Eggs are a source of many essential nutrients.  Yet, some dietary guidelines recommend limiting egg consumption to less than three eggs per week due to their cholesterol content and concerns for adverse effects on blood lipids, and subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. However, recent data from a large international cohort published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition did not find positive associations between egg intake with blood lipids, mortality, or major cardiovascular disease events.

“These results are robust and widely applicable for both healthy individuals and those with a history of vascular disease”

Mahshid Dehghan of McMaster University, and colleagues who conducted the study

The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study included 146,011 individuals predominantly from low- and middle-income countries. Egg consumption was ascertained using country-specific validated food frequency questionnaires of usual long-term intake. The analyses also included 31,544 patients with vascular disease from two multinational prospective studies.

This prospective study represents one of the largest assessing the association of egg intake with blood lipids, blood pressure, as well as incident mortality and cardiovascular events in different regions of the world. There were 12,701 deaths and 13,658 cardiovascular disease events from 50 countries in six continents. No associations between egg intake, blood lipids, mortality, or major cardiovascular events were observed. A broad range of background diet quality, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle behaviors were represented, increasing the generalizability of these findings globally. 

The researchers concluded that moderate egg intake, defined as one egg per day, was not associated with increased risk of mortality or cardiovascular disease.

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Reference  Dehghan M,Mente A, Rangarajan S, Mohan V, Lear S, Swaminathan S, Wielgosz A, Seron P, Avezum A, Lopez-JaramilloP, Turbide G, Chifamba J, AlHabib KF, Mohammadifard N, Szuba A, Khatib R, Altuntas Y, Liu, X, Iqbal R, Rosengren A, Yusuf R, Smuts M, Yusufali AH, Li N, Dias R, Yusoff K, Kaur M, Soman B, Ismail N, Gupta R, Dans A, Sheridan P, Teo K, Anand SS, Yusuf S, DPhil on behalf of PURE investigators. Association of egg intake with blood lipids, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 177,000 people in 50 countries. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2020; nqz348, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz348

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