Sunday, January 9, 2011

And the EGG Or NO EGG War Rages Onward!

Seems like the debate and battle over consumption of egg yolks and their high dietary cholesterol level isn't limited to USA alone, as the esteemed Canadian Journal of Cardiology has joined the battle in a special report by University of Western Ontario stroke prevention expert David Spence . According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, they accused " the media and even the Heart and Stroke Foundation of having been hoodwinked by egg marketers' propaganda. That led University of Surrey nutritionist Bruce Griffin, the author of the one of the impugned studies, to fire back, telling the British newspaper The Farmers' Weekly that Spence's article was "emotive" and "unbalanced." Griffin also condemned as "absurd" and "professionally irresponsible" Spence and his co-authors favourably comparing the cholesterol in a giant bacon cheeseburger to that found in a single egg". The trouble with this battle is that there hasn't been enough research that clearly shows the effects of both dietary cholesterol intake and saturated or trans fats on blood cholesterol levels. While some has been done, and the results of each testing seem to support each hypothesis, taking only one element (dietary cholesterol) and comparing several foods seems to be an unfair and incomplete comparison. The egg yolk, while high in cholesterol, has less than 2 grams of saturated fat, and the bacon cheeseburger, lower in cholesterol, has 45 grams of saturated fat. According to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation , these fats "are mostly responsible for increases in blood cholesterol levels." And the battle wages on! So, what is the public, in any country, supposed to believe and do? The best course for anyone who is at risk for heart disease and high cholesterol – start by eating in moderation, eat those foods which are low in BOTH dietary cholesterol AND saturated fats. Adding natural supplements and foods proven to control cholesterol levels is another preventative to consider. To date, the war has expanded to the point where the experts are questioning whether high cholesterol or low cholesterol levels will cause heart disease, whether dietary cholesterol will raise blood cholesterol levels, and finally, the effects of both HDL (high density lipoproteins) and LDL (low density lipoproteins) in the blood stream. Researchers will always battle where the conclusions of their trials and tests differ from others, but the public doesn't need to be a part of it. Here, common sense and a more natural lifestyle of moderation in all things should prevail.



Check out also my blogs at:
Natures Own Curing Power

Natural Remedies Forever

and squidoo at:
Dangers Of High Cholesterol