and cholesterol restrictions were dropped from the influential “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”
So, What’s The Verdict?
Every once in a while, studies that warn about eggs and their negative impact do pop up. But as of this writing, the majority of studies have concluded that cholesterol in food does not have as large or as strong of an impact as was previously believed. Diet cholesterol does not directly impact blood cholesterol—except for a small percentage of the population.
Eggs are having a comeback. Because of its modest influence on HDL levels, it is now being touted as one of the foods that could help protect from cardiovascular diseases.
However, this doesn’t mean people can crack as many shells as they want. Medical advice, as it stands today, is both permissive and hedging. There is now no recommended limit on eggs, but most still advise portion control. “Moderate consumption” is a phrase often used, without giving an exact figure.
Its vilification might have come to a close, but in the end, one has to consume eggs with good judgment and as part of a balanced meal and a healthy lifestyle.
And that…is the last word on eggs. For now.
If you want to know the state of your health, Bloodworks Lab offers a “Well-being Package” that looks into the cholesterol and sugar levels in your blood. Included are a complete blood count, urinalysis, and lipid profiling so that you can maintain your health condition or make adjustments in your diet and lifestyle if necessary.
In addition to being your one-stop-shop for your testing needs, Bloodworks is the first laboratory in the Philippines to offer the Anti Acetylcholine Receptor (lgG) Antibody Test and the Anti N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (Anti NMDA Receptor) Antibody Test.
Our branches are in Alabang, Katipunan, and Cebu.