Eggs are good for the heart as long as people consume one per day, according to researchers from the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.
Published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the study “Association of egg intake with blood lipids, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 177,000 people in 50 countries” revealed that eating eggs in moderation never resulted in significant rise in fatal cases of cardiovascular disease.
“Moderate egg intake, which is about one egg per day in most people, does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or mortality,” said study author Mahshid Dehghan in a press release.
"Also, no association was found between egg intake and blood cholesterol, its components or other risk factors. These results are robust and widely applicable to both healthy individuals and those with vascular disease."
Based on the cross-referenced data from three long-term studies, most study participants predominately consumed approximately one egg a day or less.
Even if they had a history of heart disease or diabetes, there was no change recorded in the risk of individuals when they ate eggs in moderation.
Health authorities advise minimal egg consumption because cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease. Despite eggs containing a high level of dietary cholesterol, “no association was found between egg intake and blood cholesterol, its components or other risk factors,” according to the press release.
The team examined the egg consumption of 146,011 healthy individuals and 31,544 patients with a history of some form of cardiovascular disease and people from 50 countries.
According to Salim Yusuf, principal investigator of the study, previous studies linking eggs and cardiovascular disease have often been contradictory because the scope is not properly defined.
“Most of these studies were relatively small or moderate in size and did not include individuals from a large number of countries,” he stated in the press release.
