Egg YOLKS...how many is too many a week.

Doolee

Not sure if its the right place for this but wanted a medical opinion on the following...

Im in the middle of a debate about eggs so want opinions educated or otherwise about how many egg YOLKS as apposed to the usual protein stuffed white you can eat a week.
I hate chucking the yolks away but usually eat one whole egg and 2 whites with a little smoked salmon to make up my protein limit for a meal (in relation to a muscle building/fitness program im on).

I cant find any link that says you can eat no more that X a week but they all seem to say 6/7 is fine. But if so, why are some people restricted (I know diabetics are and people with high cholesteral) or if its all ok to eat as many as you like then why restrict yourself at all. Why not just eat the whole egg all the time seeing as its all good cholesteral LDL/HDL thing.

Gonna put this up in Medical forum and Diet/Nutrition just to compare.
Thanks for the opinions.

CathyMoran

Doolee wrote: »

Not sure if its the right place for this but wanted a medical opinion on the following...

Im in the middle of a debate about eggs so want opinions educated or otherwise about how many egg YOLKS as apposed to the usual protein stuffed white you can eat a week.
I hate chucking the yolks away but usually eat one whole egg and 2 whites with a little smoked salmon to make up my protein limit for a meal (in relation to a muscle building/fitness program im on).

I cant find any link that says you can eat no more that X a week but they all seem to say 6/7 is fine. But if so, why are some people restricted (I know diabetics are and people with high cholesteral) or if its all ok to eat as many as you like then why restrict yourself at all. Why not just eat the whole egg all the time seeing as its all good cholesteral LDL/HDL thing.

Gonna put this up in Medical forum and Diet/Nutrition just to compare.
Thanks for the opinions.

I am a type 1 diabetic 25 years and I was never told to resrict eggs but I just would find eating that many eggs boring...surely you should be following a balanced diet?

bleg

An egg a day is OK.

Doolee

CathyMoran wrote: »

I am a type 1 diabetic 25 years and I was never told to resrict eggs but I just would find eating that many eggs boring...surely you should be following a balanced diet?

Check out the link...dunno, might be worth reading for you.
http://www.diabetes.ie/Website/Pages/TipsAndArticles/tips/2008_01_09_cholesterol.aspx

Yeah, I have a super duper diet, tonnes of good proteins, fish, (no meat for me!) eggs, nuts seeds and tonnes of high carb veg and some fruit, natural yougart, museli etc. Loving it but just in the middle with my trainer (I lift weights and am toning up etc) about safe egg quantities! So far hes right...(dammit he always is!) but maybe I'm a little right too!

My dad is type 2 diabetes and has also never as far as I know been told to go easy on the eggs, though maybe like yourself he wouldnt have that many anyway.

CathyMoran

Doolee wrote: »

Check out the link...dunno, might be worth reading for you.
http://www.diabetes.ie/Website/Pages/TipsAndArticles/tips/2008_01_09_cholesterol.aspx

Yeah, I have a super duper diet, tonnes of good proteins, fish, (no meat for me!) eggs, nuts seeds and tonnes of high carb veg and some fruit, natural yougart, museli etc. Loving it but just in the middle with my trainer (I lift weights and am toning up etc) about safe egg quantities! So far hes right...(dammit he always is!) but maybe I'm a little right too!

My dad is type 2 diabetes and has also never as far as I know been told to go easy on the eggs, though maybe like yourself he wouldnt have that many anyway.

Interesting but again have been never told to limit them, cholesterol is checked at the clinic and have never had problems...surely it is universal to keep an eye on your cholesterol?

DrIndy

CathyMoran wrote: »

Interesting but again have been never told to limit them, cholesterol is checked at the clinic and have never had problems...surely it is universal to keep an eye on your cholesterol?

It is universal - but essential for diabetics. Type 2 diabetes is considered by many doctors to be a spectrum of metabolic syndrome where you have high cholesterol (or more accurately - low HDL or good cholesterol) together with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

Having diabetes means you are very likely to have high cholesterol.

I hope a nutritionist can pop onto this thread and give a definite answer for the OP.

Doolee

DrIndy wrote: »

It is universal - but essential for diabetics. Type 2 diabetes is considered by many doctors to be a spectrum of metabolic syndrome where you have high cholesterol (or more accurately - low HDL or good cholesterol) together with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

Having diabetes means you are very likely to have high cholesterol.

I hope a nutritionist can pop onto this thread and give a definite answer for the OP.

Thanks DrIndy,
I didnt realise that about type 2 diabetes, and im actually assuming my dad probably has high cholesterol. But its been interesting cause ive been reading alot about this over various sites and it seems there is no direct link between the cholesterol in eggs leaking into the blood and increasing high cholesterol so its a bit confusing that they encourage moderation for high cholesterol people. Alot of the references re eggs refer to "healthy people" quoting 6/7 a week.
I've posted this in the fitness forum cause they are big egg eaters over there! And also the nutrition forum...who didnt have too much to say really.

Think I'll be sticking to my max 6/7 yolks a week anyway just in case, more for the 5g or so fat content in the yolk than cholesterol as I like to include meself in the "healthy people" group!...:)

DrIndy

The key thing with any food source is a balanced diet - too much of anything is not good for you in general.

The commonest inherited condition in the world is familial hyperlipidaemia - or inherited high cholesterol which has many different presentations and many different combinations of genes resulting in high cholesterol (or in fact - normal cholesterol - but low levels of HDL or good cholesterol).

This means some people are able to tolerate a high cholesterol diet because their genes are protective and generate higher levels of good cholesterol to counteract the high dietary intake. Other people do not have this luxury and some people need cholesterol tablets from a very young age despite the healthiest of diets because their genes make them need it.

There are multiple other conditions which tie in with cholesterol levels to make you get plaques and ultimately heart disease - smoking being one of them as well as the metabolic syndrome axis and treating all the components of this.

Kidney injury is a separate, but linked condition which dramatically increases heart disease and plaque formation and in balance - exercise remodels fat distribution and cholesterol levels (I am trying to remember the trial - it was canadian - where fat people did exercise programs and did not get any thinner but the effect of exercise was to move fat from around the gut to around the skin which made them remain fat, but healthier).

So its not straightforward to ask are a certain amount of eggs healthy - its everything that you eat, do, smoke and what you have inherited from your parents combined.

imported_guy

bleg wrote: »

An egg a day is OK.

im a bodybuilder, i eat 6-8 a day.. (large organic), all my tests are came out fine (even though i have family history of cholestrol and diabetes on both sides of the family), and i have been doing this for as long as i can remember, <SNIP>

OP check this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=179457121&postcount=10 , 2nd study quoted is from harvard med.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=179688231&postcount=19 more studies referenced

Doolee

imported_guy wrote: »

im a bodybuilder, i eat 6-8 a day.. (large organic), all my tests are came out fine (even though i have family history of cholestrol and diabetes on both sides of the family), and i have been doing this for as long as i can remember, <SNIP>

OP check this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=179457121&postcount=10 , 2nd study quoted is from harvard med.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=179688231&postcount=19 more studies referenced

Thanks a million for that. I've been on the bodybuilding.com website a few times all right but didnt find that one. Course...this means Im wrong in my debate (swallows pride) but hey, ya learn a little something every day.
I'll keep it to an egg yolk a day as its a low sat fat/carb plan im on...not sure i could stomach 6-8 anyway! Be careful or you'll turn into a chicken!

imported_guy

Doolee wrote: »

Thanks a million for that. I've been on the bodybuilding.com website a few times all right but didnt find that one. Course...this means Im wrong in my debate (swallows pride) but hey, ya learn a little something every day.
I'll keep it to an egg yolk a day as its a low sat fat/carb plan im on...not sure i could stomach 6-8 anyway! Be careful or you'll turn into a chicken!

well you always learn something new everyday, you are always told that FAT is bad, well truth is fat doesnt even make you fat, unless you are a lazy slob, whats important is calories in vs calories out, stuff like eggs, organic peanut butter, fish oil etc all have EFAs(essential fatty acids) (like omega 3) and are pretty important for the body, the food pyramid is pretty out dated, most athletes and bodybuilders totally disregard it instead we have developed various (really complex and mind boggling) diets with macro-nutrient ratios of like 40/40/20 (40% protein 40% carbs, 20% fat) (for normal training/bulking up and gaining mass) or a ketogenic diet for when we try to get the body fat % as low as possible (around 4-5%) for competition posing, and for that macro-nutrient ratios are probably like 65/30/5,..... or just eating less calories and doing more cardio which is my favorite.

Doolee

imported_guy wrote: »

whats important is calories in vs calories out, stuff like eggs, organic peanut butter, fish oil etc all have EFAs(essential fatty acids) (like omega 3) and are pretty important for the body, the food pyramid is pretty out dated, most athletes and bodybuilders totally disregard it instead we have developed various (really complex and mind boggling) diets with macro-nutrient ratios of like 40/40/20 (40% protein 40% carbs, 20% fat) (for normal training/bulking up and gaining mass) or a ketogenic diet for when we try to get the body fat % as low as possible (around 4-5%) for competition posing, and for that macro-nutrient ratios are probably like 65/30/5,..... or just eating less calories and doing more cardio which is my favorite.

I know what you mean about the food pyramid. Its so outdated but the one I follow at this stage is the Udos Oil one, nothing like the one distributed to the masses. But like you said, you'd want to be spending calories too and not be afraid to take in certain calories. As someone who'd been afraid to touch a walnut let alone oily fish, i cant get enough of the stuff, incl fish oil tabs, but for now, as I only get to weight train twice a week with a personal trainer, ive been cutting out the carbs, apart form those in green veg and some museli in the morning, and whatever little bit is in my whey protein shake and within 6 weeks Id lost 4% body fat. So was pretty chuffed with that. Have my next assessment in 2 weeks so not expecting anything like that but will be fine.
I'm just really glad to have discovered the importance of weight training (believe me Im no muscly maisey) but when you notice your body changing shape, toning and how much stronger youre getting, theres just no going back.
Anyway, rambling.
Thanks for the advice. Good luck with your training. Think NABBA is in the Olympia soon. Something to be inspired by. Amazing the dedication of those guys.