Are eggs “healthy?” The pro-egg-eaters tout this food item as a good source of protein, lutein, Vitamin B-12, and Vitamins A, D, and E. However, just because eggs contain these beneficial nutrients does not necessarily mean they should be a staple in the diet. Let’s dive into the controversy.
Prior to the 2015 USDA guidelines, limits were set at no more than 300mg of dietary cholesterol per day, and less than 200mg for people with heart disease (which has been and continues to be the number one killer in the United States for both men and women). Animal products are the only source of dietary cholesterol, and eggs rank with the highest in cholesterol among animal products. Of course, all plant-based foods have no dietary cholesterol.
The confusion about eggs and dietary cholesterol is not only a consumer problem, but also a problem with those writing the dietary guidelines for citizens, as I’ll explain. The USDA decided to remove this “no more than 300mg” limit when it came out with the 2015 guidelines, yet it also stated in the same document that “Individuals should eat little dietary cholesterol as possible….”
When the quantifiable limit of 300mg was rescinded, the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a lawsuit against the USDA claiming that members of the dietary guidelines advisory committee received more than $100,000 from the American Egg Board (the board that focuses on the marketing and consumption of eggs) for research aimed at lowering the dietary cholesterol limits.
Up until the 2015 change to the guidelines, the egg industry had been stagnating or experiencing a reduction in egg consumption. Specifically, from 2000 to 2015 per capita egg consumption in the U.S. averaged around 254.[1] After the guidelines change, egg consumption increased 9% to an average of 276 between 2016 and 2019 (estimated). This increase might not have been solely due to the guideline change; the keto diet became popular during this period too.
In March 2019, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a large-scale observational study[2] concluding that higher consumption of dietary cholesterol or eggs was significantly associated with higher risk of heart disease and premature death in a dose-response manner. In plain English, this means that the more eggs consumed, the more harm to health. Specifically, for each additional 300mg of dietary cholesterol consumed per day, researchers found a 17% increased risk of a cardiovascular disease incident and an 18% increased risk of all-cause mortality (or death).
So are eggs “healthy?” That’s also a question about what else is being eaten throughout the day. Based on the pre-2015 guidelines (up to 300mg cholesterol per day), one egg per day is permissible so long as everything else you consume that day is entirely plant-based, since plant-based foods are cholesterol-free. However, if you lean toward the guidance to “eat as little dietary cholesterol as possible,” then taking a pass on eggs and choosing plant-based foods is the best bet. While there may be some confusion about whether or not eggs are “healthy,” there is no confusion when it comes to the cruel reality of the egg industry.
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[1] Data from the American Egg Board https://www.aeb.org/farmers-and-marketers/industry-overview/69-farmers-marketers/market-data-trends
[2] The study was funded by: the American Heart Association; National Institutes of Health; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; The Jackson Heart Study supported and conducted in collaboration with Jackson State University, Tougaloo College and University of Mississippi Medicine Center; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; and the National Institute for Minority Health.