Yolk or white: how should you actually eat an egg?

Introduction: Do you often eat just the egg whites and skip the yolks because you're afraid of the high cholesterol in egg yolks? This rumor has been around for a long time, and it's time to debunk it! Eating the entire egg does not increase your risk of heart disease or high cholesterol, and skipping the yolk can be even worse.

What's the relationship between egg yolks and cholesterol?

In the 20th century, egg yolks, along with saturated fat and cholesterol, were harshly criticized and demonized by Nikolai Anichkov, who considered them all very harmful to the human body. Anichkov fed rabbits only cholesterol and found their arteries became clogged with macrophages, leading him to conclude that cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. Subsequently, the extent of the link between cholesterol and heart disease was questioned. It now appears that his experiment had a fatal flaw: the physiological functions of rabbits are fundamentally different from humans; their food chain never contains cholesterol.

Nevertheless, high-fat and high-cholesterol foods were still classified as unhealthy. In the 1950s, North American professor Ancel Keys led the Seven Countries Study, a landmark research that demonized saturated fatty acids on an unprecedented scale. After observing the average diets of 7 countries, he proposed that the people who consumed the most animal fat also had the highest incidence of heart disease. However, this study was flawed. Although his data showed a correlation between fat and heart disease, it could not prove that the correlation was causal.

Boiled Eggs with Penguin Sauce

Furthermore, although countries with high consumption of animal fat also had high mortality rates from heart disease (with lower mortality rates from other diseases), their overall life expectancy was higher.

What are the real causes of heart disease?

Fortunately, since then, research on fat and cholesterol has become more specific and clear. In 2010, the *American Journal of Clinical Nutrition* published a "vindication" analysis that collected and reviewed 21 past studies, concluding that "saturated fatty acids are not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, or coronary vascular disease."

At the beginning of the year, *Time* magazine officially revised its viewpoint from its 1984 cover story. At that time, the magazine claimed that eggs and other high-fat foods were very dangerous, even encouraging readers to eat margarine.

So, what are the real causes of heart disease? It's actually inflammation caused by "chronic long-term stress, excessive intake of vegetable oils, and processed carbohydrates." To truly reduce the risk of disease, you need to control the food you put in your shopping cart and bags.

Salted Egg Yolk Tofu

Can egg yolks really cause high cholesterol?

After all this, let's finally get back to the egg yolk. If you've been avoiding them, you're missing out on a great opportunity to get good nutrition. The yolk is an important source of vitamin A, which is good for the skin. It also contains vitamins B and choline, which maintain brain health, build muscle, and are essential for a healthy pregnancy. The saturated fat in egg yolks promotes hormone production and helps the body absorb vitamins and minerals.

As long as you control your calorie intake, eating the whole egg won't make you fat (although it is high in fat). However, if you are taking certain medications to supplement vitamins for dieting or just want to control your calorie intake, it's perfectly fine to eat just the whites occasionally. If you have any doubts, consult a dietitian to see if your current diet plan is harmful to your health.

Now that egg yolks have been "cleared," let's all enjoy a delicious and nutritious egg together.

Creamy Goose Egg Yolk