Ande Ka Funda: Are Egg Yolks Heart Healthy?

Cracking the great egg debate - are yolks cholesterol bombs or good for health?

Confused about the role of eggs in a healthy diet? You’re not alone. Scroll down to crack the great egg debate, one yolk at a time.

(Photo: iStock)

Eggs.

Nature’s perfect convenient food. Easy to store, a breeze to cook, packed with proteins and delicious when scrambled, poached, or fried into an omelet.

Advice on egg, mostly on an egg-a-day has changed a lot over the years. In 2014, the American Heart Association dropped its recommendation limit of 7 eggs a week, given the cholesterol concern.

For your information, a whole egg contains more than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol. So the fears are justifiable. LDL or the low-density lipoprotein puts your body at risk for heart disease and lowers fertility rates at high levels.

So in an egg-shell what is correct: are eggs worse than cigarettes or are they nature’s perfect multivitamin?

We asked four popular dieticians to get an answer.

Yes, egg yellow has a lot of cholesterol but the benefits like vitamins, protein, amino acid, counter the worry of cholesterol. And on top of that, it’s way more healthier than processed meat and sugar-heavy cereals people have for breakfast.
– Raksha Chopra, Dietician, Bangalore

Did you know that cholesterol is an important structural element in the membrane of every cell in your body? It also helps create steroid hormones, like testosterone and estrogen? In fact, cholesterol is so vital to human existence that your liver produces it on a regular basis.

Actually when you consume dietary cholesterol, you aren’t adding cholesterol by a big margin. Your liver detects the cholesterol intake and lowers the in-house production accordingly.

It is true that egg yolks are high in cholesterol, but that isn’t bad for everyone. (Photo: The Quint)

It is fat and not dietary cholesterol that raises the LDL limit. Egg yolks are packed with vitamins and nutrients; vitamin A, B2, B5, calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, manganesem folates. They also contain 9 essential aminos that cannot be produced by the human body and must be gotten from diet. – Dr Pooja Shah, Nutritionist, Mumbai

But aren’t eggs fattening? Will you replace a less-healthy breakfast item with egg if you are on a diet?

When you are trying to lose weight you need adequate amount of proteins, at least 1 to 1.2gm/kg of your body weight. Eggs are protein powerhouses. They will boost your metabolism and make you feel full for long. It is a complete source of nutrition for your skin, hair and health while you lose weight.
– Dr Geeta Dharmatti, Nutritionist, Pune

Eggs also contain a lot of omega-3 which has been proven to benefit your heart.

If you are genetically prone to heart diseases or high cholesterol, limit your intake to less than 200mgs/day. And it’s not just eggs which have cholesterol but also ghee, curd and milk.
– Purva Duggal, Nutritionist, Fortis Hospital

Egg-Sized Trivia

Given their large amount of cysteine, eggs help mop up alcohol’s leftover toxins (Photo: The Quint)

Maximum bang for your buck! (Photo: The Quint)

Egg-shells have more than 17,000 pores. Keeping them next to last night’s salmon may yield a fishy-tasting omelet the next morning (Photo: The Quint)

They have an incredibly long shelf life. Egg-cellent! (Photo: The Quint)

So one hen takes care of one individual’s yearly requirement! (Photo: The Quint)

And they taste virtually identical to chicken eggs (Photo: The Quint)

Also Read: Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Why Eggs-actly is it Vegetarian?