Claudia Staubert, a nutrition expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said that as the number of eggs a person eats increases, so does the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Researchers tracked the diets, health and lifestyle habits of nearly 50,000 adults across the country for 35 years and found a link between high cholesterol intake and poor health.
Current dietary guidelines in the United States don't give advice on how many eggs a person should eat each day. Claudia said the guidelines go no further because some experts believe high cholesterol is due to saturated fat, not eggs. According to the U.S. department of agriculture, one egg contains nearly 180 milligrams of cholesterol, while the maximum daily intake is 300 milligrams. While the new egg study did not make specific recommendations for egg or cholesterol consumption, every additional 300 mg of cholesterol consumed after baseline was positively associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
"Eggs contain nutrients that are good for vision and bone health, and it makes sense to eat a few eggs a week," Claudia said. But people should avoid eating more than one egg or egg-related food every day. Nutrition is moderation and balance.
The data also showed that the exercise and other health-promoting habits observed in the study did not change the association between cholesterol in a person's diet and the risk of cardiovascular disease.
"This is a very representative study," Claudia said. "Even in people who eat a healthy diet, the harmful effects of high cholesterol intake cannot be eliminated."