Experts have finally confirmed that eggs do not raise bad cholesterol levels and that when it comes to a cooked breakfast, people need to be more careful of the saturated fat found in bacon and sausages.
Often blamed for raising cholesterol, eggs have long been derided but now new research has definitively found that the real heart health concern comes from saturated fats rather than the dietary cholesterol in eggs.
In a world first, researchers from the University of South Australia investigated how dietary cholesterol and saturated fat independently effects ‘bad’ cholesterol, LDL.
Their key finding was that eating two eggs a day, as part of a low saturated fat and high cholesterol diet, can lower the levels of LDL and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Lead researcher Professor Jon Buckley said: “Eggs have long been unfairly cracked by outdated dietary advice.
“They’re unique – high in cholesterol, yes, but low in saturated fat. Yet it’s their cholesterol level that has often caused people to question their place in a healthy diet.
“In this study, we separated the effects of cholesterol and saturated fat, finding that high dietary cholesterol from eggs, when eaten as part of a low saturated fat diet, does not raise bad cholesterol levels.
“Instead, it was the saturated fat that was the real driver of cholesterol elevation.
“You could say we’ve delivered hard-boiled evidence in defence of the humble egg.
“So, when it comes to a cooked breakfast, it’s not the eggs you need to worry about – it’s the extra serve of bacon or the side of sausage that’s more likely to impact your heart health.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally and in Australia, one person dies from it every 12 minutes.
Read more in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.