Eggs: Healthy or Not?

it is SO HARD TO KNOW as the moment you/one make a decision the data changes!

I do a LOT of eggbeaters and toss in whole eggs every other day or so (and get my omega 3's elsewhere)

I eat a lot of eggs, because I'm a vegetarian who has found she needs a fair amount of protein. I figure that eating lots of eggs didn't kill people in the past, so if I avoid the real crap of processed stuff, I'll be fine.

So far the articles I've seen on this study, make no mentions of how or what the eggs were prepared with. How many of the participants of this study fried eggs in "healthier" margarine? Until someone definitively finds a key factor in eggs being unhealthy, I will continue to enjoy them, and implore everyone else to do the same.

I think if you are a fit and active person eggs can't do any harm. The benefits seem to out weight the negatives.

RT

I eat anywhere from 10 - 16 eggs a week ,and another one of these shaky association-type studies isn't going to stop me.

I'd agree that it seems likely people who age over 6 eggs per week just had a less healthy diet in general.

Nothing wrong with eggs themselves (and current recommendations, in the UK at least, allow for 1 per day) -- but if they're fried in oil and accompanied by bacon, they'll obviously be a little less than healthy...

I probably average a couple of eggs per week, usually as scrambled eggs or omelette.

Ali

Everthing in moderation! I see no harm in having an egg a few times a week as part of a nutritious breakfast, particularly on the days you know you'll need the extra protien. And I find the quality of the omelette suffers without them.

I grew up eating a hardboiled egg with just about every breakfast in my European household. That, and dark bread and local honey and cheeses and real butter and fresh jams. Amazingly enough, none of us is fat...not even my aged grandparents.

Compare that to the breakfast bars and doughnuts and other crap people eat and it is pretty obvious why. Real food for the win!

I eat eggs, but only a couple once a week or so. I think they're healthy but I'm usually not in the mood for cooking in the morning.
My family has a high risk of breast cancer (at least, many of the women in my family have had it) so maybe I should eat some more.

I currently live alone and cook for myself. I try to stay healthy, but at the same time, I'm EXTREMELY lazy about cooking. The solution is lots of raw fruits and vegetables, toast, and easily prepared protein. Hence, lots of beans, milk, and eggs. I usually eat one to two a day (never more than two, and rarely that many). Honestly, unless they definitively link egg consumption with global warming, I have no plans to stop.

Really? I am 26, and I hate egg whites for lunch everyday. They are a major component in my diet, and I really do like them.

After reading this, I may be reducing the amount I eat ever week.

My boyfriend and I go through a half-dozen medium organic eggs (poached or soft-boiled) per week. I think, as someone mentioned above, that the issue is more that people who eat too much of *anything* have the health troubles.

These studies make me crazy anyway. I seem to recall a widely cited one that found eggs and cigarettes were associated with lower incidence of Parkinson's disease. Probably because people who eat Western omelettes and smoke are dead from heart disease before the Parkinson's can manifest.

Since starting my healthy living, (the last 18 months or so). I have lost over 40 pounds. I eat an omega-3 hard boiled egg almost every day day for breakfast, some days I switch up and have oatmeal or fruit, but the egg is very satisfying.
I agree with everyone else, the eggs are not bad, it's the diet of the people who eat them.

Um, seems to me that the egg might be a scapegoat here and not the real culprit. Especially since:

"the men who ate the most eggs were older, fatter, ate more vegetables but less breakfast cereal, and were more likely to drink alcohol, smoke and less likely to exercise."

Gee, maybe those factors contributed more to the death rate than one measly egg a day.

During my healthiest kick ever, I ate two egg whites and one whole egg every day with a little feta cheese and klamata olives along with a side of oatmeal, a fruit, and a 1% milk latte (easy on the flavoring). My overall cholesterol dropped, my good cholesterol went up, and I shed 60lbs.

I really need to get back to that kick . . .

I eat 10 - 12 eggs a week and I have no plans to stop. They fill me up and improve my mood. Whenever I eat a carb-based breakfast I feel hungry all day and irritated till the next meal. They are also an easy dinner option...

I rarely eat eggs other than in baked goods. My husband makes them sometimes, or occasionally we get breakfast tacos of eggs with bacon, ham or chorizo. For a very long time after my first pregnancy, when I ate TONS of eggs, even the smell of eggs made me feel ill. Now I can eat them again, but I just don't often.

I'm not terribly concerned for our family. I would never eat them everyday, but a few times a week seems like no big deal. If I could get my sons to eat them, I would probably make them more often.

My issue with this study is that it doesn't delineate between egg whites and whole eggs. So my question is, if I ONLY eat egg whites seven days a week, am I ok? Very confusing!

The study mentions the physical conditions of these men but I would want a better case study where we see men in various physical conditions and a better breakdown in their diets. THEN we can have a discussion.

I think this study is not to be trusted.

The nurses study found no link between egg consumption and heart disease. Plus, egg yolks have high levels of carotenoids such as lutein and zexanthin.

With all the HFCS, trans-fats and artificial sweeteners and other cr*p that's been put into our food supply, and people are worried about eggs?

I don't buy it...I eat eggs regularly and I'm going to continue to eat them.

I eat egg whites 2-3 times a week. I never eat the yolks- I probably haven't eaten a whole egg in 5 years. I have no plans to stop eating the egg whites- they're a nutritious food I can eat without triggering myself.

Whatev' I'm going to continue eating eggs as if they were going out of style.

I eat 8-9 eggs every day and i`m feeling very good. Good article ;)

I am not a fan of tests that don't control more variables. Even the first one with the women. How do we know the choline in the eggs is the impacting food when choline is in skim milk, coffee and other very common foods.

Tests like this are just done to stir up marketing for certain products.

This issue annoys the heck out of me too. Often it will be the same damn publication that one week says they are a miracle food and the next a lethal killer. *sighs*. I think hard boiled eggs are a great snack (for 1 or 2 times a week). Honestly i think i just love their shape in my hands. I really think it depends on how they are cooked.

I have started to pay attention to how food makes me feel and go by that. NOT to be confused with "intuitive eating". More along the lines of hmm this soda or high carb option makes me feel bad afterwards. Too much meat makes you feel like you have a rock in your stomach. Having nothing but veges for lunch makes you feel cool and fresh inside but not really satisfied. Having a hard boiled egg with some kind of fruit/vege in the morning makes me feel full and calm. Cream of wheat is a nice comforting food best saved for a quick dinner otherwise youll want to go to sleep right away in a warm blanket. Well.. not exactly scientific but I guess if you pay attention and choose something for what you are trying to "feel" like it all works out. Clean and fresh? Warm and satisfied? or just plain satisfied but not weighed down.

I eat a lot of eggs, but I only eat about one yolk a day. I usually mix a whole egg with 2 or 3 whites and make an omelette with it. My husband eats quite a few eggs as well.

I think the reason the middle-aged men that ate the eggs probably had a lot of other factors that affected their lifespan more than just the eggs. Did the men smoke? Did they eat a lot of other saturated fat? How active were they? My grandpa used to eat 3 or 4 eggs every morning fried in bacon grease and he had 4 heart attacks in his lifetime. When he had his biggest attack, it was during the whole "eggs are EVIL" craze that was going on. His doctor told him to cut out the eggs completely, but he refused. I have a feeling that his heart attacks were caused more by his extremely sedentary lifestyle, his extra weight, and the amount of saturated fat and other junk he ate every day.

*shrugs* Meh...boiled eggs, with a tea in the morning, is a perfect way to start MY day...so, why would i stop eating eggs just because of supposed "studies", done by supposedly "real" doctors...Make up you're minds, ppl! They're good for you one day...then bad for you, the next.

So, yeah, the verdict...Eggs in the morning it is! Mwahahaha!

Mouse &hearts

Eggs are a fantastic source of protein and fat. At least twice a week I will eat four whole eggs at one sitting. Those four eggs, plus two cups of fat free milk and a banana provide me with 17 grams of fat (4 saturated), 54 grams of slowly digesting carbohydrates, and 43 grams of protein.

You really would struggle to find a more complete, wholesome breakfast.

For those training with weights and looking to add lean mass, this is the sort of breakfast champions are made of, provide of course that you're in a hyper-caloric state.

Eggs are great. I eat 3 for breakfast every morning and have no plans on quitting.

The only thing to watch out for is that chicken (and eggs) are very unbalanced toward Omega-6. So we have to eat some fatty fish or another source of Omega-3 oil to balance this out, or suffer the consequences.

For that I take a teaspoon of flax oil every morning, a teaspoon of cod liver oil every evening, and try to eat fish whenever it is available.

Coincidentally, I blogged about this issue on May 8 also:
http://advancedmediterraneandiet.com/blog/?p=35

If the egg/cholesterol/atherosclerosis theory is correct, you would have predicted excess deaths from heart disease and strokes in the heavy egg consumers. Interestingly, these were not the cause of the excess deaths in the Physicians' Health Study. The study authors don't reveal (don't know?) the causes of the excess deaths.

An editorialist in the same issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested making omelettes with the whites only. Many of you mention omelettes with 1 whole egg and whites of 2 eggs. All the eggs cholesterol - 200 mg - is in the yolk.

-Steve Parker, M.D.

I eat breakfast out every day and consume upwards of 20 eggs per week. My lipid profile is very good and I exercise just about every day, am 68 and overweight, do not drink or smoke.

Yeah it is really hard to know. I think one of the reasons eggs have been tainted is they we often eat them with bacon (and other high calorie foods), which makes the meal much higher in fat. Is definitely a great source of protein. I think positives would outweight the negatives.

so hard to believe,thanks god i'm a vegeterian

Eggs are essential for healthy hair and nails. Additionally, when I have one for breakfast I do not get hungry until lunch time or later. So, yes I intend to keep eating them (I am a woman).

When I get home from Iraq (where I don't eat them because the chow hall dudes fry the from-a-milk-carton kind in about a half-cup of oil--ewww), I plan to eat fresh eggs until I explode. I can't believe how much I miss them. I've lain in bed at night dreaming of soft-boiled eggs on wheat toast with a smidge of real butter. And milk...wow, I have really missed real milk. The eradiated stuff tastes like crap and I have to hold my nose to drink it.

Holy crap my mouth is watering even as I type.

Folks have been eating eggs since the dawn of time. I don't care what studies come out, I will eat them every day. This is not a new food or a recently-developed ingredient--it's eggs, people. What's next, death by lowfat milk?

Moderation is the key, i dont think anything is particularly bad in moderation. Eggs butter and whole milk are things i know i'll never be able to cut out of my diet. Ever. Even if whole milk gives you brain cancer, i'll still be at the cafe at 9am ordering my full fat capuccino...same goes with butter and eggs.

14 raw eggs a week and not stopping.

I'm a breast cancer survivor and definitely don't plan to begin eating more egg yolks anytime soon. I've been eating the whites and usually avoiding the yolks for almost 15 years. I follow the Zone diet, lost 100 pounds with it 13 years ago, and have kept it off. Lowering inflammaton levels is one of the basics of the Zone. Egg yolks, even those engineered to contain more omaga 3's, contain high levels of arachidonic acid, which increases inflammation. As the previous commentor stated, modertaion is key.

Am a very frequest egg eater n eat upto 30 eggs a week.i enjoy the different flavours I make of eggs n I dont think I would enjoy such in any other food.no plans of quitting now. I am 6 fts tall n weigh 67 kgs.

I find that hardboiled eggs make a very satisfying and convenient snack... but I don't know about the health benefits/risks. They should do a scientifically controlled study!

I don't eat ANY since I'm a vegan and have felt perfect, calm & collected for as long as can remember. Beat that!

Eating an multi-cellular developing embryo which has blood hemoglobyn chains/enzymes/puss/injected chemicals floating in it encapsulated into a shell, that came out of some malformed/overweight/drugged/abused bird that can't even fly which releases streams of nervous neurotransmitters with each delivery of eggs (that are full of cholesterol and a bear a few other undiscovered/undiagnosed diseases at the present time) just places all of these sickness factors within you, destabilizing your RNA/DNA communication ruining your health in the long run as well as binding you closer to this planet & dimension. (no wonder the Christian Bible supports egg cosumption, just another layer of this age-long sick plan to entrap/de-evolve this species)

In the end, You Are What You EAT.