Food · 4 min read ·

Eggs: a cholesterol bogeyman?

Eggs contain a lot of cholesterol, so for a long time people were advised to limit them. What large summaries of studies show today.

In a nutshell

1What is in an egg

Composition data 6 g protein An egg without its shell (about 50 g) has around 72 kcal, 6.3 g of protein, 4.8 g of fat and 186 mg of cholesterol according to the US food composition database.1

Egg protein contains all the essential amino acids — more in the article Protein.

2Blood cholesterol

Moderate evidence +0.14 mmol/L A summary of 28 randomised trials: more eggs raised LDL cholesterol by 5.6 mg/dL (about 0.14 mmol/L), but also “good” HDL by 2.1 mg/dL. The LDL-to-HDL ratio and triglycerides did not change.3

3The heart

Moderate evidence — observational studies 1 egg a day Three large US cohorts with 215,618 people followed for up to 32 years and a summary of 33 estimates with 1.7 million people: an extra egg a day was not linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke. In Asian studies, the risk was even slightly lower.2
Weak evidence — observational study +6% An analysis of six US cohorts with 29,615 people: each extra half egg a day was linked with a 6% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. After accounting for total dietary cholesterol, the link disappeared.4

So studies disagree; according to the largest summary, up to one egg a day is fine.2

What to take from this

Sources

Written on , based on studies available at that date. Newer research may change the conclusions.

  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture (2019). Egg, whole, raw, fresh (FDC ID 171287). FoodData Central, SR Legacy food composition database. fdc.nal.usda.gov
  2. Drouin-Chartier J.-P. et al. (2020). Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: three large prospective US cohort studies, systematic review, and updated meta-analysis. BMJ 368:m513. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m513
  3. Rouhani M. H. et al. (2018). Effects of egg consumption on blood lipids: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. J Am Coll Nutr 37:99–110. doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2017.1366878
  4. Zhong V. W. et al. (2019). Associations of dietary cholesterol or egg consumption with incident cardiovascular disease and mortality. JAMA 321:1081–1095. doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.1572

This is general information and does not replace a doctor or dietitian. If you have high cholesterol, diabetes or an egg allergy, follow your doctor’s advice.