Dr. Sanjay Gupta (2:37)

Okay, Gwen from Magnolia, Texas, wants to know how what we eat, eggs, for example, relate to cholesterol levels in our body. Now, before I answer that, I want to give you some, I think, important context. First of all, cholesterol is a type of fat, and it is something your body naturally produces. How much? Well, your liver and intestines make up about 80% of the cholesterol in your body. About 20% comes from the foods you eat. Okay, just keep that in mind. 80% is made by your liver and intestines. On top of that, not all cholesterol is bad for you. In fact, when you measure cholesterol with a blood test, you are measuring hdl, which is good cholesterol, High density lipoprotein and ldl. Low density lipoprotein. Now, for many people, eating foods that are high in cholesterol raises ldl, and that is the type of cholesterol most linked to heart disease. But the question specifically is about eggs.

Dr. Andrew Freeman (3:41)

Eggs remain the most concentrated source of cholesterol in the Modern Diet.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (3:45)

That's Dr. Andrew Freeman. We invited him on the podcast today to talk a little bit more about eggs and cholesterol. He's a cardiologist. He is the director of clinical cardiology and prevention at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Andrew Freeman (3:59)

Believe it or not, a single large egg contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, near, really all in the yolk.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (4:05)

But there's an important caveat. What you're eating around those eggs probably matters just as much as the eggs themselves.

Dr. Andrew Freeman (4:13)

Eggs are eaten as part of a typical standard American diet, which is already high in saturated fat. Cholesterol. LDL levels are already elevated. Adding or subtracting a few eggs may not appear to produce a dramatic change. But if you shift to people who have a healthier dietary pattern, one that's predominantly low fat, whole food and plant based, with high soluble fiber, ldl cholesterol typically falls substantially even if small amounts of dietary cholesterol remain in the diet.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (4:39)

Now, it is important to know that adding eggs is going to introduce a concentrated dose of cholesterol, not dramatic again, depending on what you're eating it with, but may be enough to matter to some people who are particularly worried about heart disease. The key point is your overall diet is going to be the main driver of your cholesterol levels. Eggs can absolutely fit into a healthy diet, but you need to be mindful, especially if you're trying to lower your ldl, or if you already know, your cholesterol runs high. And as Dr. Freeman said, the yolks are a big culprit here. The yolks have the majority of the cholesterol. There have been some studies that have shown eating more eggs to be linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. But I think it's important when you read these studies to realize that these studies are not showing cause and effect. They're not proving that eggs cause these conditions, but they show that the risk tends to rise as egg intake goes up again. That could be because of what else you're eating those eggs with. And the fact is, many Americans eat way more eggs than they realize.

Dr. Andrew Freeman (5:49)

Some studies define low egg intake as up to three eggs per week. The average US consumption can be 280 to 300 eggs per year, or about five to six eggs per week. Many households consume a dozen or more eggs per person weekly. At those levels, dietary cholesterol exposure is substantial.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (6:08)

So what do you do? Focus on your overall eating pattern. First, eggs can be part of a healthy diet. What you're eating them with matters a lot. You want to have more whole plant foods such as beans, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Those changes can actually lower the ldl. They can lower the bad cholesterol for most people. After you do that, figure out how eggs fit into that pattern, especially if you're someone who has high cholesterol. If you're trying to lower your cholesterol and if you love eggs, you don't necessarily need to cut them out, but it's probably helpful to think of them as an every now and then food instead of an everyday food. Especially again, if you're watching your cholesterol. Gwen, hope that helps answer your question. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break here, but when we come back, there's an interesting question about the pelvic floor and weightlifting. Stay with us.

Andrew Huberman (7:06)

This is Andrew Huberman, host of the Huberman Lab podcast. I'm excited to share that the performance eyewear company Roka and I have teamed up to create a pair of red lens glasses. These are meant to be worn in the evening after the sun goes down. They filter out short wavelength light that comes from screens and from LED lights, which are the two most common indoor lights nowadays. I want to emphasize that these are not traditional blue blockers. Yes, they filter out blue light, but they also filter out all the other wavelengths of light that can suppress your melatonin and other hormones which can degrade your sleep. By wearing these glasses, in the evening. I find it much easier to wind down at night and it makes the transition into sleep greatly improved. If you would like to try these red lens wind down glasses, Simply go to roka.com that's r o-k a.com and enter the code huberman to save 20% off your first order. Again, that's r O-K-A.com and enter the code Huberman at checkout.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (8:00)

We are back with paging Dr. Gupta. Jennifer. Who do we have next?

Jennifer (8:05)

Okay, we have a question from a listener named Jeannie who's 75 years old and reached out to us from Pioneertown, California with a great question. She is wondering about strength training for older women. Now, she recently listened to some podcasts that said that in order to build muscle strength, you need to lift heavier. However, she does have some pelvic floor disorder and is afraid that lifting heavier weights will strain her abdominal pelvic floor too much. She wants to know, is there a way that she can build up her strength without causing any undue pressure on her lower pelvic floor?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (8:45)

All right, thanks so much for the question. First of all, strength training, so important. Whether you use weights or bands or machines or even just your own body weight, this is really important for long term health. I think for a long time, people focused on aerobic activity, which can be really important, but sometimes it was to the detriment of resistance training. We know strength training can help increase your muscular strength, your endurance and bone density. Very important, especially as you get older. Also, weight training can help with blood glucose control and improve your sleep. CDC says it can even reduce your risk of falls and fractures as you age. So I really commend you for wanting to lift heavier weights. That is awesome. But I think your question is about the pelvic floor specifically. Look, everybody's body is different. Everybody's body is going to have a unique set of challenges and. And something known as pelvic floor dysfunction. Well, that isn't uncommon as people age. Now, I want to start off by acknowledging that not everyone probably knows what we mean when we say pelvic floor. First thing to point out is that everyone has pelvic floor muscles, men and women. Both those pelvic floor muscles help hold up our internal organs inside of our pelvis, like the uterus, but also the bladder and the rectum. So this is really important. If you think about it, these muscles are actually dynamic as well, meaning they can contract and they can release. They're what allow us to hold it, if you will, until we can find a bathroom and then go. When we actually get to the bathroom,

Liz Miracle (10:23)

when those pelvic floor muscles get weak, they can kind of be a little too open.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (10:28)

That's Liz Miracle. She's a board certified Women's Health clinical specialist. She's been practicing pelvic floor physical therapy for over 20 years. She's an assistant clinical professor at UCSF School of PT and head of Clinical Quality and Education at Origin Physical Therapy.

Liz Miracle (10:47)

And if you are someone who has internal pelvic organs and a vagina, those organs can start to kind of drop down. And so when you contract the pelvic floor muscles, it can help to lift those organs back up inside of you and prevent that type of feeling.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (11:02)

So the pelvic floor, even if you might not think of it very often, is very important for all of us. Now, it's hard to make an assumption about what pelvic floor dysfunction you have specifically, Jeanne, because there are different types that are out there. Some people have too little pelvic floor muscle strength. Others actually have the opposite problem. The muscles are actually too tight. But the question about weightlifting, I think there's some good news here.

Liz Miracle (11:30)

I would say if lifting heavier is a goal of yours, don't let a pelvic floor disorder keep you from being able to achieve that goal.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (11:40)

Liz says that a common problem is that there is too much pressure going into the bowl of the pelvic floor. Imagine the pelvic floor like a bowl and think about all those organs being inside that bowl and, and causing a lot of pressure.

Liz Miracle (11:55)

The way to combat that pressure is to provide enough force up and against it. And the way that we do that is by strengthening our pelvic floor. So it might just be that the level that you're lifting is too heavy for what your pelvic floor is able to combat against. In terms of the pressure, it doesn't mean that you don't want to lift heavy. It means that you want to increase your pelvic floor strength to be able to meet the demands of the lifting that you're doing now.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (12:20)

One obvious option is to do pelvic floor physical therapy and book an appointment with someone like Liz who can really help you understand how to strengthen and work with your pelvic floor muscles. You could also talk to an obstetrician, a gynecologist, a urogynecologist, and maybe even get fit for something known as a pessary.

Liz Miracle (12:41)

Pessaries are little devices that you insert into the vagina and they kind of act like a splint so if you had an injury, you wouldn't just go run a marathon without putting, like a brace on that injury, Right? So if we have a deficit in strength, think about bracing that muscle with a pessary. So this device is helpful because you can put it in, you can take it out when you're not lifting if you don't want to have to wear it all the time. But the problem with these devices is they can be so helpful that people then often don't strengthen the pelvic floor because the pessary is working when they're lifting. And then that weakness can show up in other places in their life.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (13:15)

Another thing that can be really helpful is learning how to properly incorporate your breathing when you work out. And again, a pelvic floor physical therapist can teach you how to do this. They can teach you how to breathe in a way that supports your pelvic floor instead of adding more pressure. You can kind of probably imagine already how that might work. In fact, Liz says that a lot of patients who are weightlifters have even met their personal records because they incorporate their breath with their pelvic floor and their weights. So don't hesitate to reach out to a pelvic floor physical therapist. They can help you figure out what's really going on, whether or not your muscles need strengthening, relaxation, coordination, or maybe some combination of all three. So, Jeanne, I hope this answers your question. I know it doesn't cover it all, and you can definitely get a lot more information by talking to your doctor. But I hope it at least gets you thinking about the things you can do if you. And the answer is you can do most things you can lift safely. You can lift heavy once you understand how your pelvic floor is functioning and how to support it. All right, that wraps up today's show. I just want to say again, your questions. They're guiding us. They help make the show. They help shape what we talk about. They show us what you're thinking about and what you're worried about. So thank you for trusting us with some of the most intimate things in your life. If you've got a health question, send it in. We may tackle yours on the next episode. Reach out to us. Record a voice memo. Email it to pagingdrgupta.com that's pagingdrgupta.com or give us a call 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks so much for listening.

Anderson Cooper (15:06)

Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. You'll hear deeply moving and honest discussions with people who have faced and are living with life altering losses. My Conversations with Robert Irwin Robert grew up in the public eye. His dad, Steve Irwin, was known around the world as the Crocodile Hunter.

Andrew Huberman (15:28)

But one of the greatest gifts in my life is the fact that my entire existence and my childhood growing up with dad was all captured on camera. I mean, it is all there and you watch dad for two seconds and you get a pretty good picture of the sort of passionate individual that he was talking.

Anderson Cooper (15:46)

Grief building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.

Michael Ian Black (15:57)

Tav I got News for your ears. The podcast. I am your host, Michael Ian Black. If you're some cargo ship captain from Kuala Lumpur and you want America to prevail in this war, it is your patriotic duty to send your cargo ship through the Strait of Hormuz and get sunk.

Liz Miracle (16:18)

Right?

Michael Ian Black (16:18)

And get murdered.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (16:19)

And here's the thing. Just doing your job. This is a man of his word. Donald Trump will pay for for the insurance on that.

Michael Ian Black (16:26)

Right, Just like he paid for all the burgers for everybody last year.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta (16:29)

That's right. Burgers for all.

Michael Ian Black (16:32)

Have I Got News for your Ears. Releases new episodes every Wednesday. Don't miss an episode. Follow us wherever you get your podcast.