22. Are Eggs Healthy? Can they Be Your Best Friend Through Menopause?

Could cracking open the truth about eggs revolutionize your health during menopause?

Join me today for a candid discussion that shatters the shell of misconceptions about eggs and cholesterol. In this episode, we'll uncover the USDA's nutritional facts, revealing the powerhouse of benefits eggs provide, particularly their protein and choline content, and unravel the intricate links between dietary cholesterol, heart disease, and stroke. For those without specific health risks, I'll share why eggs could be an ally rather than an adversary in your diet.

As we navigate the ethical maze of egg production, from organic pastures to the confinements of caged farming, you'll gain a deeper understanding of the health implications stemming from how our eggs are sourced.

We'll break down the nutritional showdown between whole eggs, egg whites, and egg beaters, empowering you with knowledge for smarter weight management choices.

Moreover, I'll cook up the truth about various egg-cooking methods, debunking myths and ensuring that you're equipped with all the facts to make eggs a healthy addition to your balanced meals.

Keep listening as we Thrive Through Menopause together!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello, my friends, Hello, Welcome, welcome. I am live on Instagram and Facebook and if you are watching this from YouTube, welcome also. All right, Today we are talking about one of those topics that could be controversial. I have my show notes here just in order to keep my thoughts straight and to stay on point. You will see me referencing here. Today we will be talking about whether or not eggs are good for you. You know, women in menopause. I coach women in menopause to help them lose weight in a healthy and sustainable manner. One of the things that we talk about is increasing that protein in your diet, every single meal. So of course, eggs are one of those natural sources of healthy proteins. But the question always comes are eggs good for me or not? And actually, how many eggs can I eat, and how do I cook them? And on and on and on. So the very first question here is are they good for you or not? And do they increase your blood cholesterol?

Speaker 2: 1:11

Welcome to the Thriving Through Menopause podcast. Dr Inaka Yembe, your host, is dedicated to helping you navigate the transformative journey of menopause and perimenopause, particularly focused on achieving menopausal weight loss and reducing belly fat. As a post-menopausal physician herself who has helped thousands of women experiencing the significant life stage, she understands the unique challenges you face. Listen in as we explore a wide range of topics aimed at supporting you in your health and wellness journey. Hopefully, the practical tips and strategies offered potentially help you adopt an empowering approach towards menopausal weight loss and belly fat reduction. And now here's your host, dr Inaka Yembe.

Speaker 1: 1:48

All right. So eggs, back to the eggs. There have been reports that the cholesterol in eggs causes us harm. But did you know? Did you know that actually your dietary cholesterol is responsible for about 25% in your blood, and I'm not talking about fats? There's a difference. Your body makes most of the cholesterol that it needs. So can you fight or trick your body? Can you consume enough cholesterol? That is too much? Yes, you consume more cholesterol than your body needs. Of course, your body makes just a little bit less. Your body is so smart, it's always, always in homeostasis. But that said, the concern is whether dietary cholesterol, specifically those in eggs, can cause heart disease or strokes. Why is that? We know that increased amount of blood cholesterol can deposit in your arteries and cause blockage in organs that don't have any collateral or may not have any collateral at the time. So if you have a blockage in an artery in your brain or in your heart, you may have or suffer a heart attack or a stroke. Now we are back to dietary cholesterol. There's a difference between dietary cholesterol and fats. So again back to the same question are eggs good for you?

Speaker 1: 3:12

I went to my trusted source here. This is the United States Department of Agriculture. The USDA is my trusted source to give me the nutrition facts, what really is in eggs, and I'm going to read that here for you here. So one large egg has about 78 to 80 calories, 5 grams of total fats, 1.6 grams of saturated fat and 187 milligrams of cholesterol. Let's round that up. Most people round it up to 200 milligrams of cholesterol. So the main thing you want to remember here is that each egg has about 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol.

Speaker 1: 3:53

Eggs are great. They contain sodium. They also have fiber and what we'll be talking about with any menopause and proteins. One egg, or large egg, has about six grams of healthy proteins. They also contain other things like iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus, selenium, omega-3s and omega-6. They contain vitamins A, b, d, k and E. They contain some sodium. They contain choline. Choline is great for your metabolism. You're trying to lose weight there. That choline in eggs may help you, and there's so many, many, many variables. But just to say one egg is packed full of nutrients. So eggs are great.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Now, back in the days, I'll tell you what was done back then. Now, even we in the medical community, we still argue amongst ourselves Should we eat eggs? Should we allow our patients to eat more eggs. It's an argument, so that's why the topic is so confusing. But back then it was recommended that if you don't have any heart disease or you don't have diabetes or you're not predisposed meaning that you don't have any illnesses like the metabolic syndrome and things like that that predispose you to heart disease or you don't have any heart disease or stroke heart disease equivalent then you should consume no more than 300 milligrams. That's what it said in the past. And then if you actually have heart disease, diabetes, strokes and things like that, the recommendation is no more than 200. So see that one egg contains 200 milligrams of cholesterol and you're not required to consume more than 200 milligrams of cholesterol if you have these other diseases, or if you have a disease that can put you at risk, like diabetes, hypertension and things. It's so confusing. Why is it so confusing? Because later on our smart guys came and they studied everything and they said, really and truly, there is no documented association between the cholesterol. I'm not talking about the dietary fats. We have to make a distinction between the dietary fats, like we eat in fried foods, and the junk foods. So don't run out there and eat all this fried food and say she said it was okay. Listen, I just give advice over the things that I know. But studies now show that there is no specific association between dietary cholesterol and increased risk of heart attack and strokes in normal people See how I put that link there in normal people. You should still be careful if you actually have one of those diseases.

Speaker 1: 6:24

So now back to the question are eggs good or not? I mean, I've gone in a round circle Are they good or not? I personally, personally here I say the eggs in cholesterol are not harmful for me, who has no predisposing medical conditions? And so I give it a thumbs up. If you're trying to lose weight and you want to increase the amount of protein in your diet, I give it a thumbs up. Also, continue to watch, because I'll tell you what you need to do towards the end. Why am I giving eggs a thumbs up? So let's highlight the benefits.

Speaker 1: 7:02

I talked about proteins. We want those proteins in our system. One egg has about six grams of protein. 80 calories one egg, all right. Two eggs, of course. You double that 12 grams of protein in two eggs.

Speaker 1: 7:17

What do I do personally? Just because I start thinking about the overall calories. So I drop down the calories by consuming egg whites, and egg whites contain 3.8. I would round that down to 3. Just down to 3. So generally I will consume 6 egg whites at a time, just because 6 times 80 in a whole egg, I mean this is giving me only almost 500 calories in six eggs and that's too much when it comes to calories because I want to keep my weight down from that 300 pound person. Anyway, what I do is consume six eggs at a time.

Speaker 1: 7:58

I boil them slowly, low heat, because that destroys the nutrition value or content of your eggs. If you boil it in such high heat, boil it slowly, in low heat, because that destroys the nutrition value or content of your eggs. If you boil it in such high heat, boil it slowly in low heat. And I take out all the yolks and I will eat six egg whites at a time. One egg white rounded up is about 20 calories and each egg white rounded up is about three grams. So that already is almost 20 grams of protein and under 200 calories. For me that's awfully helpful because I want to increase my protein. So, eggs I give it a thumbs up because I want that protein. Me, female in menopause, I want to keep the weight off and I want to increase my dietary protein.

Speaker 1: 8:40

Now, what else do eggs have? Another big one is vitamin D. Eggs contain vitamin D. Vitamin D is one of those vitamins that help you. If you're going to go out there and purchase any vitamins, think about vitamin D. If you're going to have a physical, think about vitamin D. Get your doctor to check your vitamin D levels.

Speaker 1: 9:01

Why Vitamin D is so important for our immunity? It's that one vitamin that you want to take in every single day. Or you can just relax in the sunlight, you know, as skin produces vitamin D from the sun, so during the winter time, it's just so hard for us to get vitamin D. Eggs contain vitamin D. Vitamin D is so essential for your bone health, women in menopause. I've got to be thinking about my bones. I want to keep them nice and strong. Vitamin D in eggs is good for you, and then the very next thing is vitamin A for your vision and things like that Very, very important Now. So those are just a few highlights. They also contain other things eggs that are important for you, but those are just the ones that I wanted to highlight. Vitamin D for your immunity, helps with weight loss, helps even with depression. I mean, vitamin D is so essential. Back to the question are eggs good for you? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now the question was.

Speaker 1: 9:57

The second question was do eggs actually increase your blood cholesterol? When we talk about the eggs and we'll round it up one large egg contains about 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol we want to keep in mind that the cholesterol, the kind of cholesterol in a blood that causes problems, is the bad cholesterol called the LDL cholesterol. It can cause deposits in your arteries and in your brains and in your heart and cause you to have heart attacks and strokes. So we want to distinguish between the fats the dietary fats in junk food and healthy fats that we have in eggs. This is why the scientific people were so confused. Now we just say dietary cholesterol, dietary cholesterol, especially in eggs, will not impact your LDL, especially if you don't have any risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

Speaker 1: 10:56

You want to pay a little bit of attention. In fact, if you have a heart attack you've had one or if you've had a stroke, or if you have diabetes or hypertension, please, before you take any information that is shared online like this and apply to yourself, run to your doctor and say this is what I heard. Does this work for me? Always seek the advice of your medical care provider because they know your blood work and they know your risk factors. But one egg per day is not harmful Generally. Again, what I do, six at a time because I want that protein. Yeah, I'm going to leave the egg yolk of one egg, but generally I don't. I just consume the egg whites mostly. All right.

Speaker 1: 11:36

Now things are very confusing, like we said that because the scientific population came back and they said this was around 2015. They said that there is no specific documented scientific evidence that shows that you could consume eggs and it would increase your blood cholesterol. Why is it that we discourage? So if you came in my clinic and you were talking to me, I had weight loss. Hey, if you're my weight loss patient watching hello, I'm so proud of all of you. Everybody lost weight. I'm so excited and, well, I'm so proud of all of you. Thank you. It is because of my patience and because of my online bootcampers that I stay accountable and I keep my weight off.

Speaker 1: 12:23

All right, the next thing that I'm going to tell you is how much eggs, or how many eggs are recommended. Again, there's never any one size fits all. I know people who eat two, three eggs a day, every single day, and they remain healthy, based on their blood test results, based on their weights and based on several different parameters. I know people who eat less and are not healthy. Now, what is recommended? I'm going to tell you what the American Heart Association says, because we're worried about the impact of the eggs on our heart. So the American Heart Association says that you should consume one egg per day. One egg per day is not going to hurt you. One egg per day. That said, I'm going to repeat myself again. If you have a history of heart disease, you've had a heart attack, you've had a stroke, you have any diseases that predispose you to heart disease, like diabetes, hypertension and things like that Please speak to your doctor so they can advise you whether eggs are great for you or not.

Speaker 1: 13:31

So let's compare the next question that I had with this question between organic eggs and the regular eggs. I'll tell you what I do. I get the organic and the non-GMO. That's what I do. First thing I'll tell you is that I did go and look up one study I mean no-transcript components that I talked to you about the proteins and all the vitamins. There is no difference in the components of the egg itself, whether they're organic or not. So anyway you do, you Go ahead and purchase whether you want organic or free range or cage.

Speaker 1: 14:15

This is an ethical thing. We're talking about how the chickens were raised. We're talking about how the chickens were raised. And for some people like me, I'm just thinking, just because I have graduated myself to everything organic. Now I just feel it's so much better for my body If I'm not putting so much. Look, I am getting older. What I don't want is a bunch of pesticides and a bunch of antibiotics and a bunch of different things in my body. Now, this is me, your body, do you? Now there is no difference that I have found anywhere in the specific nutritional contents of organic eggs, free-range eggs and caged eggs. But I'm going to tell you the ethical things that happen around this chicken.

Speaker 1: 14:57

So now, did the chicken come before the egg or did the egg come and the chicken later? We don't know, but we know that the eggs come from the chicken. So we want to look at how the chickens were raised. That's how we come to this organic and free range and things. So now organic chickens. We talk about how many chickens are kept in one space. So if it's organic, generally no more than 3,000. If they're free range, no more than 16,000. And get this if they are c caged, the people can keep over a hundred thousand chickens in one space. I don't know how big the space is, but I mean that's a whole lot of chickens, a whole lot of chickens, guys.

Speaker 1: 15:32

Anyway, next we're talking about. The next thing we worry, worry about is what are they feeding these chickens? Because you know the egg from the chicken I'm thinking about. What are they feeding them? Okay, if they are free range, okay, yes, they can have antibiotics and things like that. But if they're organic, no, they're not allowed to have antibiotics. There's a huge price difference here. Huge price difference because the organic and non-GMO are a little bit expensive, more expensive. So again, this is just a personal choice, all right.

Speaker 1: 16:01

The last question I had here was the egg beaters, the liquid eggs or the egg substitutes and things like that. So we have the eggs that come in a carton versus the whole egg itself, all right, egg beaters do I give it a yes or a no? I give egg beaters a yes, now, not for everyday thing. This is for when I'm in a hurry, for when I run out, I just tend to keep some on the side. I'll generally have one small carton of egg beaters in my refrigerator. Why is this? Because they are processed, highly, highly processed. So what's in it? So egg beaters are highly processed. Yeah, they're suitable, but what do they it? So egg beaters are highly processed, yeah, they're suitable, but what do they contain? They contain less cholesterol. They contain fewer calories. I don't have any carbohydrates, just like the eggs. They do have five grams of protein per serving. Don't have any vitamins, except for those that may have been added. So egg beaters are highly, highly processed.

Speaker 1: 17:03

Now, comparing three things, which is the next question that I had Whole eggs, egg whites, egg beaters. I have my little cheat sheet here so I don't go off track and I'm just going to compare the macros only for you. So one whole egg has about I would say about 80 calories in the whole egg. Meanwhile, the egg white has about 18 calories. One egg white and the egg bitters have, depending on which one you buy, 25 to 30 calories per serving. So if you're trying to lose weight, like myself, I typically go with the egg white.

Speaker 1: 17:39

The way I make make my scrambled egg or just cooking a boiled eggs is typically six eggs at a time. Take out all the yolks sometimes or I'll leave one yolk in, because this gives me less than 200 calories total for more food, because I like to have a little bit more food in my belly Gives me a little bit more calories. More food here for fewer calories. Now, when it comes to fats, all of them have a lower amount of fat, except the whole egg has just a little bit more five grams of fat per one egg. When it comes to carbohydrates the egg beaters, the egg whites and the whole egg they all have less than one gram of carbohydrates, so not much difference there. When it comes whole egg, they all have less than one gram of carbohydrates, so not much difference there. When it comes to proteins, they're ranging for the whole egg and the egg beaters they have about five or six grams of proteins each. Now the egg white has a lot lower number of proteins, about half the amount. So 3.5, 3.6 grams of protein for one egg white. That's why I go with six at a time. All right when it comes to the cholesterol, both the egg whites and the egg beaters do not contain cholesterol and the whole egg has about 200 milligrams of cholesterol.

Speaker 1: 19:01

Now I had a question on Instagram Once. I put the message out that I was going to talk about eggs today. Somebody said I hope you're not telling us not to cook eggs without oil. All right, so let's talk about that, one of the things that has really historically. When they went back and looked at the studies, they found out that actually the problem was not the egg. The problem mainly was how we cooked the eggs. So if you boil the eggs or poach the eggs or bake the whole egg and I do bake eggs very easy I take a tray, a muffin tray, line it with with egg cup liners, put them all in there. Take my eggs, put them in there, bake them. Now I don't have time. The eggs they bake beautifully. You don't have to sit down and boil them. I'll take them out, put them in the pot, top it with ice, come back, peel them and I'm good to go so you can bake your eggs. But the studies show that the problem with the eggs is how we cook them.

Speaker 1: 19:58

If you're using butter and a lot of cheese and heavy cream and a lot of oil, or if you're using this highly processed meat and loading your eggs with things like bacon and sausage.

Speaker 1: 20:11

Of course, keep in mind that these are saturated fats now. So now you are making your egg meal slightly more unhealthy than it needs to be. However, if you just boil the egg, or if you bake it, or if you poach it in low heat, it doesn't matter the length of time. I mean, you can have hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs your preference is okay. But what matters is if you cook it in lower heat, so you're not destroying the nutrients Again. Bottom line eggs are healthy. They're healthy. One egg per day for everyone is healthy. If you have heart disease, talk to your doctor. They will counsel you and tell you what specifically you need to do when it comes to you and your body. So I hope this information helps you somewhat. Go ahead and join or follow me so that each time I put out the video like this, you'll get notified. Thank you and have a fantastic weekend.

Speaker 2: 21:19

Bye to the podcast, share it and review. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Remember, menopause doesn't have to be a challenge. It can be an opportunity for growth, renewal and self-care. Connect with us on social media, where we share additional resources, tips and advice to help you along your path. Once again, thanks for listening in and we hope you'll join us again on the next episode of Thriving Through Menopause. Until then,