English Breakfast hurts? The eggs no, the bacon yes

Who of us, in front of aEnglish Breakfast Sfumante, hasn’t he ever felt the weight of guilt? For years they told us that the scrambled egg cholesterol threatened the heart, transforming one of the pleasures of the table into a gesture of challenge to the arteries. But researchers from the University of South Australia overturned this fiction with a study that does justice: The culprit is not the egg, but the bacon that accompanies it.

There Research, published onAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutritionmarks a turning point in decades of food prejudices. Scientists separated the effects of food cholesterol from those of saturated fats, discovering that Eating two eggs a day – as part of a diet low in saturated fats – can even reduce LDL cholesterol levels, that bad. “The eggs were unjustly penalized by obsolete food advice,” explains Jon Buckley, professor and responsible for the study. “It is true, they are rich in cholesterol, but poor in saturated fat. Yet it was the level of cholesterol that often questioned their place in a healthy diet”. Not a small question: cardiovascular diseases kill almost 18 million people every year in the world (230 thousand only in Italy, where they are the main cause of death). Except that for too long, we pointed the finger at the wrong food.

There are fats and fats

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The researchers examined the independent effects of food cholesterol and saturated fats on LDL cholesterol, discovering that The high cholesterol in the diet does not automatically translate into high blood cholesterol, at least not when it comes from eggs and is consumed without the accompaniment of saturated fats. “A high content of food cholesterol from eggs, part of a diet low in saturated fats, does not increase the levels of bad cholesterol” continues the scientist. “The real engine of the increase in cholesterol is saturated.”

Put simply, When we introduce cholesterol through food, the liver tends to reduce its production to maintain balance. The saturated fats, on the other hand, interfere with this delicate regulation system, leading to an accumulation of LDL cholesterol in the blood. The distinction has immediate implications for those who appreciate English breakfast. “We provided solid tests in defense of the humble egg” Chiosa Buckley. “They are quite the extra portion of Bacon or the sage side dish that are more likely to influence heart health.”