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Cholesterol in the egg – facts about lipid metabolism
Cholesterol has a bad reputation because it is always associated with deposits in arteries and the resulting cardiovascular diseases or strokes.
- However, our body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to build cell walls. It is also important for the formation of bile and certain hormones.
- Cholesterol is supplied to the body through nutrition, but it also produces some of it itself. You have no influence on this self-production, how much the body produces is genetically determined.
- They can only affect the intake of cholesterol from food. If you eat a lot of foods containing cholesterol, the healthy body will not reduce its own production. On the contrary, it produces more when less comes from outside.
- However, the body can only do this if the fat metabolism is working properly. If there is a fault here, this control mechanism no longer works.
Eggs are part of a healthy diet
Despite the cholesterol, you should not give up eggs entirely.
- A medium-sized egg contains just over 200 mg of cholesterol, most of which is in the yolk. That’s quite a lot.
- If you eat one or even more eggs a day, you will introduce a lot of cholesterol into your body. Even if your fat metabolism works perfectly and the body’s own production is shut down, the supply is still too high.
- The one-egg rule used to apply. She said you shouldn’t eat more than one egg a week.
- In the meantime, research has gone a step further and the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) has corrected its recommendation to three eggs per week.
- However, this only applies to healthy people. Those who suffer from heart disease or vascular problems should reduce the amount.
- Eggs are actually very healthy – they are not only made of cholesterol. The proteins that the body can fully utilize are valuable. The vitamins and other nutrients in eggs are also good for health.