Cholesterol is a waxy substance your body needs to create hormones, manufacture vitamin D, produce bile acids to digest food and build healthy cells. Your liver and other body cells produce about ¾ of the cholesterol in your body, with the remaining 25 percent come from meats and other animal products in your diet. Eggs are particularly high in cholesterol.
Identification
Cholesterol content depends on the type and size of eggs you select, as well as the cooking method you use. One duck egg, for example, contains 619 g of cholesterol, compared to 234 g in a jumbo chicken egg and 141 g in a small chicken egg. You can scramble an egg using canola-spray cooking oil that's cholesterol-free, or fry one in a tablespoon of butter that adds another 31 g of cholesterol. Since the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, or NHLBI, recommends a maximum cholesterol intake of 200 mg or less a day, an egg or two can put you over that limit and raise your blood cholesterol.
Significance
The fat composition of eggs also has a negative effect on cholesterol levels. One large chicken egg has more than 1.5 g of the unhealthy saturated fat that raises your levels of total cholesterol and LDL, or "bad, cholesterol. The same egg has less than a gram of polyunsaturated fat and not quite 2 g of monounsaturated fat, the heart-healthy fat that lowers total and LDL cholesterol levels. This combination makes it difficult to incorporate eggs into the therapeutic lifestyle changes diet that limits saturated fat to less than 7 percent of your total calories and promotes polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats instead.
Considerations
If your levels of LDL and total cholesterol are too high, the excess cholesterol builds up on the inside lining of your coronary arteries. Over time, this accumulation creates rigid plaques that reduce the flow of oxygen and other nutrients to your heart, a condition called coronary heart disease. The therapeutic lifestyle changes diet is designed to lower your risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
Expert Insight
Despite the high cholesterol and unhealthy fat content of eggs, they also contain nutrients that may reduce your risk of heart disease, including protein, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin D and protein, notes the Harvard School of Public Health. If you are healthy, you can eat up to one egg a day without increasing your risk of heart disease. If your LDL or total cholesterol level is elevated, however, you should reduce your intake of eggs, particularly egg yolks. Likewise, individuals with diabetes should average less than one egg a day.
Tips
Use common sense when cooking eggs at home. Instead of scrambling two or three whole eggs, trying removing one or two yolks to reduce your cholesterol and fat intake. You can also purchase egg substitutes that contain no cholesterol or fat. Pay attention to condiments as well. A splash of salsa or some thinly-sliced avocados are tasty, heart-healthy alternatives to cheese or butter.
