Evil egg yolks and your soaring cholesterol levels
I’ve been kind of short on topics lately. I just haven’t been able to think of anything interesting to write about, total writers block. Then, what do you know…two things happened to bring me out of my slump. Yesterday I received the results from my bloodwork that I had to get done for my new life insurance policy, and I got into a brief discussion with someone about egg yolks. It’s happened more than once. Egg yolks are a hot topic. There happens to be a large anti-yolk party out there, they are fierce and ready for battle.
It’s always a controversial topic of conversation. It usually provokes very strong opinions from friends or clients. I say ”Hey, why don’t you try eating a whole egg, or maybe even two, instead of just having an egg white omellette?”. Then I get the look. The look that says “Are you serious, you don’t even know egg yolks are bad for you?”. “I’m watching my cholesterol, and egg yolks raise cholesterol”. I will suggest that maybe that’s not true and then I get the other look that says “You’re an idiot!” (I actually get that look alot, regardless of whether or not I’m talking about eggs.) I will not even get into the fact that there are many physicians, researchers, scientists, and nutritionists out there that aren’t sold on the idea that “high” cholesterol is necessarily a bad or unhealthy thing like it’s made out to be. The drug companies don’t like these people and their research but that’s another topic for another day. FYI, Americans probably spend around 20 billion dollars per year on cholesterol related drugs…just saying.
Why am I rambling on about egg yolks and cholesterol? Well according to my test results, and the opinion of many others out there, the egg yolk may not be your enemy. First, take a look at this chart.
The following chart was taken from www.cholesterol-and-health.com.
Table 1: Egg Yolks Versus Egg Whites
| Nutrient | White | Yolk | % Total in White | % Total in Yolk |
| Protein | 3.6 g | 2.7g | 57% | 43% |
| Fat | 0.05g | 4.5g | 1% | 99% |
| Calcium | 2.3 mg | 21.9 mg | 9.5% | 90.5% |
| Magnesium | 3.6 mg | 0.85 mg | 80.8% | 19.2% |
| Iron | 0.03 mg | 0.4 mg | 6.2% | 93.8% |
| Phosphorus | 5 mg | 66.3 mg | 7% | 93% |
| Potassium | 53.8 mg | 18.5 mg | 74.4% | 25.6% |
| Sodium | 54.8 mg | 8.2 mg | 87% | 13% |
| Zinc | 0.01 mg | 0.4 mg | 0.2% | 99.8% |
| Copper | 0.008 mg | 0.013 mg | 38% | 62% |
| Manganese | 0.004 mg | 0.009 mg | 30.8% | 69.2% |
| Selenium | 6.6 mcg | 9.5 mcg | 41% | 59% |
| Thiamin | 0.01 mg | 0.03 mg | 3.2% | 96.8% |
| Riboflavin | 0.145 mg | 0.09 mg | 61.7% | 48.3% |
| Niacin | 0.035 mg | 0.004 mg | 89.7% | 9.3% |
| Pantothenic acid. | 0.63 mg | 0.51 mg | 11% | 89% |
| B6 | 0.002 mg | 0.059 mg | 3.3% | 96.7% |
| Folate | 1.3 mcg | 24.8 mcg | 5% | 95% |
| B12 | 0.03 mcg | 0.331 mcg | 8.3% | 91.7% |
| Vitamin A | 0 IU | 245 IU | 0% | 100% |
| Vitamin E | 0 mg | 0.684 mg | 0% | 100% |
| Vitamin D | 0 IU | 18.3 IU | 0% | 100% |
| Vitamin K | 0 IU | 0.119 IU | 0% | 100% |
| DHA and AA | 0 | 94 mg | 0% | 100% |
| Carotenoids | 0 mcg | 21 mcg | 0% | 100% |
Data taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15. AA and DHA data from NutritionData.Com. Since the article was written, the USDA has published revisions.
Now that you’ve seen the numbers regarding the nutritional value of the egg, yolk and all, lets look at my results and my diet.
I eat alot of eggs, whole eggs, usually local or organic. I will probably consume on average, about 20 eggs per week. Now from an allergy perspective that may not be a good idea because eggs are known to be an allergenic food to some people. I could probably use a little more variety in my breakfast. Anyway, you would probably agree that if whole eggs have a negative effect on your cholesterol levels, the odds are I would high cholesterol by now. I’ve have been eating this many eggs every week for years now. If I had to do the math, in the past 5 years I probably have eaten over 5,000 eggs. Jesus, I need to get my own chickens. You can also take into consideration that I eat red meat probably 1 or 2 times a week. Realize, it’s usually grass fed beef, or buffalo. I rarely eat commercially processed red meat. That stuff is a death sentence. So, high cholesterol right? Well, not so much.
My cholesterol levels checked out OK. Total cholesterol 189. According to the Mayo Clinic, 200 or lower is considered desirable, 200-240 is borderline high, and 240+ is high.
Now, total cholesterol doesn’t tell the whole story. There are other numbers, as you probably know, that are more important or reliable when predicting artherosclerosis, risk of heart problems, etc. HDL, LDL, HDL/LDL ratio, triglycerides, cholesterol/HDL ratio.
My HDL came in at 68.4. 40 or below is considered unhealthy and at risk, 40-60 is normal, and levels of 60+ may acutally protect people from heart disease. HDL essentially cleans or scrubs your blood vessels of cholesterol and brings it to the liver for processing instead of letting it possibly form blockages. The more HDL, the more scrubbing is going on.
My LDL came in at 101. It needs to be a little lower. According to the Mayo Clinic, below 70 is optimal for people at high risk of heart disease, below 100 is optimal for people at risk, 101-129 is near optimal, and the higher the numbers go, the worse it gets. So, I should probably get my LDL down a little but it’s still in the ”healthiest” part of the optimal range. According to www.medicinenet.com, “It is important to remember that even with a favorable ratio; we have learned that it is still important to try to obtain an LDL of less than 80-100, regardless of the HDL value”.
HDL/LDL ratio – minimal should be around 0.3, .04 being ideal. Mine was .68, woohoo, party!!
Triglycerides – these are basically the fat in our blood. Triglycerides are a result of the type of food we eat, and also the amount of (unused) food we eat. Unused food (energy) gets converted into triglycerides and stored as fat, so there’s one reason to exercise more. Obviously the lower the number, the better. Mine was 94. According to www.Webmd.com;
“Normal triglycerides means there are less than 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Borderline high triglycerides = 150 to 199 mg/dL.
High triglycerides = 200 to 499 mg/dL.
Very high triglycerides = 500 mg/dL or higher. ”
Lastly, cholesterol/hdl ratio - 5 or higher is considered “at risk”. 4.5 or lower is acceptable. Mine is 2.76
Other factors that have to be taken into consideration that are probably helping are;
1) I exercise regularly, meaning resistance training and interval training 3-4 times/week.
2) The rest of my meals, although not perfect, are generally healthy. For example, I eat spinach or broccoli every meal or at least 90% of my meals contain one of them. I always try to eat something green.
3) I try to eat some source of protein at every meal (chix, buffalo, turkey, shrimp, whey protein shake, etc.)
4) No soda, ever. I even gave up the rum and cokes. Wait, that’s not entirely true, last February while on break at Sunday River I enjoyed a few JD and cokes but nothing since. No juice unless we make it at home. Its amazing what you can make taste good as long as you throw in a few apples and pieces of ginger.
5) Genetics definitely play a huge role if you have high cholesterol. My father has high cholesterol, but then again he eats like crap.
6) I supplement with fish oil, vitamin D3, and some other stuff.
7) We never eat fast food like McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. Fortunately we don’t have any of them on the island.
The take home message: I think the egg yolks are the least of your worries, even if you are predisposed to have high cholesterol. It’s the other crap you need to be more concerned with. I’m not saying egg whites alone are bad, it’s just that there is so much good stuff in the yolk. Try and buy local or organic eggs, throw some grass fed beef, buffalo, or wild game into your diet if you’re a meat eater (they have a much healthier fatty acid profile), and eat your veges EVERY meal. Avoid the commercially processed meat and other garbage, exercise, take some fish oil. High amounts of processed carbs and sugar will have more of a detrimental effect on your cholesterol levels. Nothing you haven’t heard before, right? This way you won’t have to worry about the evil yolks anymore.