FOR hungry Britons looking for a healthy and nutritious breakfast, the advice was “go to work on an egg”. At least it was until it wasn’t, if you see what we mean: as with so many foodstuffs, the humble egg eventually fell foul of nutritionists and dieticians and dropped out of favour due to its relatively high cholesterol content.

It wasn’t just nutritionists who did for the egg, though. Tory MP Edwina Currie was forced to resign from her position as a junior health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government after issuing a warning about salmonella in British eggs. “Most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella,” she said during a television interview, sounding as if she knew what she was talking about. She didn’t. But by the time that had been established, egg sales had tanked and four million hens had been destroyed. Epic fail, as they almost certainly didn’t say in those far-off days.

But now the egg is back, news which won’t surprise anyone who long ago learned to ignore the advice of food experts and politicians but which will surprise those of us – a growing number, in fact – who pay a little too much attention to diets and food fads. For an explanation of what has changed and why in the world of eggs, and a handy run-down of other foodstuffs which have been similarly exiled and then rehabilitated after the “experts” changed their minds, read on.

EGGS

Cholesterol, salmonella, take your pick: eggs have had it all thrown at them. Now, however, a report published in the journal Heart and based on a study of nearly half a million people in China, is suggesting that going to work on an egg might actually lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. At worst, an egg a day doesn’t look like it raises the risk. At best, it might lower it when factored into a healthy, balanced diet. After all, eggs are one of our most nutrition-packed foods thanks to the prevalence of vitamins (among them A,B, D and B12) and antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin.

RED WINE

So, the big question: is it or isn’t it good for you? As with most things, moderation is key. Binge-drinking anything, red wine included, is not good for the health, and the constant revision downwards of the officially-sanctioned safe limits is an acknowledgement of the many health problems habitual over-indulgence can bring. However, scientific studies have also shown fairly clearly that there are some health benefits to red wine thanks to its high levels of polyphenols and antioxidants. In particular, health professionals have noted a lower incidence of heart disease among red wine drinkers. Meanwhile a two year Israeli study of people with type two diabetes who drank small amounts of the stuff found raised levels of HDL cholesterol, the so-called “good” sort. And the best grape varieties? Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah. Cheers.

NUTS

For those with the most serious allergies, nuts can kill. But even for the allergy-free, nuts have suffered from both good and bad PR over the years. Being naturally high in saturated fats and calories, they have previously been considered a no-no for those trying to lose weight. In the US, meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration has ruled that no foodstuff with more than one gram of saturated fat can be labelled “healthy” – so a sugar-free, nut-laden snack bar wouldn’t be able to call itself healthy but a sugar-heavy, low-fat pudding would. At least in theory. However, nuts also contain healthy fats, such as the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated varieties, as well as protein, dietary fibre, micronutrients, vitamins and trace minerals like potassium. All that means (as recent studies have underlined) that nuts can help a wide range of cardio-vascular problems, reduce cholesterol and affect the incidence of diabetes. Not bad for something the size of, well, a nut.

COFFEE

Coffee is addictive and has been linked to heart and digestive problems in the past, and you won’t get very far through an article about how to undertake your January detox or achieve healthy-looking supermodel skin without being advised to cut back on the number of flat whites you drink (other delivery methods are available). But conventional medical thinking is changing where coffee is concerned, and as coffee shops have proliferated, the strictures against drinking the stuff have loosened. Now you’ll find coffee being praised for mooted health benefits which run from helping stave off dementia to lowering the risk of liver cancer. Best continue to lay off the biscuits, though. Unless they’re made of …

CHOCOLATE

It would be too good to be true, wouldn’t it? Then again, if we can argue for the health benefits of red wine and coffee, we can do the same for chocolate. The cons are obvious – chocolate contains fat and sugar and, if you’re lucky enough to be holding a Crème Egg, whatever unctuous gunk they make the “yolk” from – but increasingly we’re being told there are pros, too. It can have beneficial effects on brain function (see coffee, above). It can be good for the heart and for the circulation. It can actually help reduce cholesterol. It can even protect the skin against sun damage. Convinced? You should be. For obvious reasons – namely that it makes a great headline – there have been many scientific studies looking at chocolate and finding much to be recommended in its high levels of antioxidants. A word of caution, though: it’s only very dark chocolate that will provide any health benefits. So Crème Eggs are probably out.

DAIRY

As with nuts, many people avoid dairy products such as milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter for allergy reasons. There are plenty of others, though, like their high fat and cholesterol levels, to take just two. If you’ve ever tackled a baked brie with a table spoon and followed it with a triple scoop of chocolate ice-cream, you’ll know all about that. However, in moderation, dairy is considered fine thanks to high levels of protein and bone-protecting calcium. Increasingly, however, gut microbes are being talked about as a crucial aspect of human health and they’re found in abundance in dairy products such as natural yoghurt. It’s one of the reasons that kefir – an ancient fermented milk drink originating from the Caucasus Mountains in West Asia – is having its moment in the culinary sun. You could even say it’s the new kimchi. What do you mean you’ve never heard of kimchi?

RED MEAT

We’ve been scared off red meat and processed meats such as bacon for decades now, for reasons which go beyond health and touch on both environmental and ethical concerns. To be fair, the first of those is incontrovertible and the second is starting to feel like an idea whose time is coming. But until President Malia Obama, Prime Minister Brooklyn Beckham and head of the United Nations Malala Yousafzai get their heads together and ban all meat production, it’s here to stay. And its potential health benefits are also here to be argued about. Bacon has been linked with cancer in the past due to the use in the preserving process of sodium nitrite. However, less injurious methods of curing meats have now been introduced, so those who have persisted with their “paleo” diets – that’s the one where you eat only what cave dwellers ate, or as close to it as possible – can get their teeth into a bacon butty again. Or they can if they’re allowed white, sliced bread. As for red meat, its fat content and high cholesterol levels have previously had dieticians tut-tutting but with fat now being rehabilitated to a certain extent and cholesterol re-thought, meat in moderation is fine – especially if it’s lean and grass-fed, which means it has a higher omega-3 fatty acid content. And yes, that’s a good thing.

TEA

In 2012, a Glasgow University study found the risk of developing prostate cancer to be 50 per cent higher in men who drank more than seven cups of tea per day. A year later, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported the case of a woman who had developed brittle bones and lost all her teeth from drinking too much tea. On top of that, another study found that taking your tea super hot heightened the risk of oesophageal cancer. Bad news for tea lovers. Since then, however, we’ve heard yet more about the health-giving properties of green tea – it may lower cholesterol and blood pressure, could actually prevent cancer and is full of our old friends the antioxidants – while even black tea contains polyphenols, which can have health benefits. Who do you believe? Who knows. But stick the kettle on while you think about it.