Ancel Keys unfortunately convinced many, including the American Heart Association* (AHA), that eggs were a poor dietary choice when he was featured in Time magazine in 1961 stating that butter, lard, eggs and beef would lead to heart disease. The AHA followed his advice and built their nutrition protocol with his recommendations. Decades past with the same nutrition principles in place and heart disease, diabetes and other disease and illness escalated. Why? Natural ingredients were being replaced with sugar and unhealthy man-made, artificial filler ingredients to make the food product look and taste appealing without the fat. These were ingredients that the human body could not process because it was a toxin or just too much sugar. In fact, in the 1980's, my dad had bi-pass surgery. Post surgery, our household followed the AHA diet which included margarine* (crazy!) and Egg Beaters (liquid egg whites in a carton). Luckily, the American Heart Association has reviewed medical data in recent years and has started revising their recommended nutrition plan. Natural food has prevailed! "Can I eat eggs?" And, "I should only eat the egg whites, right?" are questions that clients have asked me in the past. Eat eggs. Eat the WHOLE egg. Eggs support the start of a new life, so they are nutritionally complete. When you only eat the egg white, you're missing every essential amino acid - the building blocks of protein - and vitamins A, E, D, K and DHA. Your body needs these nutrients to support your eye sight, stronger bones, muscle growth, skin health, mental health, weight loss or management, the ability for blood to clot, a healthy cardiovascular system and much more. Another client question is, "Eggs are too high in cholesterol, so I shouldn't eat them - right?" Yes, the yolk has the cholesterol/fat; however, keep in mind that if you don't eat healthy fats for cholesterol to support hormone production and hormone balance, your body will make cholesterol and sometimes this is why blood work may show cholesterol on the high side out of range...because your body has made too much cholesterol.** When our family adopted the low-fat AHA diet in the late 1980s, I was just starting college and continuing to eat this way. When attending a college-sponsored health fair, I had a blood draw and found out that my cholesterol had made its way to 240. That was a high number for a 19 year old. Determined to not have my father's fate, I started making some changes. The natural fat in unprocessed / non-packaged foods is healthy fat. It serves MANY purposes in the body including balancing blood sugar, supporting healthy veins and arteries and helping you feel fuller longer. So, enjoy an egg and know that you are eating something that is nutritionally complete. Notes: *Regarding margarine: When real fat is replaced with man-made hydrogenated fat, cell membranes harden and cell receptors can't function normally. This means that nutrients (glucose, potassium, sodium, etc) can't make their way into the cells. Nutrition happens at a cellular level. Toss your margarine and replace it with butter, coconut oil, nut butter or sunbutter, an avocado, olive oil or sesame seed oil to keep cell membranes and receptors functioning.. There are lots of delicious and healthy options for natural fats. **Eating too much sugar / refined carbohydrates can also contribute to elevated cholesterol.