by Michaela Langstone

Created on: January 09, 2010

Did you know that not all cholesterol is bad for you?  In fact, the type found in eggs known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL), is an essential ingredient that aids in the proper function of your brain and is therefore a vital ingredient for a balanced diet.  While it may not be healthy to overindulge on a full English breakfast with fried eggs and sausages every morning, having a boiled egg or two a few times a week may actually be a good thing.

Firstly, since eggs are high in protein, they are better consumed in the morning for breakfast or in the early afternoon for lunch at the latest.  There has been some research which suggests that having an egg breakfast can actually help you to lose weight (see the website: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=92 for this and other health benefits).  According to two recent studies in the Journal of Nutrition, having an egg for breakfast every morning can help to protect your eyesight without increasing your cholesterol levels.  Egg yolk is rich in choline - a molecule that helps in the absorption of vitamin B12 (also known as folic acid) and is essential for the proper functioning of the heart and brain.  In fact, 90% of Americans suffer from choline deficiency and a daily egg for breakfast may be the answer.

The authorities recommend less than 200 milligrams of cholesterol a day if you have heart problems and not over 300mg for a healthy person.  According to this information, one egg contains 79% of the daily recommended allowance for cholesterol.  However, this does not take into account that eggs have a high content of HDL as opposed to LDL or low-density lipoprotein, which is the bad cholesterol that blocks the arteries.  Thus, eggs would be an exception due to their high nutritional content, which includes Omega-3 fatty acids.  Eggs are also a great source of vitamins and minerals containing many of the essential nutrients needed to stay healthy.

A good way to cook eggs is to boil them in water on the stove with a bit of salt added to prevent them from cracking.  Unless they have some form of certification of vaccine against salmonella (e.g. the red lion stamp in the UK), it is recommended that they are eaten hard-boiled.  A sandwich with eggs, fresh tomato and a bit of extra virgin olive oil is always nice.

To summarise, eggs are among the greatest in superfoods since they have a lot of nutritional content packed into them.  While they may exceed the recommended cholesterol level, they are not as bad for you as statistics would have you believe.  There is a lot more good cholestorol (HDL) in eggs than bad (LDL).  It is better to find and analyse all the facts first before making a decision as to whether a certain food is good or bad for you.

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