EXPERTS ALLAY FEARS OVER EGG CHOLESTEROL

Experts have declared that a unit of egg supplies about 202 milligram of cholesterol which is still below the recommendation of the American Heart Association that human beings need cholesterol intake of 300 milligram per day.
They said this in Abeokuta during the occasion marking this year’s World Egg day, with the theme: ‘Importance of egg in human nutrition and health’.
The programme was organised by the Ogun State chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria in conjunction with egg merchants and poultry farmers which included Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited.
Leading the experts, the guest lecturer, Dr. Segun Onabanjo, a Dietician from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, said egg was lesser in cholesterol when compared to other animal foods such as the fatty meat.
He said, “If you consume an egg per day, you are still below the American Heart Association recommendation of 300 milligram of cholesterol per day. This means that it has no adverse effect on the blood cholesterol level and that is the fear of many people who say they don’t want to take egg because of the cholesterol composition in it.”
Speaking further on the controversy surrounding egg and cholesterol, he stated: “I want to let us know today that intake of an egg a day has nothing to do with the blood cholesterol which many people are scared of and that is why many people are saying that they don’t want to consume egg.
“It is the component of the saturated fat in the food that actually matters, it is not the cholesterol itself.
“I want to let people know that egg is not harmful to the body. People should consume eggs but it has to be consumed with moderation. Egg has a lot of essential fatty acid, most especially the Omega 3 fatty acid which is good for the heart and fighting some other diseases in the body.”
The Ogun State chairman of PAN-Ogun, Dr. Samuel Odunsi, also explained that the research findings carried out by the European Egg Commission has pointed out that egg has the capacity of preventing breast cancer in women.
He said the programme was aimed at updating and sensitising Nigerians on the current facts about egg consumption.
The association also appealed to the state government to legislate that school children across the state should have an egg per day as already being done in Ekiti and Osun states, because of its ability to improve their Intelligent Quotient.
Culled from Punch