Facts About Eggs & Cholesterol
There have been many myths about eggs that have made them somewhat of a controversy. Are they good for you, or are they not? Do they raise cholesterol sky high? If you eat more than two a week will you get heart disease? The correct answers may not be what you have always heard.
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Myth and Fact 1
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Myth: Eating more than two eggs a week will give you high cholesterol, and possibly lead to heart disease.
Fact: All of the cholesterol in eggs is in the egg yolk. Eating a two-egg omelet or scrambled eggs a couple of times a week can be good for you. All you need to do is substitute one of the eggs with two egg whites, and mix it with the other whole egg. You can even make a cholesterol-free egg dish by using only egg whites.
Myth and Fact 2
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Myth: Cholesterol is bad, and the lower it is, the better.
Fact: Cholesterol levels need to be at least 110 to be considered very good. If you have low cholesterol, you may need to raise it by eating foods that will help raise it to normal. That does not mean overdoing it on anything, such as eggs, but rather using common sense to bring it up to a normal level. -
Myth and Fact 3
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Myth: Cholesterol is cholesterol.
Fact: There are two types of cholesterol. High-density (HDL) is considered good cholesterol. The higher this type is, the better for your health. Low-density (LDL) is considered bad cholesterol. The higher this type is, the worse for your health.
Myth and Fact 4
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Myth: The only way to get cholesterol to a healthy level is with medication.
Fact: Eating a healthy diet, which includes healthy foods such as eggs, concentrating on eating more egg whites and less yolk, will help you bring your cholesterol levels back to normal if they are too high or too low. If you concentrate on eating foods that will raise your HDL level (the good cholesterol), the higher HDL level will help lower the LDL level (the bad cholesterol).
Other Facts to Consider
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Egg yolks may contain all of the cholesterol in the egg, but don't count them out. They also contain some of the protein and vitamins that an egg has to offer. Eating them occasionally, or one with a couple of egg whites, will offer you enough to fill you up, with all the nutrition you need from the eggs and little to worry about in the way of cholesterol.
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