Friday, August 19, 2011

Eggs lower in cholesterol than believed

Source: Mayo Clinic
Eggs are lower in cholesterol than previously thought, according to new nutrition data from the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS).

The USDA-ARS recently reviewed the
nutrient composition of standard large eggs, and results show the average amount of cholesterol in one large egg is 185 mg, 14 per cent lower than previously recorded. The analysis also revealed that large eggs now contain 41 IU of vitamin D, an increase of 64 per cent.

"We collected a random sample of regular large shell eggs from 12 locations across the country to analyze the nutrient content of eggs," said Dr. Jacob Exler, Nutritionist with the Agricultural Research Service's Nutrient Data Laboratory.

"This testing procedure was last completed with eggs in 2002, and while most nutrients remained similar to those values, cholesterol decreased by 14 per cent and vitamin D increased by 64 per cent from 2002 values."