Egg Cholesterol Increases Risk Of Heart Disease, Death

Because they’re both easy to prepare and eat, eggs are easily a breakfast staple, even with different cultures from all around the world. Generally considered as healthy food, few can top a breakfast with some solid eggs and toast.

But too much of a good thing can be bad in most case, even in this one. As according to a nutrition expert, the more eggs you consume, the higher you risk yourself to developing heart disease.

The analysis was co-authored by Katherine Tucker, a biomedical and nutritional sciences professor in UMass Lowell's Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences. Per the research, tracking the diets, health, and overall lifestyle habits of over 30,000 adults from all over the country for a period of 31 years reveal that an excessive amount of the cholesterol found in eggs is linked with bad health effects. The study is then published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The need for the study comes as egg consumption in the U.S. have started to increase, with Americans eating an average of 279 eggs per year back in 2017, compared to 2012’s 254 eggs per year.

Cholesterol in eggs

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, one egg has around 200 milligrams of cholesterol. That’s almost the same amount of cholesterol in an 8-ounce steak. Cheese, processed meats, and other dairy products all have high amounts of cholesterol as well.

Unfortunately, the current U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans does not include how many eggs a person should eat in a daily basis, with the reason due to nutrition experts believe that eggs weren’t a primary source of high cholesterol levels. Rather, saturated fat is.

The guideline does recommend that individuals should eat no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol in a daily basis. That’s one large egg per day. Following this, the research co-authored by Tucker also revealed that each 300 milligrams added on top of the recommended serving per day increases risk of cardiovascular disease by around 17 percent.

However, Tucker also said that a few eggs a week is “reasonable.”

"But I recommend people avoid eating three-egg omelets every day. Nutrition is all about moderation and balance,” she added.