We have been told that eggs and full cream dairy increase your cholesterol.
Dairy:
First was the move away from butter and cream. I think now most think margarine is bad for health, although some sources claim it is no longer made in the old way with bad fats. But then people moved to 'spreadable' butter, which does include vegetable oils. We also have the introduction of olive oil into the butter scene, or just on its own in solidified form (not sure how they accomplish that). On olive oil, in Australia it has been found many supermarket brands of Mediterranean cold-pressed olive oil is actually only 'pure', not cold pressed. So we now only purchase Australian olive oil, although there have been claims it is often old oil. Personally I rarely eat butter, and we have moved to good quality cold-pressed flaxseed oil as a 'sprinkle' on vegies (it's supposed to be one of the best oils for good cholesterol).
The Heart Foundation still recommends low-fat milk and yoghurt.
Milk: to make homogenised milk, they spin the cream out, then add it back in. Low-fat milk has less cream added back in. But the fat of milk contains most of the nutrients. They have also done studies to show that children who drink full cream milk are healthier than, and leaner than, those who drink low-fat milk. I find this reference somewhat odd, and would need to see more on the study to believe such sweeping claims. Nonetheless, the health fashion is now back to full cream milk. If you follow this fashion, you should obtain non-homogenised full cream milk.
But I'm sceptical. Children are not adults who already have high cholesterol problems. It seems to me, despite the better overall health value of full cream milk, low-fat milk is probably still better for those with high cholesterol. Personally, I like goats milk.
Yoghurt: here, it is becoming very difficult to purchase plain yoghurt, full cream or low-fat, in the supermarket, and everyone now eats fruit yoghurt. My research has shown that pretty much all commercial fruit yoghurt has no beneficial bacteria in it whatsoever, and the same applies to many low-fat yoghurts. But low-fat yoghurts also have high sugar content, which applies to pretty much all low-fat dairy. The only way to solve this, is to look at the nutrient table on the yoghurt package (if there is one) and check which has the best ratio of fats and sugar. We now use a full cream one which has less sugar and fat than other brand low-fat yoghurts. Apparently, the low-fat aspect negatively affects the digestive bacteria levels they claim.
if you have a high glucose blood level, then stay away from low-fat. If you have high cholesterol and lower glucose, perhaps low-fat might be better. If you have both high glucose and cholesterol, as many older people do, then study the nutrient labels for the lowest of both. If you have a high 'good' cholesterol (around 2) then you can pretty much disregard your 'bad' cholesterol levels (so my doctor tells me).
Eggs: first they told us to eat only the yolk. Next they claimed the 'whole' egg was better, but to limit consumption to a few a week - never more than six. But a recent huge study has discovered that people who eat eggs every day are far healthier and thinner than those who eschew them. Recent evidence suggests that high cholesterol foods don't equate to the body storing up that cholesterol. This applies to squid (calamari) as well. The main reason for egg eaters being thinner is because eggs are protein which leave us feeling full - so we don't snack through the day.
I am experimenting on this, and watching my cholesterol levels on a yearly basis, so long as I vary only one aspect at a time. Of course, genetics also plays a big role. I was eating less eggs, but then increased the number to ten to twelve a week (and they were mostly duck eggs). I decided that was too much, for health as well as body-response reasons, and now reduced them to eight a week. But we do have our own poultry, which are free range and fed good food.
In general, for cholesterol the best approach is to shift big time to fish from red meat (or to vegetarian). Unless of course if you are in the northern hemisphere, where the toxin levels in fish is quite high, especially after the Japanese nuclear reactor accident.
