Eggs unscrambled
There aren't many foods that have yo-yoed between health superhero and villain as many times as the egg. But it seems the latest research is on the sunny side
by RUTH TIERNEY
whether poached, hard-boiled or fried, you probably still serve your eggs with a dollop of doubt. Are they a healthy option? What about cholesterol levels? How many is too many? From the positive 'Go to work on an egg' campaign of the 1950s and 1960s, to the salmonella scare and then the dire cholesterol warnings of the 1980s and beyond, eggs have certainly had a chequered history.
'In the 20 years I've been a dietitian, I've seen recommendations around eggs change many times,' says Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation (BHF). 'It's not surprising that the most common question I'm asked by a confused public is whether it's safe to eat them if you have cardiovascular disease. The answer is a reassuring yes.'
It's the link between eggs and cholesterol that has proved the most controversial, and one that has become somewhat scrambled. Older studies stated that the high cholesterol in yolks (177mg in a medium egg) raised our own levels of cholesterol and therefore increased the risk of heart disease.