Whole eggs and cholesterol

[dogtags]

So at consuming 4 whole eggs every morning I'm ingesting about 700mg of cholesterol. AHA reccOmends staying under 300. Should I just eat egg whites? Or 1 whole egg and the rest whites?

[MuscleInk]

This may not fully answer your question but here's an answer I posted for another member:

There are are an infinite number of threads on eggs, egg whites, raw vs., cooked, etc. I've been reading up on them this past week for the very same question. I've seen various opinions on many levels. Some say cooking an egg degrades the protein and bioavilability' others have said there is greater bioavilability if you cook it. Some have said never eat a raw egg; others have said raw eggs are safe IF (1) the are organic, (2) pasturized, and/or (3) as long as the shell is cleaned since the salmonella and listeria variants are typically on the outer shell of the egg.

I have started adding egg whites to my protein shakes along with oats and extra virgin olive oil (and occassionally greek yogurt). The other thing I started doing with my raw whole eggs is bringing a pot of water to full boil. Shut the heat source off. Immediately add raw whole egss to water for TWO minutes. Remove eggs. Carefully peel back the top section of the shell. The egg inside is still largely uncooked except the egg whites will have started to cook - slightly. I usually add a pinch of salt on top, then I throw the egg back and suck out the contents. Admittedly it takes some getting used to but after awhile its a piece of cake.

Here's a few things to know about eggs:

The CDC and other public health organizations will advise you to thoroughly cook your eggs to lower the risk of salmonella, but eating eggs RAW is actually the best in terms of your health. While this may sound like a scary proposition for many, it's important to realize that salmonella risk comes from chickens raised in unsanitary conditions. These conditions are the norm for CAFO's (confined animal feeding operations), but are extremely rare for small organic/free range farms. In fact, one study by the British government found that 23 percent of farms with caged hens tested positive for salmonella, compared to just over 4 percent in organic flocks and 6.5 percent in free-range flocks.

So, as long as you're getting fresh pastured eggs, your risk of getting ill from a raw egg is quite slim. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, of the 69 billion eggs produced annually in the United States, some 2.3 million are contaminated with Salmonella--equivalent to just one in every 30,000 eggs.

While eggs are often one of your most allergenic foods, I believe this is because they are typically cooked too much. Heating the egg protein actually changes its chemical shape, and this distortion can easily lead to allergies. If you consume your eggs in their raw state, the incidence of egg allergy virtually disappears. I also believe eating eggs raw helps preserve many of the highly perishable nutrients such as lutein and zeaxanthin, which are powerful prevention elements for age-related macular degeneration, which is the most common cause of blindness.

The egg white is usually what most people object to when they say they don't like the texture of raw egg. If this is an issue, consider discarding the egg white, or simply blend the whole raw egg into a shake or smoothie. Beware of consuming raw egg whites without the yolks as raw egg whites contain avidin, which can bind to biotin. If you cook the egg white the avidin is not an issue. Likewise, if you consume the whole raw egg (both yolk and egg white) there is more than enough biotin in the yolk to compensate for the avidin binding.

If you choose not to eat your eggs (or just egg yolk) raw, soft-boiled would be your next best option. Scrambling your eggs is one of the worst ways to eat eggs as it actually oxidizes the cholesterol in the egg yolk. If you have high cholesterol this may actually be a problem for you as the oxidized cholesterol may cause some damage in your body.

[dogtags]

Definately ruled out scrambling lol.

As for the cholesterol, still unclear if 4 whole eggs a day is actually doing more harm than good

[MuscleInk]

I'd say 4 eggs a day is fine. I know guys that eat up to 12 whole eggs a day and have never had any issues.

In addition to whole eggs, I throw whites into my home made protein shakes and smoothies.

[yannick35]

staturated fat = cholesterol production = testosterone. also Coconut oil excellent.

I can eat 4-6 whole eggs per day after my fasting no issues either, last year i was anemic, went red meat, whole eggs, got blood test everything came back fine.

Process foods, sugar will wreak havoc on your health a lot more then natural foods.

[MuscleInk]

staturated fat = cholesterol production = testosterone. also Coconut oil excellent.

I can eat 4-6 whole eggs per day after my fasting no issues either, last year i was anemic, went red meat, whole eggs, got blood test everything came back fine.

Process foods, sugar will wreak havoc on your health a lot more then natural foods.

Yup. What's making most people sick are the processed foods with leeched nutrients and poor overall diet.

[biglil]

good read

[gbrice75]

4 eggs/day is nothing... I wouldn't give it a second thought. The whole eggs = high cholesterol hype is way overblown imo.

[Times Roman]

i eat 8 whole eggs every day (throwninto my oats) and last blood test came out fine.

but be careful, part of this is genetic as my dad also has perfect cholesterol and he is 74

[gbrice75]

^^ good point. We're not all created equally. Regular bloodwork (at least once a year assuming you're not using anything that would require more frequent visits ) is necessary no matter what you're eating IMO.

[eightythree]

This is anecdotal, but my diet consists of mostly red meat for protein/fats, beans/potatoes/rice for carbs, and nuts for additional fats. I have never had an issue with my cholesterol levels, my last check it at 179 total cholesterol with 120 mg/dl triglycerides.