Egg yolks almost as bad for the heart as smoking: study

[Admin]

Egg yolks almost as bad for the heart as smoking: study
Kimberly GillanTuesday, August 14, 2012

Eating eggs regularly is about two thirds as bad for the heart as smoking, according to a new UK study.

More than 1200 patients were surveyed about their egg consumption and the researchers said people who ate three eggs per day increased their risk of atherosclerosis (coronary artery disease).

In atherosclerosis, plaque, which is aggravated by cholesterol, builds up on the inner arterial wall. Rupturing plaque is a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes.

The study participants, who had a mean age of 61.5, underwent ultrasounds to measure the total plaque area and were questioned about their lifestyle, smoking and the number of egg yolks they consumed each week.

The researchers found that plaque build-up automatically increased with age, but was a lot higher in people who had smoked or had eaten egg yolks for a long time.

They found people who ate three or more egg yolks each week had significantly more plaque than those who ate two or fewer yolks each week.

"The mantra 'eggs can be part of a healthy diet for healthy people' has confused the issue," Dr David Spence, a professor of Neurology at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, said in a media release.

"It has been known for a long time that a high cholesterol intake increases the risk of cardiovascular events, and egg yolks have a very high cholesterol content. In diabetics, an egg a day increases coronary risk by two to five-fold."

But Barbara Eden, the senior manager of food supply at the Australian Heart Foundation, told ninemsn that more comprehensive studies have found saturated fat is the biggest dietary contributor to atherosclerosis.

"All evidence points to the intake of saturated fat as being the key nutrient that's associated with build-up of atherosclerosis. I'm a little concerned that he didn't look at that in the study," Eden said.

"Our review found that the type of fat that bumps up our cholesterol is really the saturated type that is found in butter, full cream milk, takeaway foods and baked goods."
The Heart Foundation says Australians can have up to six eggs per week.

"Eggs are a nutritious food," Eden said.

"They contain vitamins and minerals and protein that's easily absorbed by children and the elderly. They're an easy quick healthy meal component for everyone."

Egg yolks almost as bad for the heart as smoking: study

 

[Sydking]

im doomed. I eat atelast 3 eggs per day, Drop the eggs and take up 3 smokes a day instead? i would last longer by the sounds of it

 

[peanutz]

I would like to say
FUCK THIS STUDY

 

[Neddysmith]

WOW, just another study which claims eggs are bad for you....As Barbara Eden seemed to suggest in the article it was more the saturated fats which cause greater issues and knowing the way the English cook i would be surprised if this more of a contributing factor than the eggs themselves, I wonder if the study actually went to the level of asking of those people who had eggs how were they actually cooked?

For the past 5yrs or more I would think i would have one averge at least 3 whole eggs per day, mostly for breakfast as i usually have 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites, but then i go through periods of having 4 full and guess what?

The last time i got my cholesterol checked was about 2yrs ago it was about 3.6 from memory which was well below the recommended level or healthy level.....

 

[thePoo2012]

don't worry study be out next week saying to eat up big on yolks

 

[Goosey]

Is this a yolk or what

 

[Neddysmith]

Is this a yolk or what

Leave it for the Dad yolks thread.....

 

[IRON TANKS]

ridiculous... truly

 

[Bazza20]

I eat 10-12 eggs most days and my cholesterol was on the lower end of normal last time I got it checked.

 

[March83]

self reporting food study?
assuming causation based on correlation?

this requires no further attention.

 

[Bazza20]

self reporting food study?
assuming causation based on correlation?

this requires no further attention.

Was just about to say that.

Observational studies and even more so, self reported ones are notorious for giving misleading results.

These type of studies are interesting but don't give us any definite proof linking eggs with heart disease.

 

[chocchillimango]

Face. Palm.

Yet again, my scientific senses are tingling in frustration

 

[Bloke]

This study is a yolk.



I'll get my coat.

 

[Darkoz]

Chicken shit, I've eaten at least 3 eggs a day for the past 30 years and my cholestrol level is still lower than average.

 

[nazzysmith]

Ha!!!!

You guys are all living in epic denial.... EGG YOLKS WILL KILL YOU!!!!!


Smoking is much healthier...

That is all...

 

[GUZZLA]

I compared blood tests with my obese grandma a few years ago when I was at my leanest and fittest. Her cholesterol was well into the safe range while mine was 'acceptable'. Now this is a lady who grew up on bread and dripping and every time the fry pan was pulled out, it was lubed with a table spoon of butter. On the other hand, I was eating everything healthy and exercising like a crazed mofo, and had been for quite a while.

Then you have my next door neighbors; they both eat the exact same foods. She stays at home and does bugger all, he runs half and full marathons. His cholesterol is double that of his missus.

My mate had a mini heart attack. His cholesterol was through the roof. Dr put him on cholesterol lowering drugs. He now eats just as much junk food and his LDL's are now normal. He does do more exercise now.

I really doubt LDL's have much to do with diet. I believe it is mostly genetics that determine how much or how little cholesterol you body makes/stores. Sure, exercise and diet might play a positive role, but I really don't think it has as much impact as we are lead to believe.

If it does, I'm screwed cos I'm averaging about 6 eggs a day - and god-damn-it do those little suckers taste awesome and I'm not about to stop.

 

[Neddysmith]

Yeah my mate had a heart attach on the football field when we were playing and he was 28yo, reasonably fit, didnt eat or drink toe excess, and exercised due to football and cricket yet still had a heart attacked and require a triple bypass

It was found his Cholesterol was up around the 13 mark, this was mainly put down to being hereditory but now is on all sorts of drugs to lower it and he is basically on a vegan diet....

 

[chocchillimango]

It has been well researched and proven that saturated fat is not the main culprit in heart disease.

One of the leading researchers in blood lipid research is Professor Ron Krauss. He lead a lot of work in the past 5 years that developed a way of measuring the size and number of LDL particles and research that showed that having high LDL isn't necessarily linked to chronic disease, and especially heart disease.
Saturated fats do raise LDL but it's not necessarily a bad thing (lets exclude trans fats from this - I'm talking about natural saturated fats in animal foods, coconuts, etc). you have to look at the broader context of your diet and lifestyle and the whole lipid story.
The crux of it comes down to:

1. if you have high HDL and low tryglycerides, this is strongly correlated with having "large, fluffy" LDL particles. These are benign for heart disease, atherosclerosis etc. Risk of disease is extremely low. This is healthy.

2. if you have low HDL and high triglycerides, this is strongly correlated with having small, dense LDL particles. These are the ones that can burrow through cell walls and make arterial plaque a problem and are linked to disease. This is a bad scenario.

Triglyceride levels are largely determined by carbohydrates .... sugars..a diet high in refined sugar tends to raise tris. by how much is dependent on diet, lifestyle factors and genetics.
e.g. I've always had low tris despite a diet high in carbs as a vegetarian, but when i go low carb, they drop REALLY low.

HDL levels are actually quite sensitive to lifestyle factors, especially exercise, but also diet of course. Mine is really high.

My overall cholesterol has gone up since starting to eat fish, more nuts, eggs and chicken. But my profile suggests strongly that i have benign LDL.

Remember that a key role of cholesterol is to reduce inflammation in cells and arteries. Inflammation is a leading culprit in chronic disease.

I'm with Guzzla ... my folks always ate real food and butter is real food and eggs are a fabulous real food.
Plus the majority of the fat in egg yolk is not saturated. It's monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

Key points:

• When you have a blood lipid test, they measure HDL and triglycerides, but estimate the LDL. This is generally not measured.
• The new technology developed by Krauss with some clever physicists is as yet too expensive to commercialise for use in pathology labs so has been used primarily in research trials, of which there have been an increasing number since 2010. Krauss' mission is to revisit much of what has been done in the past as a lot of the research was poorly conducted.
• This dude and his colleagues adhere to good experimental design and gets my tick of approval for his approach (so rare in medical research!). They've been cross checking results

Here's a link to his page and a list of really good articles. You can google him and find out heaps more too.
UC Berkeley Nutritional Science & Toxicology - Faculty - Ron Krauss

Keep eating the googy eggs people.

 

[Romie]

The latest evidence is a new study in the American Heart Journal published in January, 2009. This new study tested the cholesterol of heart attack patients admitted to 500 hospitals. The disturbing new findings reveal:

· 75% of those patients had LDL-cholesterol levels below the current guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) of 130 milligrams.
· 50% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 100 milligrams.
· 17% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 70 milligrams, which is the new, more stringent guidelines.

Utter Madness! 75% Of All Heart Attack Victims Have Normal Cholesterol! | Great Cholesterol Lie Review

 

[chocchillimango]

The latest evidence is a new study in the American Heart Journal published in January, 2009. This new study tested the cholesterol of heart attack patients admitted to 500 hospitals. The disturbing new findings reveal:

· 75% of those patients had LDL-cholesterol levels below the current guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) of 130 milligrams.
· 50% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 100 milligrams.
· 17% had LDL-cholesterol levels below 70 milligrams, which is the new, more stringent guidelines.

Utter Madness! 75% Of All Heart Attack Victims Have Normal Cholesterol! | Great Cholesterol Lie Review

It's not the latest but it's one of the studies oft cited, for sure.