Eggs are high in cholesterol, and so it’s no wonder that wellness experts believed that eating one on a daily basis could negatively affect your wellbeing. However, the study found no evidence that eating up to one egg per day increased people’s risk of having a heart attack or a stroke, and the people who did so were less likely to have a haemorrhagic stroke than people who ate eggs more often than this. Yet, with regard to the latter finding, as this was only seen in a very small sample the researchers say further investigation is needed.
When it came to why eggs don’t increase your risk of heart disease, in spite of the fact that they are high in cholesterol, the answers are less clear. Researchers believe that one reason could be that the cholesterol you eat may have less to do with your cholesterol levels than your general diet, meaning how much saturated fat you eat, for example.
So those are the results but are they reliable? The research was conducted via meta-analysis, which is the best way to combine research from different studies. However, you could question the reliability of the results through the method by which the information was attained. Investigators discovered how many eggs people were eating through questionnaires, and self-reported data isn’t always reliable. This is because there are a lot of factors involved such as people forgetting the exact number of eggs they’ve eaten, the size of the eggs, how they were cooked and how much salt was added.
Though all of these factors could have affected the results, the study was of a high quality overall, and so if you aren’t at risk of high cholesterol, eating up to one egg a day should be a healthy option that won’t increase your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. Yet bear in mind that pairing eggs with bacon or sausages – sources of saturated fats – can increase your risk of heart disease. The best wellness advice is always to follow a balanced diet.