Eggs and Cholesterol

Can eating foods such as eggs, liver, caviar and some seafood - all very rich in cholesterol - be one of the causes of high cholesterol?

The truth is that although high cholesterol foods are a minor cause of high blood cholesterol, saturated animal fat is the real enemy - four times more potent in boosting blood cholesterol levels.

In fact, some studies show that a diet rich in cholesterol-laden eggs raises blood cholesterol in only two out of five people and only slightly. In most people, production of cholesterol by the liver is simply turned down.

Still, overdosing on cholesterol-rich foods is not a good idea for other reasons. Splurging on high-cholesterol foods can promote heart disease by stimulating the blood to form clots and that's not good.

On the other hand, fanatically avoiding cholesterol-rich foods altogether could also be hazardous, because you could develop a choline deficiency, leading to liver damage.

Choline is a B-complex vitamin, concentrated in high-cholesterol foods, such as eggs and liver and is essential for the good functioning of the liver.

A lack of choline in the diet could also impair memory and concentration. Choline converts to a brain-cell transmitter, acetylcholine; low levels have been linked to poor memory and Alzheimer's disease.

So the bottom line is, don't go overboard with eggs and cholesterol-rich foods, but you don't need to avoid them altogether either.

Can Cholesterol Ever Be Too Low?

Apparently yes. Increasing evidence seems to show that very low levels of cholesterol - under 160 mg/dl - may be dangerous.

Some studies indicate that people with low levels of cholesterol have indeed less heart disease but are twice as likely to have a bleeding stroke, to die of obstructive lung disease or commit suicide, are three times as likely to have liver cancer and five times as apt to die of alcoholism.

How is that possible? Nobody knows for certain, but in recent years clues have emerged hinting that very low cholesterol levels may not be safe.

Brain hemorrhages in which a weakened vessel "blows out", causing a bleeding stroke, appear to be a particular danger, possibly because fragile membranes that cover brain cells need a minimum level of cholesterol to function properly.

There is also evidence that low cholesterol may somehow induce depression, possibly because it may somehow lessen concentration of the brain chemical serotonin, leading to increased depression and aggression.

Tags: Cholesterol

Eggs and Cholesterol