THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603200029
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO FLAVOR
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
LIKE AN INMATE who steps into the sunlight after doing time in a dark cell, the egg is probably dazed by its bright new celebrity.
Not too long ago, the egg was considered a hard-boiled criminal, occupying a top spot on America's ``least wanted'' food list. The charge: high cholesterol. The sentence: no more than three eggs per person per week.
Today, however, the egg is a culinary hero, ``a wonder food,'' in the words of one admiring dietitian. Unlike Humpty Dumpty after his crash, the egg has been put back together again after its fall from grace. Perhaps one day the ex-con will write memoirs - ``From the Fire Back Into the Frying Pan'' - explaining how it fell and then rose again, as triumphantly as a souffle.
``For 25 years the egg was considered a poison pellet,'' said Dr. Donald McNamara, executive director of the Egg Nutrition Center in Washington, D.C. Supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the center does research for the country's egg producers.
The fact that the egg provides ``the highest quality protein you can get,'' was long neglected, said McNamara. He added that the egg, a complete protein with an ideal amino-acid pattern, is the standard by which all other protein is measured.
Up until the late '80s, nutrition experts believed a large egg packed an astounding 275 milligrams cholesterol. For years, Americans had been advised by the American Heart Association and other health groups not to eat more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day. High blood cholesterol was strongly associated with heart disease, studies showed.
Then in 1989, egg-friendly research emerged.
A large egg contains just 213 milligrams of cholesterol, about 22 percent less than previously thought, studies concluded. Improvements in chicken feed and breeding, along with more accurate laboratory methods of calculating egg cholesterol, accounted for the new number, according to McNamara, who has studied cholesterol for 30 years.
And more good news was hatched: Study after study indicated that:
The amount of saturated fat in the diet, not cholesterol, is the main influence on a person's blood cholesterol level.
The cholesterol found in food is only weakly associated with coronary risk.
Many healthy people with normal blood cholesterol levels (under 200) can include one, even two, eggs per day in a low-fat diet, without elevating their blood cholesterol.
A study at the University of Washington in Seattle last November even showed that adding two eggs a day to the diets of middle-aged men and women with high blood cholesterol elevated their cholesterol only if they also had high triglycerides, a form of fat in the blood.
Because people react differently to the cholesterol in food, health professionals often personalize dietary recommendations. Some researchers say that nearly two-thirds of Americans can handle a cholesterol intake of 400 to 600 milligrams daily without raising blood cholesterol levels. And many believe that genetics and lifestyle - such as exercise and smoking - are much more critical risk factors than cholesterol consumption in the development of heart disease. RISING CONSUMPTION
Americans, apparently, are tuning in to the egg-citing news. Per capita egg consumption was 239 in 1995, up from 233 in 1991. The number falls far short of the 402 eggs the average American ate in 1945, the year consumption peaked.
But with all the rave reviews, egg stats may just go right through the barnyard roof again.
Not only is the egg a high-quality protein, it is also ``nutrient dense,'' which means it packs lots of nutrition into a minimal number of calories. One large egg provides about 80 calories, 6 grams protein and 4 percent or more of the daily requirement for vitamins A, B6, B12 and D, riboflavin, iron, folic acid, phosphorous, iodine, zinc, biotin and pantothenic acid.
One egg contains only 5 grams fat, of which no more than 2 grams is saturated. This amount of fat provides most people with a good ``satiety value,'' or feeling of fullness, which is probably why eggs have been a breakfast food of choice for so long.
One of the best things about the egg is its price - about 8 cents per large egg.
``The egg makes marvelous sense for low-income families,'' said the Egg Nutrition Center's McNamara. ``It is also an ideal food for older people who live alone and have trouble meeting nutritional needs. Nothing could be easier than scrambling a couple of eggs for dinner.''
Even back in the days when the egg was a nutritional outcast, Mary Rapoport, a home economist with the Virginia Egg Council, scrambled, poached and boiled.
``I've never stopped cracking eggs,'' said Rapoport, who lives in Roanoke. She believes egg consumption dipped when women entered the work force. ``Who wants to come home from work and bake a six-egg poundcake?'' she said.
Every morning Rapoport cooks a full breakfast for her husband and their two teen-age sons. Even though her husband has high cholesterol and takes heart medication, she frequently prepares him an omelet made from three egg whites (the whites contain no cholesterol or fat) and one egg yolk. She might fill the omelet with wholesome ingredients like mushrooms, salsa and a bit of shredded low-fat mozzarella.
Nutritionally inferior accompaniments, like high-fat cheeses, home fries and some breakfast meats, can quickly drag the noble egg into the gutter.
``I pity eggs,'' said dietitian Liz Ward of Boston, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. ``They keep getting blamed for the company they keep.''
Ward teaches her patients to keep eggs wholesome - by cooking them with little or no fat, and mating them with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk and cheeses. Using low-fat instead of regular mayonnaise, the wise cook can even take part in National Egg Salad Week, celebrated the week after Easter each year.
In the right context, said Ward, ``the egg is a wonder food.''
MEMO: Mary Flachsenhaar is a free-lance writer living in Norfolk. The recipes
with this story have been kitchen-tested by the writer. ILLUSTRATION: SAM HUNDLEY/The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB