Nutritionists say eggs are healthy!

Eggs are considered a universal food, and there is also some confusion around them. One or two eggs are eaten by some people every day. They are considered nutrient-dense food. On the other hand, some recipes call for only egg whites or replace the egg completely. This leads to some confusion, like whether the eggs are healthy or can be consumed every day.

Due to a lack of knowledge about cholesterol, confusion about the eggs is there. Kylie Sakaida, a registered dietitian, told Insider that “many people are confused by eggs because we see so much conflicting information out there. A lot of that comes from the fact that over a decade ago, nutritionists and health professionals were recommending people to stay away from eggs.”

Before 2015, researchers didn’t understand the relationship between cardiovascular disease and dietary cholesterol. It was thought that food with high cholesterol would increase blood cholesterol levels, and then the chance of cardiovascular disease increases. Cardiovascular disease is the lead cause of death in the US. Because of this, a limit of dietary cholesterol at 300 mg per day is put by dietary guidelines. Because eggs have 185 mg of cholesterol, people were told to avoid eating eggs.

In 2015, Dietary Guidelines for Americans said that blood cholesterol levels increased because of dietary cholesterol. Rachael Hartley, the author of Gentle Nutrition and a registered dietitian, said it is essential to pay attention to added sugars, trans fats, and saturated fats, which seem to have more role in heart disease. This means food one eats with eggs should be paid attention to.

Even though eggs are not considered unhealthy anymore, some people still prefer to eat only eggs whites and leave the yolk, and this is because most of the egg’s fats and cholesterol are found in egg yolks, Kylie said. Kylie also noted that if egg yolks are not eaten, some of those nutrients are missed. If the purpose is weight management, then having only egg whites is beneficial. Eggs are a great source of protein which helps to build lean muscle and support cell growth. According to Hartley, eggs also contain vitamin B12, vitamin E, zinc, choline, vitamin D, and vitamin A.