Over the years, the guidance on eating eggs has been wildly inconsistent, with some studies suggesting that the popular breakfast choice is deleterious to one’s health, while other studies prop them up as an excellent source of protein and other nutrients.
Well, a new study adds its voice to the growing body of evidence that eggs are actually really good for you. It’s an examination of the discrete influences of saturated fat and cholesterol on levels of low-density lipoprotein (LPL), or ‘bad’, cholesterol in the body.
“Eggs have long been unfairly cracked by outdated dietary advice. They’re unique – high in cholesterol, yes, but low in saturated fat. Yet it’s their cholesterol level that has often caused people to question their place in a healthy diet,” says exercise scientist Jonathan Buckley of the University of South Australia.
“In this study, we separated the effects of cholesterol and saturated fat, finding that high dietary cholesterol from eggs, when eaten as part of a low saturated fat diet, does not raise bad cholesterol levels. Instead, it was the saturated fat that was the real driver of cholesterol elevation.”
Related: Study Finds Eggs Might Protect Brain Health And Lower Cholesterol
The researchers recruited 61 adults with the same baseline levels of LDL cholesterol, and tasked them with undertaking three different diets, for five weeks each. A total of 48 participants completed all three diets.
The first was a high-cholesterol, low-saturated fat diet that included two eggs per day. The second was a low-cholesterol, high-saturated fat with no eggs. Finally, the third was high in both cholesterol and saturated fat, and included one egg per week.
The results showed that diets high in saturated fat correlated with a rise in LDL cholesterol levels. However, the high-cholesterol, low-saturated fat diet produced a reduction in LDL cholesterol levels – suggesting that eggs are not responsible for bad cholesterol.
“You could say we’ve delivered hard-boiled evidence in defense of the humble egg,” Buckley says. “So, when it comes to a cooked breakfast, it’s not the eggs you need to worry about – it’s the extra serve of bacon or the side of sausage that’s more likely to impact your heart health.”
The research has been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.