The information in the following article has been gathered over a period of years, through the classes I have taught and anecdotes. Some ideas may simply be gone because you’ve kept them for too many years. If the reader wishes to pursue further information, the aforementioned studies and various others related to the same search can be found through Internet search or through libraries I present the following information in the hope of piquing readers to take better care of their health.
In the first half of the 20th century, a Russian scientist named Anitschkov conducted a study of rabbits and cholesterol. He wanted to see if feeding rabbits raw cholesterol would raise their levels and increase arterial blockages. The world was famous for his research projects, but apparently he didn’t know much about rabbits. Rabbits are vegetarians and rarely, if ever, eat anything that contains more than a trace of cholesterol. Crude cholesterol seems like a rabbit for people who eat junk food. His findings were: eggs cholesterol and triglyceride levels and cause atherosclerosis. An urban legend is born and urban legends die hard.
A few years later another research project became the first example with a difference. Cholesterol was not left in rabbit cages where it was exposed to pain and oxidized before being eaten by rabbits. Crude cholesterol was not likely a staple in those rabbits’ diet, but even the rabbits’ cholesterol and triglyceride levels were slightly elevated, more than likely due to the added stress of an unfamiliar setting and cholesterol feeding.
Another study done after the second world war using powdered eggs found elevated cholesterol. I read the research some years ago and I don’t remember the exact times, whether triglyceride levels were also raised and if it was done in humans or in animals.
Why does one study show negative results and another show no significant changes? The answer was not found until other studies of egg yolk, which contains a high level of cholesterol, oxidize quickly if the surrounding membrane is broken. A Russian study was done using cholesterol that had been left in the open air and oxidized. In a duplicate study, he used cholesterol that was not oxidized. In the powdered egg study, it was done with eggs that had oxidized during the powder process.
What does this mean, if a poached egg is eaten, sunny up or as if the yolk is not broken and oxidizes, there is no problem . As long as the surrounding membrane is intact, heat does not seem to be a problem. When heat is combined and the membrane is broken, as in scrambled eggs, the cholesterol can oxidize before the egg is eaten.
Eggs, a kind from chickens that are free, and eat in a normal, non-chemical diet; It has a large amount of lecithin. The lecithin in non-farmed eggs is more than enough to remove the unoxidized cholesterol in the egg.
Eggs have many health benefits, but chickens are no different than humans: they are what they eat. .
Report:
- www.larryrmiller.com
- www.associatedcontent.com/article/6114724/ cracking_an_egg_for_cooking_with_one.html? c
