Abstract: Egg cholesterol has been a hot issue in respect of it's effect on health and diseases in human. There is a general recognition that the cholesterol from eggs is similar to that from the other dietary sources in its biochemical functions. Many evidences show that egg yolk increased plasma cholesterol levels at an average rate of 2.3㎎/ /100 mL plasma for every 100㎎ cholesterol consumed. The elevation of plasma cholesterol could, however, be altered by various dietary factors such as ratios of polyunsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids. Blood cholesterol levels of Korean adults have been raised up to, on the average, 193 and 187㎎/100mL plasma for men and women, respectively, from 167/5 mg/100mL in 1980. Furthermore, proportion of hypercholesterolemics(> 210 ㎎/dL) has been increased up to 23% of the population. These changes in blood cholesterol levels are attributed to the changes of dietary patterns, suggesting the arguement that Koreans are insensitive to changes of blood cholesterol is not right. Egg cholesterol levels have never been successfully reduced to any significant levels even with tremendous amounts of efforts made during last decades. The alternative and the best way to control blood cholesterol level originating from egg consumption appeares to enrich egg fat with omega-3 series fatty acids. Ingestion of the fatty acid group has specific functions to reduce hypertension and prevent various types of cancer as well as to reduce blood cholesterol. Another way to reduce egg cholesterol directly is to produce smaller egg yolk without reducing whole egg size since cholesterol is located only in the yolk. It is important to keep faith with consumers by providing correct informations on eggs, meanwhile efforts need to focus on to improve the quality of eggs as one of the best protein food items.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
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