Health File

Myths About Eggs Showing Cracks

Recent research is casting new light on the old adage you are what you eat, at least as far as cholesterol is concerned.

For about a generation consumers have been warned to stay away from cholesterol-laden foods, in the belief that what goes in the mouth ends up in the blood stream, where it was thought dietary cholesterol contributed to plaque build-up in blood vessels and development of heart disease. Eggs, with their high-cholesterol content, became taboo for the cholesterol-conscious.

But new studies show it is fat—or rather, certain types of fat—that increase the risk of heart disease, and dietary cholesterol isn’t the culprit we’ve been led to believe.

And that means eggs can be back on the menu for many people.

“We’ve come a long way in understanding these things,” says Sandy Schwenger, a registered dietitian from Burlington, Ont., and cholesterol educator. “Canadians concerned about cholesterol don’t have to sacrifice eggs.”

Our bodies make about three-quarters of the cholesterol in the bloodstream. The remaining 25 per cent is influenced by diet—but “the biggest influence on blood cholesterol level is the mix of fats in the diet,” says the Harvard School of Public Health in its report Fats and Cholesterol. The amount of cholesterol in the food only minimally affects the level in the bloodstream, but eating saturated fats (think lard and butter) and trans fats (found in deep-fat fried foods), do send cholesterol levels up in people with low intake of “good” fats. These include monosaturated fats like those found in olives and nuts, and polyunsaturated fats like those in fish, corn and soybeans.

Cholesterol is important for formation of cell membranes, hormones and converting vitamin D from sunlight. It’s made in the liver, and transported throughout the body by lipoproteins. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) carry it from the liver and high-density lipoproteins (HDL) carry the excess back to the liver, which processes it for elimination from the body. When there’s too much LDL in relation to HDL, the waxy substance is deposited in blood vessels rather than being carried back to the liver and eliminated.

For most people, the amount of cholesterol eaten has little impact on the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream, according to results from a Harvard study of 80,000 female nurses. It found increasing the daily dietary cholesterol intake by about the amount that is contained in an egg does not increase the risk of heart disease for healthy people, says Schwenger. (However, the study notes that diabetics should eat only two or three eggs a week and those struggling with high cholesterol should avoid egg yolks).

Eggs are such nutritional power-houses, says Schwenger, that people should get back into the habit of eating them at meals other than breakfast. Eggs contain 14 essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, contain no trans fats, and are a good and low-cost substitute for meat. While egg yolks do contain cholesterol, eggs also have nutrients that lower the risk of heart disease, including protein, vitamins B2, B12 and D, lecithin and folic acid.

And the new Omega-3 eggs, from hens whose feed contains flax seed, contributes to the mix of good fats in the diet which help control cholesterol levels.

So to keep cholesterol levels down, pass up the French fries and pass out the omelets.

Benefits Of A Vegan Diet

Researchers in Sweden have found evidence that a change in diet can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke for people who have rheumatoid arthritis.

Sixty-six volunteers with rheumatoid arthritis were divided randomly into two groups. One group ate a gluten-free vegan diet—no meat or meat products, wheat, rye, oats or barley—for one year. The other simply ate a well-balanced diet.

At the end of the year, the researchers at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm found the gluten-free, vegan diet resulted in lower cholesterol, lower weight and body mass index. As well, this group had higher levels of natural antibodies against damaging compounds that cause rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease. Inflammation and high cholesterol are two risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

Further research will explore the role of veggies in the diet, and whether it was avoiding meat or avoiding gluten, or both together, that caused the healthful results.

Memories Restored In Experiment

Three people in Canada have had electrodes planted in their brains in a pilot project to determine if electrical stimulation will help shore up memory of people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The project follows an unintentional discovery by researchers at Toronto Western Hospital who were studying whether electrodes implanted in the brain could help with appetite suppression in a man who is struggling with life-long obesity.

When the electrodes were being placed and tested, the man recalled in vivid detail events on a particular day 30 years earlier; and when electrodes were left on for a period of months, he showed substantial gain in memory used to draw associations between items or places.

The therapeutic benefits of deep brain stimulation are being investigated for a number of conditions, including Parkin­son’s disease and profound depression.

A hole is bored through the skull so thin wires can be planted inside the brain. The wires are then connected to a device implanted in the chest that feeds an electric current to the brain, stimulating areas near the wire.

So far memory gain has been selective and affects only memory needed for making associations, like identifying pairs of words. Other memory tasks remain unaffected.

Researchers hope the pilot project will show that enhancing circuitry in a brain area already damaged can translate into better day-to-day memory function.

But don’t try this at home—it’s still experimental.

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