Industry Research- Effect Of Eggs On Blood Cholesterol Level Skewed?

Whether or not the effect of eggs on blood cholesterol level is skewed or not has been a tug of war between different researchers. For that, we need to be firstly clear of what cholesterol actually is, where it comes from, and its effect on our body.

Industry Research- Effect Of Eggs On Blood Cholesterol Level Skewed?

Cholesterol is a waxy, whitish-yellow fat that is present in our body and is required as a building block in cell membranes. Now if we talk about the source of cholesterol, about 80% comes from the intestine and liver and the rest comes from the food we eat like eggs, meat, dairy products, etc.

So as to move in the blood, cholesterol and other lipids are joined together so as to form lipoproteins which move cholesterol and lipids to the whole body.

Now, cholesterol is of many types. The significant of those are LDL and HDL which stands for Low-Density Lipoprotein and High-Density Lipoprotein.

Of these, LDL is the bad one and HDL is a good one because LDL is the one which is responsible for the formation of plaques inside the arteries present inside our body and hence ultimately could lead to blockages, whereas HDL is the one which removes LDL from circulation.

Our body uses cholesterol as a building block in the cell membrane, production of hormones, bile production in our liver, needed by our brain.

As we know anything is detrimental for our body and hence we have more LDL than it could cause low oxygen-rich blood to our heart, chest pain, and many more symptoms. So, it is necessary to keep our cholesterol in check and make sufficient lifestyle changes so as to maintain it and improve our quality of life.

There has been a debate that has been ongoing whether the effect of eggs on our blood cholesterol level is favorable or not. For that, a number of researches have been done, some of which have been funded by industries that are involved in the egg business.

According to a study in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, the authors behind the studies funded by industries are not in line with the data found out.

It has been found that the industry-funded research on egg consumption has been increasing from 0% in the 1950s to 60% in the 2010s. The majority of these findings by industry-funded research were either positive or neutral in nature and that the effect of an egg-based diet on cholesterol levels in our blood is not that significant.

We also know that industries have their own significant stakes in the egg business, and it is common that they conduct research so as to know the efficacy and the effect of their product on human health. In some of the research, they may not be of the view of the impact of eggs on raising cholesterol levels in our blood.

According to Dr. Christopher Gardner of 200mg of cholesterol that comes from an egg, half of it is excreted from the body. This means out of 200mg only 100mg remains in our body.

Further added by Dr. Gardner, an average American consumes about 300mg of cholesterol in their diet and about 1,000mg is produced naturally in our liver.

So, in a conclusion, he said that instead of dietary cholesterol, more focus should be given to saturated cholesterol in our body.

Also in recent guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology no specified target for daily dietary cholesterol intake has been stated as such.

According to both Dr. Barnard and Dr. Gardner, a plant-based diet is good for the body and there is no debate on it. A Mediterranean-style diet is good at fiber and low in saturated cholesterol and good for health.

So, in conclusion, we can say that research should be done by bodies that do not have any conflict of interest and most are focused on finding the results and keeping them in front of the public.