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The great egg debate continues, and this time researchers say those who love their sunny-side-up breakfast can eat in peace.
HAMILTON, Ontario — Is there any food more synonymous with breakfast than eggs? Millions of people love starting their day each morning with some eggs, but doctors have long warned that a diet heavy in eggs may increase one’s risk of developing heart disease. If you’ve been trying to eliminate eggs from your diet but still find yourself craving the occasional indulgence, a new study has some good news. Researchers from McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences say that it is perfectly safe, from a heart health perspective, to eat one egg each and every day.
The study’s authors analyzed three extensive, long-term international research projects to come to their conclusions. Their analysis actually found that consuming eggs doesn’t seem to have any adverse effect on the heart, but the majority of participants across the three research projects were only eating one or less eggs per day. So, based on the data they had to work with, the research team are confident in their conclusion that one egg per day is safe.
“Moderate egg intake, which is about one egg per day in most people, does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or mortality even if people have a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes,” comments first study author and Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University investigator Mahshid Dehghan in a 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,” she adds.
Eggs are a great source or protein and essential nutrients, but many dietary guidelines and heart healthy diets recommend eliminating eggs from one’s diet, or limiting consumption to three or less per week. These recommendations are due to a prevailing belief that eggs contribute to heart disease, but previous studies investigating this connection have largely resulted in inconsistent findings.
“This is because most of these studies were relatively small or moderate in size and did not include individuals from a large number of countries,” explains principal study investigator and PHRI director Salim Yusuf.
The three prior research projects analyzed for this study included over 150,000 people from 50 countries across six continents. Furthermore, all of the participants came from a variety of different income levels. Thanks to these extensive population samples, the study’s authors believe their study is widely applicable.
The study is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
