President Donald Trump’s most recent health checkup shows his cognitive and physical health are “excellent,” according to the report from White House Physician Capt. Sean P. Barbabella. His weight has dropped by 20 pounds since his last physical as president in 2020. In an interview with Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr., Fox News host Sean Hannity mentioned Trump now enjoys his burgers without a bun (via Daily Beast). While cutting carbs may help Trump lose weight, his favorite Big Mac is loaded with cholesterol and saturated fat.
Trump’s “bad” LDL cholesterol was an unhealthy 143 in 2018, but he’s lowered it to 51, thanks to the cholesterol drugs rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. His cholesterol medication allows him to enjoy some of his favorite, yet unhealthy foods. Although Trump told People in 2015 that he would often forgo breakfast, his favorite breakfast is bacon and eggs. (Here’s everything you’ll find in Donald Trump’s daily diet.)
Two eggs and three slices of bacon have almost 25 grams of protein, 311 calories, and just a trace of carbs for a great keto breakfast. Here’s where that cholesterol medicine comes in handy for Trump. That low-carb breakfast has 7.4 grams of saturated fat and more than 400 milligrams of cholesterol.
The role of dietary cholesterol on your blood cholesterol
In the past, people believed that lowering your blood cholesterol meant lowering the cholesterol in your diet, suggesting a cap of 300 milligrams a day. Because all of the egg’s cholesterol is found in the yolk, people eschewed the egg yolk and began ordering egg white omelets. As researchers looked further into how diet affects your blood lipids, they realized that diets high in cholesterol don’t necessarily send your blood cholesterol levels skyrocketing.
According to a 2022 review in Nutrients, your body will adapt to an increase in dietary cholesterol by either absorbing less of it or making less cholesterol. Remember, your body produces and uses cholesterol to make hormones, synthesize vitamin D, and build cell membranes. However, saturated fats may be a bigger player in your blood cholesterol. Most foods high in cholesterol are also high in saturated fat, except eggs and shellfish. If your meals are high in cholesterol and saturated fat, you may see an unhealthy rise in your blood cholesterol levels.
In other words, adding more eggs to your diet (e.g., eating two eggs for breakfast) may be fine for healthy people, but what you serve on the side can make a difference. Those three slices of bacon may not be high in cholesterol (compared to eggs), but the 4.3 grams of saturated fat could factor into your blood cholesterol levels. Rather than put a limit on dietary cholesterol, the American Heart Association recommends keeping your saturated fat intake below 6% of your total calories for the day.
A healthier breakfast if you like eggs
Trump may not have his bacon and eggs every day, but you may not want to turn to his favorite foods if you want to lower your cholesterol. Trump can control his cholesterol through medication. Rosuvastatin works by reducing how much cholesterol your liver makes so your body resorts to the LDL cholesterol in your blood for its purposes. Meanwhile, ezetimibe helps to reduce how much cholesterol from your food is absorbed by your small intestine.
If you love eggs, you can help your body lower its high cholesterol levels without medication by pairing your eggs with cholesterol-lowering breakfast foods. Soluble fiber works with your body in preventing your digestive tract from absorbing dietary cholesterol. A cup of cooked oatmeal will give you 4 grams of fiber to reduce the absorption of the cholesterol from those eggs. If oatmeal isn’t your thing, you could add a half cup of cooked pinto beans for almost 8 grams of fiber. Fruit also can make a great side dish for your eggs, so consider adding a cup of raspberries to provide 8 grams of fiber. You can also top a slice of whole-grain bread with half a cup of avocado to add 8 grams of fiber to your breakfast.
