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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Myth: If I want to keep my cholesterol low, I should avoid whole eggs.

scrambled eggs on toast
Answer: Busted!

New research shows that the cholesterol present in eggs has little if any affect on your blood cholesterol.

Eggs have a lot of cholesterol located in the yolk. The average large egg contains 212 milligrams of cholesterol. As foods go, that’s quite a bit, rivaled only by single servings of liver, shrimp, and duck meat.

It was once thought the cholesterol present in eggs would go straight to your bloodstream and then into your arteries. This is not so according to recent scientific research. For most people, only a small amount of the cholesterol in food passes into the blood. Saturated and trans fats have much bigger effects on blood cholesterol levels.

If you like eggs, eating one a day should be okay, especially if you cut back on saturated and trans fats. Other ways to enjoy eggs without worrying about cholesterol include not eating the yolk, which contains all the cholesterol, or using pourable egg whites or yolk-free egg substitutes.

For more information about healthy eating, visit http://missourifamilies.org/.

Contributor: James E. Meyer, Nutrition and Health Education Specialist, University of Missouri Extension, meyerje@missouri.edu

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