Eggs and Cholesterol: Will They Ever Get It Right and Do I Really Care?
by Marjorie Dorfman
What is the real deal about eggs anyway? Are they good for us or bad and do we really care? Here’s an amusing look at the confusing story about one of nature’s most delicious foods.
I remember when one of the first national studies about eggs was released to the public about twenty years ago. It stated that eggs were bad for you, especially if your cholesterol was high and other "bad" items featured in your diet. I sort of understand this. I’m lucky as far as genetics goes. I didn’t inherit any cholesterol problems. (I have many others, so don’t feel cheated). I’m very healthy and considering that I love eggs, I never paid much attention to what the scientists of the day were talking about.
But middle age has changed me and I’m not convinced it’s either for the wiser or the better. There came, low and behold and out of the blue, another study just when the other one had left my consciousness. I hadn’t wanted this one anymore than the other and I remember wondering why my tax dollars weren’t being used to vanquish cancer instead of my delicious friend, the "incredible, edible egg." This study claimed that egg yolks were bad, but that the whites were good and could be eaten as much as desired, without concern for medical ramifications. Should someone tell these scientists who are obviously in need of a life as well as a significant research project that the yolk of the egg is the source of its protein and the very thing that makes it good for us humans to consume?
Please consider what our ancestors ate. Eggs and chickens have been around for a long time, (even though I’ll never be sure which came first). Surely all those funny little fellows and gals ate whatever the land provided. How did they deal with cholesterol, high, low or otherwise? Or did they? Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Neanderthal were too busy competing for food with Tyro Rex and his toothy friends to even consider that being good for you went beyond hiding out until all the action had passed. Maybe our forefathers on the American frontier were too preoccupied fighting the native Americans for the land that had been theirs in the first place to ponder the ramifications of "too much bad stuff" in their diet. Or maybe no one lived long enough to think about anything beyond the fourth grade. I don’t know and I don’t care. A food like eggs has been around as long as the cockroach. Get rid of them, but not the eggs!
To add insult to injury, I had been eating only egg whites and those commercial egg substitutes for about a year when they came out with still another study about eggs. This one stated that the yolk wasn’t so bad and that the white wasn’t so good. Give me a break. What’s a person who loves eggs to do? Keep eating them. And at that point, (about 5 years ago), that’s exactly what I decided to do.
I have since heard of still another study in which it was concluded that once a week eggs (whites too) are fine in most diets. People with high cholesterol have to keep their egg as well as "bad" items down, but I’m in the clear. I just have one question. How can we get some of that money that was used for these worthless studies and put it into raising more chickens! More eggs, less taxes. Vote for me; that’s my platform. I’d choose Frank Perdue, the chicken king, for a running mate, but he’s dead. I know that wouldn’t stop some people, but I have to be reasonable. My battle cry is and will be even after I die:
LONG LIVE THE EGG AND I, THE EGG AND YOU, THE EGG AND EVERYONE ELSE!
Did you know . . .
Copyright 2004
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