Cholesterol from eggs

[LBVT]

I have read conflicting evidence about the cholesterol in eggs. Some researchers claim it raises the total:HDL ratio in humans if they consume too many eggs, while other researchers claim it isn't the cholesterol, but the amounts of saturated fat that increase the LDL. And then if the egg supporting researchers come up with news us lifters like to hear, the egg-haters come out of the woodwork and scream that they have ties to the egg industry, faults in the research, etc.

Since there is so much conflicting evidence on this topic and such a divide between the scientific community, I wanted your opinion Dr. Houser, and anyone else's that wishes to contribute to this thread.

I go through 10-25 eggs per week, so obviously this topic is of interest to my long-term health. I'm sure there are some people on these fitness forums that eat over 100 eggs per month.

[dinoiii]

This is a decent question and one I get frequently actually. It probably comes up so readily because of the conflicting evidence that does exist.

One thing that many of the so-called "experts" in this area seem to neglect is the study participants in said groups and their collective dietary macronutrient breakdowns in the first place.

Remember, 97-99% of cholesterol synthesis happens in the liver and that remains your primary source. Diet is a small secondary source, though this does NOT eliminate diet's contribution to the liver's synthesis.

Endogenous sources of cholesterol being influenced by increases in dietary cholesterol seem to actually shut-off when exogenous cholesterol exceeds endogenous production. In other words, when you eat more cholesterol, the liver actually shuts off its production in attempt for the body to control levels.

Data on heart disease and the like has also been conflicting leading to something the scientific community remains un-unified on as well. In other words, if you decrease the amount of cholesterol your body has running through your circulatory system, you will ultimately see less androgenic substrate and as a result, heart disease actually rises with lower testosterone levels, which offers a virtual catch-22.

In fact, the best evidence we have here probably lies with our own limits placed on cholesterol levels. For instance, as I have offered up on this subforum many times in the past, when we used to have a cholesterol level boasted at under 300 and came up with the evolution of statin drugs...only then did we as a medical community begin to consider lower levels of cholesterol an imperative option. As a result, we settled on 200 and paradoxically saw heart disease rates continue to rise.

Why?

Carbohydrates were the macronutrient of choice we opted to upregulate and carbs have a greater influence on blood levels of cholesterol through the following pathway:

Carbs --> Inc VLDL --> Inc IDL --> LDL (and total cholesterol)

But, you'd think that if carbs increase cholesterol, they'd offer up higher levels of testosterone, no? Unfortunately, that hasn't translated to real world data - which likely means the balance is thrown too far in one direction because hepatic synthesis in that scenario is unadultered above and beyond the additional increase. This gets very complex and offers many different sides to interpretation.

So, what to do? An imperative balance is likely necessary to gain both end-results of choice:

[1] Low Heart Disease Rates

-and-

[2] High Androgenic Substrate


Monitor the level of cholesterol you have in your system fine, but coincide levels of testosterone. I am uncertain that we have a sure-fire design, but dietary modification seems to actually support more recently that dietary fat continues to not be the enemy we once though, including saturated fats if you consider the most recent literature.

Trans Fatty Acids still maintain themselves as the devil but that may stand for correction given more study. This is surely far from over.

My personal offering at present is to raise exogenous fats in the diet, in order to increase androgenic substrate (which will translate to less hyperglycemic woes and subsequent cardiovascular sequelae), while watching alternative heart disease markers above and beyond cholesterol; most notably: Homocysteine, Lp(a), etc...



D_

[transXisomer]

Great info doc

[growstrong]

Originally Posted by transXisomer

Great info doc

x2... always wondered about this

[GeneGnome]

This group is finding that 3 eggs per day combined with carb restriction gives favorable benefits: Carbohydrate restriction and dietary cholesterol - Forums

[growstrong]

nice find GeneGnome! I did know that egg yolks in moderation was good... usually when i eat some scrambled eggs I use 6 eggs today and keep 2-3 of the yolks...

[thesinner]

yolks are also a great natural source of lecithin (LAHA member #2). :D

[B-natural]

eggs make up quite a bit of my diet, the amount is nearly ridiculous to me, but it has been working well, and I usually keep it at about a 1:3 - 1:4 yolk:white ratio, i.e. if i use 3eggs, i'll skim out 2 of the yolks....

[LBVT]

Thanks for the information doc! Now I know you can't give an exact number as to how many carbohydrates we should consume, but for the average 200 pound male on this forum, what would be a good number?

The conflict I see with consuming a low-carbohydrate diet is the lack of glucose in the body, and isn't glucose the primary molecule in the body that results in the creation of ATP? So if one were to drop CHO down to 100 or 150 grams in the short-long-term (i.e. 6 months), is that enough to remain active 5 days a week, in addition to maintaining other activities such as work and studying? Or is this where the theory of the carb-up comes into play?

Also, how does one maintain a low-CHO diet if we want to get in sufficient amounts of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables into our diet each day? I'm not talking about from a bodybuilder's perspective, but from the perspective of someone who wants to lead a healthy life (our parents for example) and for someone who is concerned more about strength and endurance (some of us on this forum)?

Thanks.

[transXisomer]

Originally Posted by LBVT

Thanks for the information doc! Now I know you can't give an exact number as to how many carbohydrates we should consume, but for the average 200 pound male on this forum, what would be a good number?

The conflict I see with consuming a low-carbohydrate diet is the lack of glucose in the body, and isn't glucose the primary molecule in the body that results in the creation of ATP? So if one were to drop CHO down to 100 or 150 grams in the short-long-term (i.e. 6 months), is that enough to remain active 5 days a week, in addition to maintaining other activities such as work and studying? Or is this where the theory of the carb-up comes into play?

Also, how does one maintain a low-CHO diet if we want to get in sufficient amounts of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables into our diet each day? I'm not talking about from a bodybuilder's perspective, but from the perspective of someone who wants to lead a healthy life (our parents for example) and for someone who is concerned more about strength and endurance (some of us on this forum)?

Thanks.

Just a few quick points

-Your body can make glucose (gluconeogenesis) from amino acids and fats. So when your body needs it, it can make it, theres nothing essential about carbohydrates. You have your essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, but nothing is essential about carbs. Fats yield a TON of more ATP than glucose:

1 molecule glucose = *40 ATP
1 molecule triglyceride = 463 ATP

Lowering your carbohydrate intake switches your body more from a glucose based metabolism to a fat based metabolism. This controlling of insulin can equal more fat loss, some report feeling better, stronger, less mood swings, less mid-day drowsyness, etc, from eating a no / low carb diet.

If you are worried about getting in the right amounts of vits / minerals from fruits, whole grains, remember that oftentimes these fruits and such due to farming methods / pesticides oftentimes have very small amounts of vitamins. For example, if you want to get in 2 grams of vitamin C (which you should be) it would take ingestion of 40 grapefruits to get in that amount. Controlling insulin (low / no carb diet) might bode you better in terms of body composition and your internal health as well.