>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Today, we're talking about the egg.

Once demonized, now celebrated, and

currently so expensive you might need a loan to make an

omelet. Let's break it down. Why did the egg

get canceled? How did it make a comeback? And why

are we all suddenly paying luxury taxes for

breakfast? M.

I am your Chief Medical Explanationist, Dr. Terri Simpson,

and this is Fork U Fork

University, where we make sense of the madness, bust

a few myths, and teach you a little bit about food and

its intersection with medicine.

Picture it. 1968,

the Beatles are topping the charts, man is about to

land on the moon, and the American Heart association

is dropping a bombshell. Eggs, they

say, are trying to kill us. They declared that

dietary cholesterol was a heart attack waiting to

happen, and told everyone to eat fewer than three

eggs a week. Three eggs a week? That's not

enough for a proper brunch. But here's the kicker.

That decision was not

driven by physicians or medical

evidence or some new groundbreaking

study. Nope. This was a classic of,

well, we really don't know how to

decrease the risk of heart disease in this country,

but cutting cholesterol might help, so let's just roll with

was a precautionary principal move, basically

meaning they were saying, we don't have proof

this will work, but sounds logical, so let's ban eggs

anyway. There weren't any randomized control

trials. There was no solid clinical data,

just an assumption wrapped in a dietary

guideline. Meanwhile, real

scientists, those annoying people who actually study

this stuff, had known since 1950

because they had tested it. Dietary

cholesterol had minimal impact on

blood cholesterol. Saturated fat had a

huge impact. Dietary cholesterol, not so

much. But did the policymakers listen?

Nope. Instead, we got decades of

people swapping eggs for cereal and

margarine, which, fun fact, turned out to

be worse for heart health.

Well played. So

let's follow the money. Who really wrote

those guidelines? Because if you thought they were

written by a group of independent scientists

sitting in a lab analyzing data, I have

some bad news for you. The truth is,

dietary guidelines are heavily influenced by

industry. The food industry, which incorporates

the agricultural industry, the processed food

companies. They all have a seat at the table.

Why? First of all, they're the experts

in the field. But these guidelines

shape what's in school lunches, hospital meals,

military rations, and what is pushed in public

health campaigns. And when billions of dollars

are on the line, you can better believe it, that

industry wants a say in what's healthy.

That's why for decades, we got a food pyramid that, that

told us to eat six to 11 servings of bread, pasta

and cereal a day. That was brought to you by the

grain industry because the grain industry

had way too much excess grain based on the

agricultural policies started during the Nixon administration

because they could demonize fat. Low

fat processed foods were the hot new

product. And it's why eggs,

unprocessed at that time, inexpensive,

nutritionally dense food was, was literally thrown under

the bus. I mean, they were. Seriously, they had ads where

they threw eggs under a bus while cholesterol free

cookies and sugary cereals got a pass.

That makes no sense, does it? So

when eggs got this bad for your heart label,

it wasn't just because of misunderstood

science. It was because processed food

companies saw the opportunity to push

alternatives like egg beaters.

Cholesterol free margin, and all of that heart

healthy, low fat junk food

flooded the market. The worst part, the

public believed it. But we

wouldn't be fitting our Star wars theme if we didn't say

science strikes back. So after

the 1968 egg panic, egg farmers found

themselves in the middle of a PR nightmare. If

they defended eggs, they'd be accused of prioritizing

profits over public health. If they stayed

quiet, eggs would go the way of the

dinosaurs. Or maybe the way of canned

asparagus. But science wasn't

on the American Heart Association's side. The

egg industry backed real research, which found

shockingly, eating an egg does not

instantly clog your arteries like stuffing butter into a

straw. But did that matter?

Nope. By the 1980s, the

low cholesterol craze was in its full

swing. People were buying cholesterol free

peanut butter because, you know, peanut butter

was such a notorious source of cholesterol before.

Meanwhile, eggs got the reputation of being worse than junk

food. It was better in their minds to eat a Pop

Tart for breakfast, but not an egg. Can you believe

this nonsense? Finally, we get the great

egg redemption. I'm not sure what Star wars

theme we're on here, but let's Fast forward to 2015.

After five decades of, uh, scaring

people away from eggs, nutrition

experts said, you know, that's

just not right. That policy you guys made in

the American Heart association, that wasn't right.

Because we've known that dietary cholesterol does

not significantly impact blood cholesterol levels except in a few

people. And we know you can eat eggs without

becoming a walking heart attack. Oh,

and we've known this since 2 1/2

decades before you made that spurious claim.

And here is where it all gets really Crazy.

When these policymakers actually finally got

convinced by the research to look at the actual evidence,

they found out that eggs weren't bad for you, they were

actually great for you. It's a high quality

protein. It contains choline for brain health.

It has great nutrients for your eyes. Eggs are

basically nature's multivitamin, except

tastier and cheaper than things in

the health food store. Well, that used to be

cheaper. So the 2015

Dietary Guidelines finally lifted the egg

restriction. But let's be real, this should have happened

decades earlier. Or to be even more exact, they

should have never banned eggs in the first place. In

fact, the United States was one of the last countries

to drop its dietary cholesterol restrictions.

Taking 47 years to reverse an idea

that wasn't based on strong science in the first

place. That's almost half the century

of unnecessary egg guilt.

Imagine how many sad eggless

breakfasts that adds up to. The

egg's new enemy now is a virus.

Just when eggs were making their comeback,

along comes the new generation of

bird flu. Millions of hens had to be

culled, destroyed, and suddenly eggs

are more expensive than gasoline. At some stores, they're

basically locked up like high end electronics.

Meanwhile, oat milk soy based egg

substitutes are cackling in the background, waiting for their

moment to shine. I mean, I actually like oat milk and soy milk,

but you know, but none of those replaces

the egg. Scrambled, fried, poached, deviled, in

a cake, in a quiche, doing it with flaxseed,

whatever. But even if eggs are pricey now, they are

still one of the most nutritious and versatile foods you can get. So

yes, eggs are back. Of course, now they're a luxury

item. I mean, eggs are expensive as caviar, which is

basically a fish egg.

Here's what we have learned today, which I hope you

have. Public policy about

food is not the same as science

about food. Whole eggs are bad

for you was just bad policy

made by people making policy without

any basis of evidence at all. But with

this oh, we better be safe than sorry approach

mixed with industry influence, eggs have always

been nutritional powerhouses. And just when you're

finally allowed to enjoy an egg guilt free, they

are too expensive to eat. Life's kind of

unfair like that. But don't let history or high

prices scare you away. Eggs are still one of the

better foods out there. They deserve a place on your plate. Meanwhile, if

you want to learn more about food science

without the nonsense, give me a subscription here to

fork you. Because eating smart is always in

style. Unlike that cholesterol free peanut butter

fad. Let's make a couple of other things

clear. When you hear food policy, please don't blame the

scientists or the doctors. We didn't do that. We

didn't tell you to eat trans fats. Honestly, we

didn't. We've been going against that. But that's for

another episode. This

episode was written and researched by me, Dr. Terri

Simpson. And while I am a doctor, I am not

your doctor. And making any dietary changes, please see

a western trained physician or registered

dietitian. Do check out my blog

post on YourDoctorsOrders.com

and check out my new substack at Ah,

Tsimpson substack,

where I have for our, uh, subscribing members great ways that

you can interact with me. I want to thank

our friends at Simpler Media for the distribution and making

me sound awesome. And especially my good

friend, the pod God, Mr.

Evotera. Have a good

week, everyone. In fact, have an egg

cellent.

Hey, Ivo, here's the dirty little secret.

I'm not a big fan of eggs. I mean, they're

okay. They're like something I put on. Something

like huevos rancheros. Wouldn't be anything without the

huevos. But I prefer the rancheros. Most

eggs are kind of bland to me. I like hot sauce on

eggs. All right, how about you? Are you an egg

fan?

I'm, um, still not talking to you after that egg pun.