Among numerous health myths, one particularly skewed belief is
that eggs are bad for your heart; however, eating eggs on a daily
basis may prove to hold numerous health benefits, especially a decreased
risk of heart disease. Research showed that, in healthy adults,
eating eggs every day did not produce:
- A negative effect on endothelial function, an aggregate measure
of cardiac risk.
- An increase in cholesterol levels.
Additionally, in their effort to blow the "egg myth"
out of the water, researchers assessed the effect both egg and oat
ingestion had on endothelial function in 49 adults. Participants
were assigned to eat two eggs or oats every day for six weeks.
Throughout the study period, researchers noted that flow-mediated
dilation (FMD), which measures how well the endothelium acts to
keep blood moving by widening the blood vessel, was stable in both
groups and did not significantly differ between them.
Effects of Eggs/Oats on Cholesterol
Not only did the results prove that dietary cholesterol from eggs
had a much smaller effect on cardiac risk than saturated fat, it
also showed that six weeks of:
-
Egg consumption had no effect on total cholesterol or LDL.
-
Oat consumption significantly lowered levels of both total
cholesterol and LDL (a finding that may perpetuate a flawed
belief that oats may be better for you).
International
Journal of Cardiology March 10, 2005; Volume 99, Issue 1, Pages
65-70
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