Eggs are considered a superfood by many gym-goers and fitness gurus around the world. However, ask a doctor about eating eggs, and they might tell you that you shouldn’t eat too many because they increase cholesterol levels and cause heart problems.
Eggs have been demonized for decades because their yolks are rich in cholesterol, the fatty substance that accumulates and damages the blood vessels supplying the heart with blood.
However, research in recent years has shown that this has little direct impact on the amount of the substance that accumulates. So, to understand whether eggs are bad or not, one man ate 720 of them in one month to see what would happen to the cholesterol levels in his body.
Nick Norwitz, a PhD student at Harvard University, discovered that contrary to the beliefs of many experts, his cholesterol levels actually dropped.
After a month-long experiment where he ate the equivalent of 24 eggs a day, his levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad’ cholesterol dropped by 18 percent. LDL is considered ‘bad cholesterol’ because it can accumulate as plaque in the arteries, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The other type of cholesterol, called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or ‘good’ cholesterol, has the opposite effect, helping to remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream and transport it to the liver. Experts warn that having too much LDL can increase the risk of heart disease and other conditions.
Dr. Norwitz holds a PhD in ‘Human Brain Metabolism’ from Oxford University and is completing his medical degree at Harvard University. During the experiment, which has been viewed over 160,000 times on YouTube, Dr. Norwitz says he ate the eggs alongside his usual ketogenic diet of meat, fish, olive oil, nuts, dark chocolate, cheese, and yogurt.
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet aimed at shifting the body from using sugar as its primary energy source to using fats. He consumed the eggs scrambled, fried, poached, hard-boiled, and as omelets.
While following the diet, he also adhered to his fitness routine of about one hour of exercise per day. He does calisthenics, which is a form of exercise that uses his own bodyweight to build strength and includes push-ups, pull-ups, squats, jumps, and planks.
Eggs contain about 186 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol each. Other foods rich in cholesterol include red meat and shellfish. Speculating why eggs don’t increase cholesterol, some scientists explain: In the intestines, cholesterol binds to receptors on intestinal cells, which triggers the release of a hormone called cholecystokinin.
This hormone travels through the bloodstream to the liver, where it binds to a receptor called GPR146, signaling the liver to produce less LDL, helping to maintain healthy levels in the body.
After the first two weeks of his experiment, Dr. Norwitz also decided to start consuming 60 grams of carbohydrates per day. For this, he focused on fruits like bananas, blueberries, and frozen cherries, which he ate dipped in macadamia nut butter.
He explained how eating more carbohydrates can help further reduce cholesterol levels in the body. In people on low-carb diets, LDL levels tend to rise in their bodies because their system starts burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.
But when someone consumes more carbohydrates, the opposite happens – LDL levels drop because the person gets more energy from the carbohydrates.
