“Forbidden” Food Reduces Heart Risk

I know you’ve heard plenty about LDL, or “bad” cholesterol… but has your doctor ever talked to you about “good” cholesterol?

I hope so, since having high levels of the HDL have been connected to a lower rate of heart disease—and a lower risk of mortality.

If you don’t know your levels, it’s time to pay attention to them—and to take steps to boost them ASAP.

Today, I’ll share with you one of my favorite “forbidden” foods that’s been shown to help boost HDL.

Everyone loves to point out that eggs are loaded with cholesterol. And to that I say…

GREAT!

Cholesterol is essential for total body health… but it’s especially good for your heart.

I’ve been saying this for years (based on the science, not my love of eggs), and it seems like every day, more research is published that confirms this fact.

This time around, the study published in the peer-reviewed journal eLife included nearly 5,000 people. The researchers analyzed metabolites in the blood (these are what’s made when your body breaks down food).

Out of the 225 metabolites measured, 24 were related to egg consumption.

The results showed that people who ate about one egg per day had higher levels of a protein called apolipoprotein. This is a key building block of one of the BEST things for heart health: HDL cholesterol.

Not only that, but the egg-eaters had higher levels of large HDL particles, which are especially good at clearing cholesterol from your blood vessels.

You may have heard HDL referred to as “good” cholesterol. This is because HIGHER levels have been consistently connected to better heart health—and a longer life.

In fact, having higher levels of HDL cholesterol has been shown to be better for your heart than maintaining LOW levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

(I wrote about this in detail in this month’s issue of my newsletter. Click here to read more.)

The researchers also identified 14 metabolites linked to heart disease. It turns out that people who didn’t eat as many eggs had lower levels of these beneficial metabolites—and higher levels of harmful ones—compared to the regular egg eaters.

The bottom line?

Eggs are an excellent source of fat, protein, and even vitamin D –and they’re GREAT for your heart!

Of course, Big Pharma doesn’t want you to hear news like this because, while they have drugs to lower LDL, they have yet to come out with a drug to safely and effectively boost HDL.

But you don’t need drugs to boost HDL levels.

Simple lifestyle changes can do the trick.