{"id":696,"date":"2017-05-14T13:45:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T10:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dimakopoulosi.gr\/?p=696"},"modified":"2020-09-24T16:50:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T13:50:06","slug":"aygo-kai-xolisteroli-mia-megali-pareks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dimakopoulosi.gr\/en\/aygo-kai-xolisteroli-mia-megali-pareks\/","title":{"rendered":"Eggs and cholesterol: a big misunderstanding"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1968<\/strong> the American Heart Association recommended to citizens to consume a maximum<\/strong> of three eggyolks<\/strong> per week, based on the assumption that increased consumption of cholesterol in foods leads to increased cholesterol in the blood \u2013and therefore elevated the risk of cardiovascular disease. The scientific community has now revised<\/strong> those recommendations.<\/p>\n

\"Eggs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Very often<\/strong> we read articles on nutrition and foods leading to conflicting results. This occurs because both the popularization of scientific research and the conclusions drawn from it are not carried out properly while the writers are usually not experts. Nevertheless, as science evolves<\/strong>, we come across cases where published valid nutritional advice is reexamined<\/strong> in light of the latest scientific data. As a result this advice is revised. Cholesterol in foods \u2013 and in eggs specifically is one of those cases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A <\/strong>big <\/strong>misunderstanding<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the 50\u2019s and 60\u2019s there was a vast increase<\/strong> in deaths<\/strong> due to cardiovascular disease<\/strong>, hence epidemiologists concentrated their efforts on finding the causes\/factors of those diseases. Studies like the Framingham Heart Study and Seven Countries Study highlighted high blood cholesterol as a compounding factor for cardiovascular disease, as atherosclerotic plaques in arteries consist of cholesterol. It made sense for scientists to assume that more consumption of cholesterol through food translates to more of it in the blood and therefore raises the risk of diseases of the heart and the blood vessels.<\/p>\n

Cholesterol<\/strong> may be found in many foods<\/strong>, however one egg contains 186<\/strong> mg (exclusively in the yolk), which is a high concentration relative to other foods. Thus it was considered appropriate to advice the public to restrict egg consumption.<\/p>\n

Next, many controlled feeding studies were done to establish on the one hand the link between food and blood cholesterol, and on the other possible ways to prevent the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Those studies showed that saturated<\/strong> fat<\/strong> in one\u2019s diet raise cholesterol levels in blood, while polyunsaturated fat reduces it. In addition, they concluded that cholesterol in foods does affect blood cholesterol when consumed \u2013although at varying levels for each individual. The popularization of those findings led to recommendations to cut down on saturated fat and on high cholesterol foods.<\/p>\n

In 1968, the American Heart Association advised<\/strong> that maximum three eggyolks weekly was the recommended consumption, in what is considered one of the most widely known nutritional recommendations ever. It was one of the few times that such advice towards the general public centered on a specific food and not a nutrient, like cholesterol. Eggs were presented<\/strong> by the media as the root<\/strong> cause<\/strong> of the problem, which lied more with the dietary regime of the era as a whole rather than one food. All these had a devastating effect to the egg industry since demand plummeted.<\/p>\n

Conventional wisdom<\/strong> was that such nutritional recommendations can do no harm. In due time however we came to realize that not only were those directives based on false interpretation of the data, but they were also doing a disservice to public health. By not eating eggs people excluded off their diet many of the nutrient which eggs provide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The industry strikes back<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The egg producers<\/strong> were facing a tough dilemma<\/strong>. Start a “fight” and be accused of caring more about profits than people\u2019s health or surrender.<\/p>\n

Furthermore should they invest in research which may \u201caccuse\u201d eggs, knowing that industry supported studies are criticized about the credibility<\/strong> of their findings (together with the researchers which participate in them)?<\/p>\n

At the same time meat<\/strong>, dairy<\/strong> and egg<\/strong> were still taking \u201chits\u201d about their cholesterol concentration both from the government and the media. And all the while, certain non-governmental organizations, in search of funding, demonised<\/strong> eggs and released low cholesterol and cholesterol-free products in the market.<\/p>\n

The industry decided to react. And it did so through science. Egg Nutrition Center<\/strong> was soon created in order to promote research on eggs and the National Cholesterol Education Program \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to inform the public.<\/p>\n

ENC formed a scientific committee of researchers from universities and clinics in order to formulate a long term research plan and to represent the industry in the media. Not every nutritionist was convinced that a low fat low cholesterol diet protected us from cardiovascular diseases, since finding existed that pointed in different directions.<\/p>\n

The scientific rationale<\/strong> behind the drastic reduction of cholesterol intake from food was based on three<\/strong> kinds of studies:<\/p>\n