I'm confused. Are eggs good or bad for my cholesterol?

It's understandable that you're confused. Eggs are high in cholesterol, and a diet high in cholesterol can contribute to elevated blood cholesterol levels. However, the extent to which dietary cholesterol raises blood cholesterol levels isn't clear. Many scientists believe that saturated fats and trans fats have a greater impact than does dietary cholesterol in raising blood cholesterol.

Adding to the confusion, the American Heart Association recently acknowledged that as long as you limit dietary cholesterol from other sources, it may be possible to include a daily egg in a healthy diet — a statement that was heavily reported in the media.

Here are the facts: One large egg has about 213 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol — all of which is found in the yolk. If you are healthy, it's recommended that you limit your dietary cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg a day. If you have cardiovascular disease, diabetes or high LDL (or "bad") cholesterol, you should limit your dietary cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg a day. Therefore, if you eat an egg on a given day, it's important to limit or avoid other sources of cholesterol for the rest of that day.

If you like eggs but don't want the extra cholesterol, use egg whites. Egg whites contain no cholesterol. You may also use cholesterol-free egg substitutes, which are made with egg whites. If you want to reduce cholesterol in a recipe that calls for eggs, use two egg whites or 1/4 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute in place of one whole egg.

你感到困惑，这是可以理解的。鸡蛋是高胆固醇的，膳食的高胆固醇可能促进血液胆固醇水平的升高。但是，并不很清楚饮食胆固醇引起血液中胆固醇水平升高到何种程度。许多科学家认为，饱和脂肪和反式脂肪在提高血液中的胆固醇方面，比膳食胆固醇产生更大的影响。

更增加混乱的是，美国心脏协会最近承认，只要你限制其它来源的膳食胆固醇，也可能包括健康饮食中的每天一个鸡蛋就行——这是一份在新闻媒体中大量报告的申告。

这里是一些事实：一个大的鸡蛋有大约 213 毫克胆固醇——所有这些都在蛋黄里被发现。如果你是健康的，建议你限制你的饮食胆固醇摄入量低于一天 300 毫克。 如果你有心血管疾病，糖尿病或高的低密度脂蛋白（即“坏的” ）胆固醇，你应该限制你的饮食胆固醇摄入量低于一天 200 毫克。因此，如果你在某一天吃了一个鸡蛋，重要的是要在那一天的余下时间里，限制或者避免其它来源的胆固醇。

如果你喜欢鸡蛋，但不希望额外的胆固醇，就食用鸡蛋白吧。鸡蛋白不含有胆固醇。你也可以使用不含胆固醇的鸡蛋代用品，这是用鸡蛋白制成的。如果您想要在要求鸡蛋的食谱中降低胆固醇，就采用两个鸡蛋白或者 1/4 杯无胆固醇的鸡蛋代用品来代替一整个鸡蛋。