Eggs are an important source of dietary cholesterol. Scientists have long argued how dangerous it is to eat them and how many eggs a day you can eat. A new study based on data from 1.5 million people provides convincing answers to these questions.
If you eat no more one egg a day, the risk of cardiovascular disease will not increase, US scientists have shown. The results of the study are published in BMJ.
A team of scientists from Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health analyzed data from three large studies that included 215,000 people without serious chronic conditions at the time the study began. Their health was monitored for 34 years.
Researchers studied the participants' diets and found that people typically eat between one and five eggs a week. It turned out that this number of eggs does not increase the risk of myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease and stroke. An association between egg consumption and cardiovascular risk has only been found for people who have type 2 diabetes.
“On average, most people don't eat more than one egg a day. You can eat two eggs for breakfast, but only two or three times a week. Thus, the average intake is actually less than one egg per day,” explained Frank Hu, co-author of the study.
In addition, the researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 28 European, American and Asian studies that collectively studied egg consumption habits of 1.7 million people. Evidence from these studies also confirms that one egg a day has no negative impact on heart health.
In Asian studies, eating eggs has been associated with some reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. Scientists have proposed an explanation that in Asian cultures, eggs are usually included in various dishes, while in the West, eggs are often eaten separately, and with red or processed meat and white bread.
The results of the study are in line with the 2019 recommendations of the American Heart Association cholesterol control associations.