London - Going to work on an egg won’t do you any harm after all.
Experts feared that eating too many eggs raised cholesterol – a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.
But now a 30-year study of 210 000 Americans, led by Harvard University researchers, concluded that eating one egg a day would do nothing to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease – including heart attacks and strokes – compared to eating fewer than one a month.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, suggested the original fears about heart disease may have been linked to other factors. Those who ate more eggs, for example, also ate more red meat – which could be behind the link.
After researchers took such dietary factors into account, along with others such as age and lifestyle, they found there was no association between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease.
They wrote: "Results from this cohort study and updated meta-analysis show that moderate egg consumption – up to one egg per day – is not associated with cardiovascular disease risk overall."
In a linked editorial, Professor Andrew Odegaard at the University of California Irvine said the results of the study were convincing. But he added: "We should not put all our eggs in this observational basket for formal guidance on eating eggs.
"If frequent egg consumption is occurring in the context of an overall dietary pattern known to be cardio- protective, or eggs are being consumed for essential nutritional needs, then it is probably nothing to worry about."
Dietitian Dr Carrie Ruxton, adviser to the British Egg Information Service, said "Given that eggs are rich in protein and nutrient-dense, providing one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D, it’s great that we can put people’s minds to rest."