For decades, mainstream medicine tried to blame heart disease on cholesterol…and on foods like eggs that contain cholesterol. But it turns out, that narrative is completely false.
In fact, a brand new study published in the British Medical Journal has found no link between egg consumption and heart disease.
We’ll talk more about that important study in a moment. But first, let’s back up to discuss how eggs got such a bad rap for so long…
When did the cracks start to show?
The idea that eggs and other cholesterol-containing foods are somehow bad for your heart started to take root in the mainstream in the 1970s—when Merck began pushing its brand new cholesterol-lowering drug called lovastatin.
Well, as we now know, statin drugs do lower your cholesterol. But they do not lower your heart disease risk. (In fact, some studies suggest these drugs actually INCREASE your risk of heart disease.)
Furthermore, there was never really any strong evidence against eating eggs, specifically.
In fact, by the mid-1980s, Harvard scientists established, with certainty, that there’s no connection between eating foods with cholesterol (like eggs) and the amount of cholesterol in the blood. Then, in 1985, the Harvard scientists came to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to share their findings. (I was even in the room for the big presentation.)
But the political bosses at NIH chose to ignore the science. And as a result, cholesterol (and foods that contain cholesterol) remained under fire for decades. (Even though many studies from around the world continued to link lower blood cholesterol with higher overall death rates.)
Frankly, all the concern about eggs never made much sense to me. In fact, from my anthropology studies in college, I had learned that humans have been eating eggs for thousands of years because of their impressive nutritional content…
Eggs are a perfect food
I’ve always said that eggs are a healthy and wholesome food. They’re filled with much- needed nutrients that help power you through your day. In fact, the “white” part of the egg contains pure protein albumin, which your body needs. And the yolk contains the important fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins and minerals, which are hard to obtain from anywhere else.
It’s really no wonder that Dr. C. Everett Koop (1917 – 2013), who served as the U.S. Surgeon General under Presidents Reagan and Bush for eight years during the 1980s, always enjoyed two or three eggs and a full glass of whole milk at breakfast throughout his entire adult life.
Dr. Koop had also been my professor at Penn in the late 1970s. Later, while we worked in Washington, D.C., I ate breakfast with him many times. He told me that his highly nutritious, wholesome breakfast of eggs and whole milk was the only thing that gave him the energy and stamina to get through the day.
Thankfully, now, scientists are finally beginning to take a closer look at what Surgeon General Koop already knew decades ago!
No link between eggs and heart disease
For this new analysis, a team of U.S. researchers investigated the long-term link between eating eggs and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events—including non-fatal heart attack, fatal coronary heart disease, and stroke.
Specifically, they analyzed data on almost 200,000 women and 100,000 men who had participated in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) I and II, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). At the study’s outset, all the participants were free of CVD, Type II diabetes, and cancer.
Overall, when looking at the entire group over more than three decades, there was no link between regular egg consumption and CVD events. And among Asian populations specifically, regular egg consumption was linked to a lower risk of these events.
Plus, people who regularly ate eggs also had higher body mass index (BMI), consumed more red meat, and were less likely to take statin drugs (meaning they had higher cholesterol).
Yet, despite having more of these politically incorrect risk factors, they still did not have a higher risk of suffering a CVD event! Which suggests that the mainstream’s labeling of risk factors may be all wrong, all along.
So—in the end—my advice remains the same…
Go ahead and enjoy eggs as a part of a balanced, healthy, Mediterranean-type diet. Just make sure you enjoy eggs from pasture-raised, organic-fed chickens. This label ensures the chickens are treated humanely…and are actually allowed some freedom to roam.
(Be careful about choosing eggs that say they come from “cage-free” or “free-range” chickens, as their lives may not be as idyllic as the labels make it sound.)
Better yet, instead of having to decipher what all the grocery store labels mean, I suggest getting your eggs from a local farmer, so you can see for yourself how the chickens are raised. Or you could raise some chickens yourself!
A few years ago, my daughter began keeping a flock of chickens and selling their eggs.
Her chickens lay eggs that come out in different sizes and colors—which is just the way Nature intended, and her customers like them. Plus, farm-fresh eggs keep well for weeks without being refrigerated if you keep the outer membranes intact. (Just avoid washing them until you’re ready to eat them.) And, as a side bonus, she’s found that the chickens are champions at eating mosquito larvae and ticks, which helps stop the spread of infectious diseases.
In the end, there’s nothing better for you than a whole, organically produced egg from pasture-raised chickens. And your morning omelet will taste and look amazing!
P.S. For more insight into natural ways to protect your heart, I encourage you to check out my Heart Attack Prevention and Repair Protocol. To learn more about this innovative, online learning tool, or to enroll today, click here now!
Source:
“Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: three large prospective US cohort studies, systematic review, and updated meta-analysis.” BMJ 2020; 368: m513. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m513