Beneficial for some, a source of concern for others—eggs continue to spark intense debate.
But are the criticisms against them truly justified? Researchers have taken a closer look through an extensive meta-analysis.
Studies on eggs keep coming, and their conclusions often contradict one another. Some scientists point to their high cholesterol content and potential heart risks, while others praise eggs as a superfood.
Both criticized and celebrated, eggs fascinate as much as they divide. But according to a brand-new study, there may be no reason to avoid them.
Published in the British Medical Journal, this large-scale meta-analysis gathered data from nearly 28 studies, involving a total of 1.7 million participants. And based on the initial findings, eating one egg a day does not increase cardiovascular risk.
No Negative Association Found
To conduct their analysis, researchers from Harvard University (USA) examined health data from participants across the various studies. They reviewed age, gender, body mass index, physical activity level, smoking habits, hypertension, high cholesterol, diet—everything was analyzed in detail. According to their conclusion, there is absolutely no negative link between eating an egg daily and cardiovascular risk.
“As of now, the conclusions we’ve reached are the most reliable because they are based on all studies conducted to date on this topic,” says Professor Drouin-Cartier, one of the study’s authors.
“When we eat cholesterol, our liver produces less of it”
So why do eggs still have a bad reputation? There’s an explanation, the researcher notes. “Because eggs are one of the richest foods in cholesterol, it was assumed that they must increase blood cholesterol and therefore heart risk.
What wasn’t known at the time is that the liver self-regulates blood cholesterol levels. When we consume more cholesterol, the liver produces less. That’s why the correlation between dietary cholesterol intake and blood cholesterol levels is very weak,” he explains.
In other words, there’s no longer a reason to say no to your beloved morning soft-boiled egg.