his cholesterol tested again. This time, the total was very simi-
lar, 276, but the HDL diminished too much, down to 41. That
drastically increased his risk to 6.7. His doctor recommended
taking a cholesterol-lowering drug. Six months later, the tests
showed his total cholesterol down to 213, along with his HDL,
which decreased to 31. Now his risk was even worse, with a
ratio of about 6.9. Fred was finally convinced to try another
approach. After six months of easy aerobic exercise, lowering
his carbohydrate intake and eating the right fats, including
eggs, his blood test showed total cholesterol of 191, and HDL
of 58, giving a much better ratio of 3.3. A year later, Fred’s test
was even a little better.Eating Eggs
Most people love the taste of eggs, whether scrambled, poached, soft-
or hard-boiled or in a fancy soufflé. Eggs are one of the best sources
of quality protein and also contain a wide variety of other important
nutrients, including choline, important to help control stress (another
risk for heart disease). But, as everyone knows, egg yolks contain cho-
lesterol. Today, most experts agree that for most people, eating eggs
every day is not going to worsen blood cholesterol. (If you’re one of a
very small number of people who can’t metabolize cholesterol, it
could be a problem. But if that’s the case, most likely you already
know your cholesterol is too high — above 250 or 300.)
After decades of medical research, studies have never linked egg
consumption to heart disease. Stephen Kritchevsky, Ph.D., director of
the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University states:
“People should feel secure with the knowledge that the [medical] lit-
erature shows regular egg consumption does not have a measurable
impact on heart disease risk for healthy adults. In fact, many countries
with high egg consumption are notable for low rates of heart disease.”
In most healthy people, the body normally compensates to balance
cholesterol, even when you eat whole eggs every day. In fact, when
you eat more cholesterol your body absorbs a smaller percentage.
Consider the following points about consumption of eggs and
other foods high in cholesterol:
THE BIG PICTURE OF HEART DISEASE • 319