- We’ve known for a while that the idea that eggs are full of “bad” cholesterol isn’t exactly accurate.
- A new study confirms these findings, showing that you should really focus on how much saturated fat you’re consuming alongside your morning eggs.
- And as it turns out, it’s often the foods you eat with eggs that are high in saturated fats, thus raise the “bad” cholesterol content in your body, not the eggs themselves.
Eggs’ reputation have certainly been through the wringer over the past two decades. For years, there were concerns that a regular egg habit would raise your cholesterol, prompting a wave of egg white recipes. But the nutritional community has largely started to change its tune on these great little sources of protein, stating that the cholesterol concerns might have been a tad overblown.
Now, new research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is providing scientific evidence that supports the idea that you don’t need to stress about eggs’ cholesterol content. Instead, you should be concerned about the saturated fat that’s often present in high quantities in foods that usually go with eggs, according to the findings.
It’s important to point out that the study was funded by the Egg Nutrition Center, which is a division of the American Egg Board. However, the study notes that the board didn’t have a role in the study’s design, analysis, or interpretation of the data.
Here’s what experts make of the new findings, and what they mean for your egg habit.
Meet the experts: Sonya Angelone, RDN, is a nutritionist and registered dietitian based in San Francisco, California; Scott Keatley, RD, is co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy; Matthew Black, RDN, LD, is a dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
What did the study find?
The randomized controlled study followed 61 adults and assigned them one of three diets to follow for five weeks. One group had diet that was high in cholesterol, low in saturated fat, and involved eating two eggs a day. Another had people eat an egg-free diet that was low in cholesterol and high in saturated fat. The final group followed a diet that was high in cholesterol, high in saturated fat, and involved eating one egg per week. (This was the control group.)
The researchers discovered that people who ate two eggs a day lowered their LDL (“bad”) cholesterol compared to the control group. The egg-free group didn’t have the same results. The researchers also found that it seems to be the saturated fats that are found in foods like bacon and sausage that are usually eaten with eggs that actually raise LDL cholesterol levels—not the eggs themselves.
“Saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, elevates LDL cholesterol,” the researchers wrote. “Compared with consuming a high-saturated fat diet with only one egg a week, consuming two eggs daily as part of a low-saturated fat diet lowers LDL concentrations, which may reduce cardiovascular disease risk.”
“This study’s core claim does track with what we’ve been seeing over the past decade: Saturated fat has a stronger impact on LDL cholesterol than dietary cholesterol,” says Scott Keatley, RD, co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. “This is backed by multiple meta-analyses and guidelines have been shifting away from blaming eggs alone and more toward the dietary context in which eggs are eaten.”
Why is cholesterol content not actually something to worry about?
While people love to hate on cholesterol, it actually has a role in the body. “Cholesterol is an essential nutrient that has many roles, including functioning as a precursor to hormones and contributing to the integrity of cellular membranes,” says Sonya Angelone, RDN, a nutritionist and registered dietitian based in San Francisco, California. “This is why your liver produces cholesterol.”
Eggs are the primary source of dietary cholesterol, but when you consume more and more cholesterol in your diet, your liver produces less to compensate for the higher amount you’re consuming, Angelone explains. “If you eat less cholesterol, your liver tends to produce more cholesterol,” she says. “Research has not provided strong evidence that dietary cholesterol, especially from eggs, increases blood levels of cholesterol or increases risk for heart disease.”
Consuming dietary cholesterol from eggs as part of a low saturated fat diet does not seem to raise LDL cholesterol levels, according to the study findings. “The risk for heart disease comes mainly from the other foods on the breakfast plate, like sausage or bacon,” Angelone says.
Keatley points this out, too: “When we’re talking about fat and cholesterol, we’re only talking about the yolk. Egg whites can and should be on the menu now.”
Why should you focus on lowering the amount of saturated fats you’re consuming?
Scientific data increasing show that saturated fat can be an issue when it comes to your LDL cholesterol levels. “Current research suggests that saturated fat is the primary component in one’s diet that raises ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol,” says Matthew Black, RDN, LD, a dietitian at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Additional research also indicates that diets too high in saturated fats can contribute towards developing cellular inflammation and insulin resistance, which is a metabolic condition in which your body’s cells do not respond to insulin as efficiently as they should, leading to possible health problems including type 2 diabetes and difficulty losing or maintaining a healthy weight.”
Saturated fats also tend to be found in highly processed foods, which are also known to raise LDL cholesterol, Angelone says.
Why are eggs so healthy for your diet?
Eggs pack a pretty good health punch, and are great for a variety of reasons. “Containing about 6.5 grams of protein each, eggs are not only considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids, but they are also regarded as having high bioavailability [the extent to which the nutrients in food are absorbed and utilized by the body], due to their ease of digestibility and absorption,” Black says.
Whole eggs, i.e. the yolk and egg white, also contain include essential vitamins and minerals like vitamins A,D,E, and K, B12, iron, and selenium, Black adds. And according to Angelone, the yolks are a good source of iron, containing carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which promote eye health.
That’s not all! Eggs are also a rich source of choline, a nutrient that supports brain health and isn’t found in large amounts in other foods, Angelone says.
Dietitians just recommend being mindful of what you’re serving up alongside those eggs. “Overall, if you’re healthy and eating eggs as part of a diet that’s otherwise low in saturated fat, you’re probably just fine,” Keatley says. “But if those eggs are served with buttered toast, bacon, and sausage, then the eggs alone aren’t the issue, but they’re not a health halo either. Context is everything.”
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
