Sixty seconds on . . . free breakfast
BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1681 (Published 18 April 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;361:k1681
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Bacon and eggs? Are they trying to shorten the lives of the house staff, or encourage unhealthy eating? Dietary cholesterol clearly increases cardiovascular risk, even though it doesn’t raise fasting levels of LDL-C by much. Dietary cholesterol from egg yolk (237 mg in a 65-gram egg; nearly as much as a 12-ounce Monster Thickburger from Hardee’s) potentiates the harmful effect of the saturated fat in the bacon.[1]
The widespread belief that dietary cholesterol is harmless is entirely a result of propaganda of the egg industry.[2] What the house staff should be eating for breakfast is a healthy meal – whole grains such as oatmeal porridge, with fruit, or an omelette or frittata made with cholesterol-free egg substitutes.
1. Spence JD, Jenkins DJ, Davignon J. Dietary cholesterol and egg yolks: Not for patients at risk of vascular disease. Can J Cardiol 2010; 26: e336-e9.
2. Spence JD. Red meat intake and cardiovascular risk: it’s the events that matter; not the risk factors. Journal of Public Health and Emergency 2017; 53: 1-4.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Thanks for brekky, but skip the bacon & eggs please
I thoroughly enjoyed the above article as it allowed me a wry smile thinking back to my intern days in St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin. Time was set aside every Friday for an hour to discuss how fantastic we were doing/awful we felt/traumatised by certain wards and shifts we had been. This was gladly accompanied by plenty of fizzy drinks and pizza, and alongside the natter of colleagues, we realised we were probably doing just fine.
In retrospect I have to admit I’m quite the killjoy. What on earth were we eating? Ultra processed foods such as fizzy drinks and pizza increase our risk of cancer (see Nutri-net study findings), and the toppings were no less than class 1 carcinogens i.e., processed meats DEFINITELY cause cancer as per IARC and WHO. Ditto for the free breakfast mentioned here. As well meaning as it is, one can’t escape but notice the reward for a long night on the wards is the most concentrated form of dietary cholesterol (eggs) and class 1 carcinogen (bacon). (Yes, the intro music to Frasier would sound decidedly less smooth and jazzy if a description of tossed salad and scrambled egg was ad libbed in this fashion.)
With the recent drive to inform the public that obesity is now the second largest risk factor for cancer, paired with Bill & Melinda Gates Global Health Initiative declaring diet as the new leading risk factor in developed countries for death and disability (over smoking), when will we as doctors start to put nutrition on the agenda? Not just for our patients, but for ourselves and fellow colleagues? I wonder will initiatives like this breakfast be remembered in generations to come for reasons that completely miss the generous spirit in which they were intended.
Just a thought.
Sean
Competing interests: No competing interests