Many people shun eggs as part of their meals and snacks because of the high cholesterol content. But you shouldn’t miss eating this nutritious food due to this unproven effect to our health.
The part of the egg that contains high cholesterol is the egg yolk. Just one egg can give about 186 mg of cholesterol and that’s already equivalent to more than half of cholesterol RDA.
The Real Story behind the Cholesterol on Eggs
While it is true that eggs are high in cholesterol, you shouldn’t avoid eating them. It is believed that eating foods that are cholesterol-rich can raise the cholesterol in the blood. As a result, heart disease risk increases as well. But this isn’t completely true. In fact, the more you eat cholesterol-rich foods, the less amount of cholesterol your body produces.
When we read the word “cholesterol,” we often see it as a negative term. We think about heart attacks, early death, and taking lots of medication. But cholesterol isn’t entirely bad. Our body produces and uses cholesterol for every single cell membrane.
Cholesterol is also used to create hormones, such as cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone. It is a part of our existence and the liver even produces it. When we consume foods with high cholesterol, the liver will produce less of it.
How Many Eggs Should We Eat Daily?
There are conflicting reports regarding the healthy number of eggs we can consume every day. For decades, we have been told to limit our consumption of eggs, particularly egg yolks since they are the ones loaded with the feared cholesterol. People, especially bodybuilders, eat the whites and throw the yolk because the whites are high in protein and have low cholesterol. But egg yolks are more nutritious than the whites, since they have the nutrients your body needs, including:
- Zinc
- Folate
- Calcium
- Lecithin
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
In general, two to six yolks are said to be the best range for egg consumption. But if you like eggs, there’s no need to limit your intake, especially because studies have failed to provide the reason for these limitations.
There are plenty of reasons why you should eat eggs, so you shouldn’t eliminate them from your diet just because of the cholesterol – unless you’re allergic to them. What’s more, eating eggs can also protect the heart, improve eyesight and memory, and even help lose weight.