Are eggs bad for your heart?
Dr. Jeremy London, a cardiovascular surgeon in Savannah, Georgia, posed the question to more than one million of his followers on social media. His answer may be surprising to some.
London told Fox News Digital that “eggs took a really bad rap” through the years, in large part because the American Heart Association (AHA) “came down hard on eggs” for being a poor dietary source and a heart risk.
But, said London, “that whole narrative really softened” in 2015 because the data “didn’t bear itself out.”
“And that’s because dietary cholesterol really doesn’t impact our overall cholesterol as much as we think it does,” he said.
Eggs are a “God-made product” and “an excellent source of protein,” London said.
A regular egg has about 5 to 6 grams of protein — but it’s also “packed with minerals” and “micronutrients” like vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and choline, London noted.
“So, it really has borne itself out to not be the risk that was initially professed in the ’70s and ’80s,” London said.
“And now it’s really thought to be a really good dietary source for individuals.”
The American Heart Association, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, told Fox News Digital that a whole egg per day can be included as part of a heart-healthy diet for healthy adults — while two eggs daily is acceptable for healthy older adults with normal cholesterol.
In his video, London cautioned that it’s “challenging to study a single food” and “really critical to understand the entire diet” of an individual.
When it comes to the type of eggs consumed, London said he believes there is “some advantage” to eating the eggs produced by free-range chickens.
“I personally do think that [has] an impact because, just like ‘we are what we eat,’ everything we put in our mouths then are the building blocks for ourselves,” London said.
“The same is true for the chickens.”
As for whether the yolk or the white is better for your heart, “the majority of the dietary benefit actually comes from the yolk,” London said.
“I’ll use two eggs and then add some egg white to it to give more volume and more protein as well,” London said.
“Because I do want the nutritional value from the yolk, but I like to have that added protein just because I lean pretty heavily on the protein in my personal diet.”
Above all else, however, London stressed that it’s a personal choice about whether or not to eat eggs.
London concluded his video with this message to his followers: “Listen to your body, follow your biomarkers and create a nutritional plan that is absolutely right for you.”
