This is National Egg Month!!  Do you ever wonder about eating too many eggs?  The caution with eggs is related mostly to the cholesterol content for people who need or wish to watch their cholesterol levels.  The nutritional value of eggs is excellent.  With only about 70 calories, a single egg contains over 6 grams of protein, 8 minerals and 9 vitamins.  Those are all generally good.  A single egg also contains about 190mg of cholesterol which might not be good for someone who is working to keep their cholesterol levels down.
So, our topic today looks at eating eggs daily, both for the effect on our cholesterol levels and also our overall health.  I’ll talk about 2 new “egg” studies that were published this year.

One study looks at the effect of eating a 400 calorie breakfast that included 2 eggs each morning compared to a 400 calorie breakfast that contained a bagel and no eggs.  This study looked at both men and women between the ages of 18 and 35 and all of whom did resistance exercise .

The results, at the end of twelve weeks, showed –
●  Cholesterol levels were unchanged in both groups
●  HDL (“good cholesterol”) was unchanged in both groups
●  LDL (“bad cholesterol”) was unchanged in both groups
●  Trigylcerides were lowered (a good thing) in the “egg” group but not he “bagel” group
●  Blood pressure was unchanged in both groups
The study conclusion was that eating 2 eggs daily in people who exercised did not adversely affect lipids and blood pressure and improved triglyceride levels.

The other study looked at men and women with known coronary artery disease and the effect of eating eggs with breakfast.  This study looked at actual coronary blood flow as well as blood pressure.  The participants were placed in 1 of 3 groups:
●  breakfast that included 2 whole eggs
●  breakfast that included “Egg Beaters” which are made with egg whites only and contain no cholesterol
●  breakfast that contained high-carbohydrates (like bagels or cereal) but no eggs or Egg Beaters.
The results of this study  …..  the “egg” group did as well as the other groups, having no problems with blood flow or blood pressure!

Well, these two studies definitely point toward an “OK” for most of us who enjoy eggs!  If your doctor has told you to decrease your egg consumption or the total amount of cholesterol in your diet, definitely follow that advice.  The goal here is to see what the research shows so that we can make educated decisions.   For the rest of us …. Nice!!  Oh, and of course, eggs aren’t just for breakfast!  Hard boiled eggs are super convenient to add protein anytime during the day  …. to a green salad, as a mid-day snack, or for our egg-salad sandwiches!  One more part of a healthy diet … and a nice way to celebrate Egg Month!