Q What’s the latest on eggs and cholesterol? I keep hearing conflicting information about whether or not we need to limit our intake. How many eggs is too many?
A The latest news on eggs is pretty good.
After decades of warning people to limit their intake of cholesterol, American health authorities declared earlier this year that cholesterol is no longer a “nutrient of concern,” acknowledging that the “available evidence shows no appreciable relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and serum [blood] cholesterol.” (To their credit, Canadian health authorities arrived at the same conclusion about 25 years earlier.)
Although cholesterol may have been let off the hook, health experts still recommend keeping an eye on your saturated fat intake. (While the cholesterol in foods doesn’t have much of an effect on your cholesterol levels, saturated fat does.) Two large eggs contain about 3 grams of saturated fat, or approximately 15% of the suggested daily limit. Other common sources of saturated fat include meat, butter, coconut oil, cheese and full-fat dairy products.
As for how many eggs is too many, it depends on what the rest of your diet looks like. If your daily menu features plenty of vegetables, lean protein and healthy sources of fat like nuts and olive oil (and not too many sweets, fatty meats or fried foods), then up to a dozen whole eggs a week is perfectly reasonable.
In fact, if you’re not eating eggs (or you’re throwing away the yolks) you’re missing out on some excellent nutrition.
Eggs are a good source of high-quality protein, and about half of the protein in an egg is found in the yolk. Those golden yolks also contain a host of valuable nutrients, including lutein and zeaxanthin, which help protect against age-related vision loss. Research in the Journal of Nutrition indicates that consuming one egg a day is associated with a reduction in macular degeneration.
For an extra nutritional bonus, select eggs that are fortified with omega-3, an essential fatty acid that protects the heart and brain.
