每天吃雞蛋真的沒問題嗎?

When it comes to foods with confusing health messages, eggs may take the cake: Despite being a long-time breakfast and baking staple, health experts warned for years against eating them-especially the yolks-on a super-regular basis, for fears that doing so could raise cholesterol and contribute to heart disease.

有些食物的健康價值令人困惑，雞蛋就是其中之一。儘管長久以來都被當作早餐和烘焙主食，但多年來，健康專家一直反對經常性的吃雞蛋--尤其是蛋黃，因為擔心吃雞蛋會使膽固醇水準升高，導致心臟病。

In recent years, however, doctors and nutritionists have softened their stance on the incredible edible, and many have touted eggs" abundance of important vitamins, minerals, and protein. And now, a new study appears to support the notion that eggs really aren"t dangerous to heart health, after all.

然而，近年來，醫生和營養家對這一令人難以置信的食用品的態度有所軟化，許多人甚至鼓吹雞蛋含有大量的重要維生素、礦物質和蛋白質。現而今，一項新的研究似乎支持這一觀點：雞蛋真的不會對心臟健康帶來危害。

So, is it really okay-healthy, even-to eat eggs every day? For the bottom line on this often misunderstood topic, Health spoke with Peter Schulman, MD, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut. Here"s what he wants breakfast lovers everywhere to know.

所以，每天吃雞蛋真的沒問題嗎？真的健康嗎？為了探究這一經常被誤解話題的底線，《健康》雜誌對話了康涅狄格大學的醫學教授、心臟病專家彼特·舒爾曼醫學博士。他希望早餐愛好者知道這些事。

Eggs have cholesterol-but that"s not necessarily a bad thing

雞蛋含有膽固醇--但並不一定是件壞事

It"s true that eggs have a higher level of dietary cholesterol than many other foods-about 185 mg in one large egg. Not too long ago, eggs were even branded "as bad for you as smoking."

的確，雞蛋含有的膳食膽固醇水準高於許多其它食物--一個個頭大點的雞蛋約含185毫克。不久前，雞蛋甚至被標記為"帶來的危害和抽煙一樣。"

"Now we know that what really raises your cholesterol is saturated fat in the diet and not so much the cholesterol in foods," Dr. Schulman explains. While U.S. dietary guidelines used to recommend consuming no more than 300 mg of dietary cholesterol a day, that recommendation was removed in 2016.

"現在我們知道真正提高膽固醇水準的是飲食中的飽和脂肪，與食物中的膽固醇並無多大關係，"舒克曼博士解釋道。雖然美國膳食指南曾經建議：每天攝入的膳食膽固醇不要超過300毫克，但2016年這條建議就已經被刪除了。

"When we eat cholesterol, it"s broken down in the gut; it"s not absorbed as a whole cholesterol molecule," he says. Saturated fats, meanwhile, are broken into short chains of fatty acids that can become linked in the body-and that"s what has been shown to increase cholesterol levels significantly.

"攝入膽固醇的時候，它會在腸道中分解；不會以整個膽固醇分子的形式被吸收，"他說道。同時，飽和脂肪被分解成短鏈的脂肪酸，可能在體內發生相互作用--已被證明是膽固醇水準顯著增長的原因。

Yes, research suggests that eating foods that are high in dietary cholesterol, like eggs, can raise a person"s cholesterol a little bit. But another thing to consider, says Dr. Schulman, is the ratio of LDL (bad) cholesterol to HDL (good) cholesterol levels. "Eggs raise the HDL to a greater extent than it does the LDL," he explains, "which leads to reduced cardiovascular risk."

是的，研究表明食用膳食膽固醇含量高的飲食，比如雞蛋，可能會使體內的膽固醇水準有所升高。但也需要考量有害膽固醇和有益膽固醇水準的比例，舒克曼博士說道。"雞蛋的有益膽固醇水準比有害膽固醇水準要高，"他解釋道，"因此能降低患心血管疾病的風險。"

本文來源可可英語