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eat your eggs.... umh not the chocolate ones !
March 29, 2002 --
"Eggs are back," says Donald J. McNamara, PhD, executive director of the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, D.C. "They're not the bad guys we used to think they were."
Thirty years ago, eggs were virtually banned from the American diet because of their cholesterol content.
Cholesterol does play a role in heart disease -- "but today, we know that the cholesterol in eggs plays a very minor role," McNamara tells WebMD. "It's saturated fat in the diet that has the biggest impact" -- that's fast food, deep-fried foods, fatty meats, high-fat dairy products, junk food.
The American Heart Association agrees.
"We want people to eat more vegetables and fruit, more whole grains, more fish, more low-fat dairy products, and to reduce the saturated and trans-fat foods," says Barbara Howard, PhD, chairwoman of the AHA's Nutrition Committee. Trans-fats are found in margarine and many other fried and baked products.
In fact, a Harvard study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association two years ago looked at the egg/coronary heart disease issue. Researchers found that consumption of up to one egg per day did not have a significant impact on risk for heart disease or stroke.
The AHA's advice: We should eat 300 mg or less of cholesterol in a day's time. An egg has 200 mg of cholesterol.
More egg-citing news: Those yellow egg yolks contain lutein, a caroteinoid that may protect against the development of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) which leads to heart disease and other disorders, according to a recent study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Lutein has also been shown to protect against age-related macular degeneration (a vision condition that can cause blindness) and to improve long-term memory function. Lutein is also found in deep yellow-colored fruits and vegetables.
Eggs are a high-quality source of protein, 13 essential vitamins and minerals, significant amounts of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, and folate. Eggs also contain choline, an essential nutrient involved in brain function. Choline is transferred to the fetus and newborn, and research indicates it is essential for development of brain centers and long-term memory centers, says McNamara.
Thankfully, salmonella -- a cramping, diarrheal type of infection -- is no longer a big problem in the egg world, McNamara says. "Our industry has incorporated a lot of quality assurance programs over the last 10 years. Salmonella has gone down 48% in the last six years."
Chickens are being vaccinated against salmonella, which has shown to be effective. Also, many eggs are pasteurized before they hit the market. McNamara quotes CDC figures: One egg in 20,000 is internally contaminated. "If you eat a raw egg every single day for 54 years, you wouldn't run into one egg with salmonella."
Only raw and undercooked eggs present the biggest salmonella risk, he says. "The FDA estimates that in food service, maybe as much as 20% are slightly undercooked, so they might be a risk."
March 29, 2002 --
"Eggs are back," says Donald J. McNamara, PhD, executive director of the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, D.C. "They're not the bad guys we used to think they were."
Thirty years ago, eggs were virtually banned from the American diet because of their cholesterol content.
Cholesterol does play a role in heart disease -- "but today, we know that the cholesterol in eggs plays a very minor role," McNamara tells WebMD. "It's saturated fat in the diet that has the biggest impact" -- that's fast food, deep-fried foods, fatty meats, high-fat dairy products, junk food.
The American Heart Association agrees.
"We want people to eat more vegetables and fruit, more whole grains, more fish, more low-fat dairy products, and to reduce the saturated and trans-fat foods," says Barbara Howard, PhD, chairwoman of the AHA's Nutrition Committee. Trans-fats are found in margarine and many other fried and baked products.
In fact, a Harvard study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association two years ago looked at the egg/coronary heart disease issue. Researchers found that consumption of up to one egg per day did not have a significant impact on risk for heart disease or stroke.
The AHA's advice: We should eat 300 mg or less of cholesterol in a day's time. An egg has 200 mg of cholesterol.
More egg-citing news: Those yellow egg yolks contain lutein, a caroteinoid that may protect against the development of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) which leads to heart disease and other disorders, according to a recent study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Lutein has also been shown to protect against age-related macular degeneration (a vision condition that can cause blindness) and to improve long-term memory function. Lutein is also found in deep yellow-colored fruits and vegetables.
Eggs are a high-quality source of protein, 13 essential vitamins and minerals, significant amounts of vitamin B-12, vitamin D, and folate. Eggs also contain choline, an essential nutrient involved in brain function. Choline is transferred to the fetus and newborn, and research indicates it is essential for development of brain centers and long-term memory centers, says McNamara.
Thankfully, salmonella -- a cramping, diarrheal type of infection -- is no longer a big problem in the egg world, McNamara says. "Our industry has incorporated a lot of quality assurance programs over the last 10 years. Salmonella has gone down 48% in the last six years."
Chickens are being vaccinated against salmonella, which has shown to be effective. Also, many eggs are pasteurized before they hit the market. McNamara quotes CDC figures: One egg in 20,000 is internally contaminated. "If you eat a raw egg every single day for 54 years, you wouldn't run into one egg with salmonella."
Only raw and undercooked eggs present the biggest salmonella risk, he says. "The FDA estimates that in food service, maybe as much as 20% are slightly undercooked, so they might be a risk."
