I love eggs. I personally eat about 3 eggs a day, usually in the morning, as part of my diet. In the past there has been some uncertainty or controversy surrounding the consumption of eggs.
Eggs are convenient, can be cooked in many different ways, can be used in recipes or added to meals to increase protein and healthy fats and, at one point in time, they were cheap. The problem with eggs has always been the cholesterol, right? Your humble egg contains approximately 187 mg of cholesterol when the daily recommended allowance of cholesterol is ( was) 300mg a day attributing it to increased cardiovascular risk.
The fact is that cholesterol is a large lipid molecule that is poorly absorbed by our body. Cholesterol is essential for the function of every cell in our body and the precursor to things like sex hormones, cortisol, endocrine hormones, endogenous Vitamin D production and is the building blocks of every cell in our body. When your body requires more cholesterol transport molecules in the intestines are activated allowing dietary cholesterol to enter the bloodstream which is then encapsulated and transported via lipids to be either stored or utilized. To summarize, cholesterol isn’t bad for you, dietary cholesterol largely isn’t absorbed by your body and , in 2023 , the American Heart Association no longer uses a daily allowance as a measure for cholesterol intake(1), however, foods with higher cholesterol are often associated with higher levels of saturated fatty which can contribute to arthrogenesis and disease with the exception of shellfish and, yes, eggs.
Eggs do contain a small amount of saturated fat but also Omega-3 fatty acids which can be found in higher amounts in fortified eggs.
1)Michael Merschel, American Heart Association News
