Will Eggs Raise My Cholesterol Levels?
By: Dr. Michael Morsillo, H.B.Sc., N.D.
I wanted to have a little chat with you today about eggs, mainly because there is still plenty of confusion around the age-old question – “will eating eggs raise my cholesterol?”.
I think there’s a lot of confusion around this question for two main reasons:
#1) When asked, most doctors will usually default to “you should be limiting your intake of eggs because it will raise your cholesterol levels” – although I don’t think many of them have taken the time to find the real answer on this.
#2) There are several health “experts” in the media/online that have the opposing view that “eggs absolutely do not raise your cholesterol levels”, while all of their fans/followers blindly adopt these views as their own.
I’m going to tell you straight up that your doctor and that health guru you follow online are both WRONG. I decided it was time to dive into some of the research to see if I could get to the bottom of this. Let me tell you – this was a daunting task, as there were piles of studies on this topic and at the beginning, it seemed like the results were going to be split right down the middle. Let me share with you what I found.
I found close to 50 studies overall, 27 of which were the most relevant to my specific topic. There were 12 studies that showed egg intake caused elevations in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol; however, there were also 14 studies showing no change in LDL cholesterol levels in those with increased egg consumption. So what gives, why are the results so mixed?
A few of the studies actually went a little deeper and looked at LDL subtypes. They found that consuming eggs was mainly raising large LDL (less harmful, less atherogenic), while small LDL (more harmful, more atherogenic) were neutral or decreased by eggs. The majority of the studies (14) also showed that eggs raised our HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels, while only 5 studies found no change in HDL levels.
To summarize; of the studies that found LDL cholesterol was raised by eggs, it mainly raised the type of LDL that is least likely to contribute to atherosclerosis, and this was also balanced by elevations in HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels. There’s another interesting plot twist within these studies. It’s been determined that approximately 30% of the population are “hyper-responders” to eggs – meaning their cholesterol levels will rise with ingestion of eggs. The other 70% are “hypo-responders” – meaning eggs will not cause any significant changes in their cholesterol levels.
Since cholesterol levels are not the “be all, end all” when it comes to cardiovascular disease, I also found three studies that examined the effects that eggs had on endothelial (vascular) function – all three of these concluded that eggs did not have any negative impact on endothelial function.
As a leading “eggs-pert”, let me share my key take-home messages:
1) Eggs don’t seem to be quite as harmful as once thought, but you should still limit your intake. Don’t exceed two eggs per day – I would recommend not having eggs daily as well.
2) If you consume eggs regularly, you should be monitoring your cholesterol levels.
3) Eggs are less likely to cause any issues if you are eating a healthy, balanced diet overall and maintaining a healthy weight.
Many thanks for your attention.
Dr. Michael Morsillo, H.B.Sc., N.D.
Newmarket Naturopathic Clinic