SOMEONE mentioned to me about an article in your newspaper
entitled "Eggs go ahead and have another serving" and was wondering
if she could now start taking eggs daily as recommended by the columnist. I
quickly found the article and found it to be an interesting read.
There has been a lot of attention regarding eggs in the
media over the past few years. It sounds like the columnist has done her
research well. She correctly stated the current evidence which shows that the
amount of cholesterol you eat does not greatly contribute to the amount of
cholesterol in your blood.
May I also add that the amount of saturated fat you consume
is a more important cause for increasing someone's blood cholesterol. This is a
relevant fact because in Brunei we seldom eat our eggs boiled (kopitiam style)
or on its own without addition of extra toppings like mayonnaise.
As the columnist was visiting a burger/sandwich bar, I would
make this an example. Most of these would use cheap cooking oil which probably
contains saturated fat; using butter or margarine to toast the bun; and burger
meat made from minced meat containing a lot of visible fat all of which would
have the potential of increasing someone's cholesterol.
It is also worth mentioning that dietary cholesterol may still
have an impact on risk of developing a heart attack in the future. Larger and
long-term studies are needed to fully determine the impact of a high
cholesterol diet in high risk individuals. With this in mind, eggs are also not
the only source of dietary cholesterol. I would factor this in as well when I
decide to have an extra egg with my meals.
So what did I say to my friend I mentioned earlier? As she
had a genetic predisposition to getting high cholesterol called familial
hypercholestraemia and has a family history of early heart disease, unless she
has been advised otherwise by her doctor or dietician, moderation was my
advice.
