Many people associate eating eggs with high cholesterol. Truth or myth? How much cholesterol does an egg have? How many eggs can you eat before having a heart attack?
Among the most widespread nutritional myths, we have probably come across the “incredible danger” that eggs pose to the health of your arteries and the increase in cholesterol. However, eggs are not an absurd trigger of cholesterol, nor is it as bad as they make it out to be. In fact, cholesterol is a substance necessary for the body’s metabolism. As long as we do not add “too much” of it, this lipid is, in fact, essential for life. Something similar happens with eggs: as long as we do not overdo it, they are an incredibly nutritious food. And when can we consider that we have gone too far?
Cholesterol and eggs, are they bad?
Is it bad to drink water? Is it bad to eat? Is it bad to breathe? The answer to these three questions is: “it depends.” But in general terms we can safely answer no. Something similar happens with eggs and cholesterol. Neither of these things falls into the category of bad for health. If we are more fussy we can go to the “it depends” category. This is conditioned by excess, just like eating, drinking, or breathing.
In fact, cholesterol, which is so demonized, is a necessary and vital fat for metabolic development. Our cells use it to form the little pieces that allow them to do everything they do. Hypolipidemia is a metabolic disease in which there is a deficit of cholesterol (and other lipids), and it can be very serious. On the other hand, eggs are, as we will see, an excellent food. It is estimated that an adult can eat between 7 and 18 eggs during the week without it being a problem. This is a figure very far from the three per week that the myth suggests.
This probably comes from the fact that egg yolks contain a high amount of cholesterol, combined with a negative myth about the role of fats in our diet. And yes, eggs do have a lot of cholesterol, but this does not pass into our blood nor does it significantly increase its concentration in healthy people, as studies have shown for more than 20 years.
Nutritional composition of eggs, how much cholesterol does it have?
The egg contains all the nutrients necessary to form a healthy and functional new chick. That is its job. That is why it has such an attractive composition as a food:
Macronutrients of eggs
- Protein: 12.7 g
- Fat: 9.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 1 g
Micronutrients in eggs
- Vitamin A: 227 mg
- Vitamin D: 1.8 mg
- Vitamin E: 1.9 mg
- Riboflavin: 0.37 mg
- Folic Acid: 3.5 mg
- Vitamin B12: 51.2 mg
- Biotin: 2.1 mg
- Pantothenic Acid: 2.0 mg
- Phosphorus: 216 mg
- Iron: 2.2 mg
- Zinc: 2 mg
- Selenium: 10 mg
- Choline: 250 mg
Among fats, we find the famous cholesterol, whose quantity can vary between approximately 180 and 300 mg . And is this a lot or a little? Well, in reality it is neither one thing nor the other, at least in absolute terms. The truth is that, as we now know, the cholesterol content is not directly related to the appearance of cholesterol in our body. Why? Because, although we can acquire it in food, it is normally our cells that synthesize it according to their needs.
To do this, they use other components, often from other fats. For example, we know that there is a clear relationship between the intake of saturated fats and increased cholesterol. The same is true for excess sugar and other issues of habit. Therefore, eating eggs, in itself, does not directly increase cholesterol, which disproves the myth. But, assuming that it did increase cholesterol, would this be bad?
Is cholesterol bad?
Cholesterol is a lipid, a fat, found in the plasma membrane of our cells, in the tissues of all animals, and in the blood plasma of vertebrates. As we have already said, it is an essential structural substance for the cell membrane. But it also performs other very important functions such as being a precursor of vitamin D, of a lot of different hormones, and of bile salts.
Cholesterol is produced from other molecules that are metabolized by the cell. However, we cannot eliminate it completely. The degradation of cholesterol involves converting it, among other substances, into the bile salts we mentioned, which are secreted in the bile, roughly speaking.
Since we do not get rid of it easily, an excess can be harmful for various metabolic reasons. Hypercholesterolemia is most commonly associated with cardiovascular problems that can range from moderate to very severe. However, for a healthy person, cholesterol is not a problem.
Benefits of eating eggs
Let’s change the subject, what benefits can there be from eating eggs? As we have already said, this food has many interesting nutritional properties:
They contain a huge amount of essential micronutrients
And not only essential but bioavailable, that is, ready to be assimilated. As we have seen in the nutritional composition, eggs contain a lot of mineral elements and vitamins in fairly large quantities for such a small food. In fact, they are a fairly complete food, being able to cover almost all of a person’s nutritional needs in the right amount.
They are one of the best sources of choline
Choline is a precursor of acetylcholine and is an essential part of phospholipids, critical structural elements of cells. This nutrient is present in large quantities in eggs. However, it is not present in excessive quantities, so, despite a moderate or high consumption of eggs, we will not go overboard, despite being a good source of this nutrient.
Contains a great diversity of vitamins
In addition to quantity, eggs contain many very necessary vitamins, including A, D, E, B12, B2, B7 … As we said, these vitamins are present in good quantity, since they are necessary for the development of the chick, so the egg is a very good source of this type of nutrients. These vitamins, by the way, help the normal development of various functions of our body, including vision, the immune system or metabolism.
They have a very interesting but not excessive caloric contribution.
Each egg contains an interesting amount of calories present in quality fats. This is much better than finding this caloric intake in sugars with no other nutritional value. An egg represents 7% of the recommended daily caloric intake in a minimum amount of food.
Risks and dangers of eating eggs
In reality, beyond any excess, the only danger of eating eggs is related to food safety. Specifically, to the presence of a bacteria: Salmonella sp. Due to the way they are obtained, eggs always have coliforms, and specifically salmonella, on their shell.
The eggshell is not watertight, but has small holes that allow the egg to “breathe.” These pores can be enough for bacteria to pass through and take advantage of the rich environment that the egg represents. For this reason, for example, it is advisable to cook it properly, never pass the expiration date or wash it, to prevent bacteria from passing inside.
In the case of metabolic problems, such as obesity, dyslipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, or others, the consumption of eggs may also be inadvisable, but this does not entail a risk in general terms, but rather specific ones related to a particular case.
How many eggs can I eat a week or if I have high cholesterol?
The truth is that there is no simple answer to this question. At a clinical level, doctors usually recommend reducing intake and not exceeding between 3 and 5 per week. However, scientific evidence does not fully support this decision, which seems somewhat obsolete.
Eating eggs does not necessarily lead to a direct increase in cholesterol. There are even studies that show that eating them can help regulate cholesterol levels. However, other factors, nutritional, genetic, physiological or behavioural, can link diet, and therefore eggs, with a problem with this fat.
In conclusion, given how complicated it is to determine something as concrete as a number of eggs per week, it is best to apply prevention, and until there is absolute certainty that nothing bad will happen, reducing their intake is a good idea. And, of course, all this is subject to the most important thing: listening to the doctor or specialist.