Cholesterol and Muscle Mass-Don't Waste Those Yolks!

[dadream]

First off cholesterol is an essential precursor for testosterone production. Researchers studied the effects on cholesterol and muscle building. They took 25 men and 30 women and had them fill out food diaries of what they ate for 12 weeks a long with a resistance training program. After the 12 weeks researchers compared the relationship between dietary cholesterol and gains in muscle mass. At the end of the study, the average dietary cholesterol consumption was strongly associated witht the change in lean mass. Interestingly enough, although dietary protein was correlated with dietary cholesterol, protein by itself was not significantly correlated with change in lean mass. This means the researchers found that cholesterol-but not protein- was associated in lean muscle mass. This means that all those cholesterol/yolk free egg products are a waste of you're $$.
A study published in Endocrinolgy found that an increase in leutinizing hormone (a hormone that signals test production) resulted in an increase in the synthesis of cholesterol synthesis and uptake in the testis. So if you are on a low cholesterol diet, it may have an impact on building muscle due to impaired androgen production.

This was taken from the Nutrition Performance by Robbie Durand,MA. M.D. magazine

Sources: Eacker SM, Agrawal N, Qian K, Dichek HL, Gong EY, Lee K, Braun RE. Hormonal regulation of testicular steroid and cholesterol homeostasis.Mol Endocrinol 2008 Mar;22(3):623-35.

Riechman SE, et. al. Statins and dietary and serum cholesterol are associated with with increased lean muscle mass following resistance training. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2007 Oct;62(10): 1164-71


Any comments or questions are more than welcomed!

 

[Manimalia]

i eat 3 eggs upon wakin' and 3 upon sleepin' for dat' reason! but thanks for tellin' the unaware!

 

[daniel35]

Raw whole eggs all the way!!!! The one food THE MAN still hasn't taken from us.

 

[MrBrightside]

Nice, now I don't feel bad about eating the whole egg.

 

[Nightwanderer]

Yeah,
I'm just curious if there's been any data posted on what a recommended minimum is, i mean, it's great to have a reason to allow some saturated fat in your diet, but there's also your arteries to consider. I'm on my first true bulk right now and go ahead and get all the fat I want as long as it's not from heated oils, trans fats, etc. But, when I'm done, I'm going to go back to a generally low fat diet and I'm curious how much I should allow at that point.

 

[dadream]

One thing that to remember is you shouldn't confuse is fat with cholesterol. Keep in mind as well, eating too much of fats such as saturated and trans fats may heighten cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting you cholesterol intake to around 300mg and 200mg for those with heart disease.
Nightwanderer- Shoot for around 300-400mg as long as you don't have any heart disease issues, either yourself or a family history. Some excess cholesterol is removed from the body through the liver. I'm sure I don't have to tell you this Night but, always remember to eat a healthy diet even when bulking. One that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains, all of which are great for keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level.

 

[SilentBob187]

The American Heart Association recommends limiting you cholesterol intake to around 300mg and 200mg for those with heart disease.
Nightwanderer- Shoot for around 300-400mg as long as you don't have any heart disease issues, either yourself or a family history. Some excess cholesterol is removed from the body through the liver. I'm sure I don't have to tell you this Night but, always remember to eat a healthy diet even when bulking. One that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains, all of which are great for keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level.

That's only one to two whole eggs. :sad:

 

[MoTiV]

Maybe some here can help me out. I stopped eating whole eggs because I eat around 1-1.5 lbs of meat a day which covers my cholesterol intake. Since the FDA recommendations are based on 2k and 2.5k calorie diets would it be alright to include a couple whole eggs daily since my diet is usually around 3500 calories?

 

[Steveoph]

Maybe some here can help me out. I stopped eating whole eggs because I eat around 1-1.5 lbs of meat a day which covers my cholesterol intake. Since the FDA recommendations are based on 2k and 2.5k calorie diets would it be alright to include a couple whole eggs daily since my diet is usually around 3500 calories?

Dietary cholesterol is only part of the story. If you eat it, your body won't make as much. I've eaten 2-4 eggs/day for almost the past year straight, and my cholesterol is still in the good books. I also eat red meat & other protein that has cholesterol too. I think you can safely enjoy your eggs If your family has a history of cholesterol problems it might be wise to have maybe 1 with lots of egg whites, but otherwise go right ahead.

 

[MoTiV]

Dietary cholesterol is only part of the story. If you eat it, your body won't make as much. I've eaten 2-4 eggs/day for almost the past year straight, and my cholesterol is still in the good books. I also eat red meat & other protein that has cholesterol too. I think you can safely enjoy your eggs If your family has a history of cholesterol problems it might be wise to have maybe 1 with lots of egg whites, but otherwise go right ahead.

Great! My family does have a history of high cholesterol but nothing serious and it doesn't show up until everyone gets really old.

 

[dadream]

Dietary cholesterol is only part of the story. If you eat it, your body won't make as much. I've eaten 2-4 eggs/day for almost the past year straight, and my cholesterol is still in the good books. I also eat red meat & other protein that has cholesterol too. I think you can safely enjoy your eggs If your family has a history of cholesterol problems it might be wise to have maybe 1 with lots of egg whites, but otherwise go right ahead.

Right, when there is an exogeneous source of cholesterol in the body, endogenous production is reduced, while lower dietary intake of cholesterol produces the opposite effect. So there would appear to be some ort of equilibrium going on.
I am certainly not an expert on cholesterol by any means so I'm not going to say eat as much as you like, but I posted this article because I found it interesting that there was a greater effect in gaining lean muscle with people eating a higher cholesterol diet. Interestingly enough in the article it states that the participants with higher cholesterol levels were more likely to have higher levels of inflammatory chemicals and cardiovascular disease risk factors. The scientists also noted that cholesterol increases the body's inflammatory response to muscle damage from exercise and that this inflammation response stimulates the body's muscle building "anabolic" process. So short-term inflammation after excercise is good but long-term, chronic inflammation in tissues and arteries is unhealthy. There still seems to be a lot more research needed on this particular subject, but I thought it might be useful to us in the community here.

 

[BLANCO7]

i ate two hard-boiled eggs today before training

 

[dsade]

Don't forget about resistance training upregulation of targets for hormones...it's not like you are chowing the eggs then sitting there watching wrassling and guzzling beer.

IMO, it's about turnover, much like cardio+increased calories leaves you better off than no cardio+lower calories.

 

[iDShaDoW]

I was throwing 2 eggs into every shake but then after my last check up my doctor told me my bad cholesterol was at like 140 while 100 is normal levels from someone my age...

I know I eat more fast food than I should but after hearing that I cut the eggs out for now...

 

[MoTiV]

I was throwing 2 eggs into every shake but then after my last check up my doctor told me my bad cholesterol was at like 140 while 100 is normal levels from someone my age...

I know I eat more fast food than I should but after hearing that I cut the eggs out for now...

Hope you cut out the fast food too!:whip:

 

[LilPsychotic]

One thing that to remember is you shouldn't confuse is fat with cholesterol. Keep in mind as well, eating too much of fats such as saturated and trans fats may heighten cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting you cholesterol intake to around 300mg and 200mg for those with heart disease.
Nightwanderer- Shoot for around 300-400mg as long as you don't have any heart disease issues, either yourself or a family history. Some excess cholesterol is removed from the body through the liver. I'm sure I don't have to tell you this Night but, always remember to eat a healthy diet even when bulking. One that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains, all of which are great for keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level.

Yeah, but I think he means cholesterol derived from saturated fats are the ones that tend to have a negative impact on overall health. I'm sorry, but one egg has almost 100% of your daily cholesterol needs in the yolk. I can't fathom that eating more than a few a day would have more positive effects on your health than negative.

 

[iDShaDoW]

Hope you cut out the fast food too!:whip:

Lol, I try to. I know it's just an excuse but I'm a full-time college student on a budget so I end up eating fast food more than I care to, try to stick to healthier seeming places like Popeyes or Chik Fil-A when I can.

Someone mentioned cheap pre-seasoned chicken from Trader Joe's which I'm gonna look into.

 

[LilPsychotic]

Lol, I try to. I know it's just an excuse but I'm a full-time college student on a budget so I end up eating fast food more than I care to, try to stick to healthier seeming places like Popeyes or Chik Fil-A when I can.

Someone mentioned cheap pre-seasoned chicken from Trader Joe's which I'm gonna look into.

You can eat moderately healthy in college if you really try to. Oatmeal and tuna are very cheap. I used to take oats to class with me, pour equal and water on it and consume it. Its kinda nasty, but it gets the job done.

 

[MoTiV]

Lol, I try to. I know it's just an excuse but I'm a full-time college student on a budget so I end up eating fast food more than I care to, try to stick to healthier seeming places like Popeyes or Chik Fil-A when I can.

Someone mentioned cheap pre-seasoned chicken from Trader Joe's which I'm gonna look into.

I find eating out is very expensive, fast food or not. For the price of a sandwich I can buy 1-2 lbs. of meat. Every time I eat out I spend $10-25 which if I went to the grocery store is almost a days worth of food.

 

[iDShaDoW]

Jeez, I never spend more than $10 on a meal even if that much... unless I'm taking a girl out to eat.

But I guess that's how it goes, you are what you eat.

Lol, you just put water on the oatmeal... that'd be like eating soggy cardboard...