How Many Eggs Are Healthiest To Eat Per Day?
The humble egg is a powerhouse of nutrition, offering large doses of protein and B-complex vitamins. Plus, it has very few calories and can be cooked in a multitude of ways. Fresh toast, meringue, quiche, waffles, marshmallows, and other treats wouldn't taste the same without this versatile ingredient.
Some of us eat eggs for breakfast or as a snack between meals, add egg powder to smoothies, and cook with eggs — all on the same day. Simply put, it's easy to go overboard. According to MyFoodData, one raw egg has roughly 72 calories, 5 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, and virtually no carbs, so it fits into most diets. You'll also get 15% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin B5, 20% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B12, and high doses of choline. The problem is that eggs boast large amounts of cholesterol, a waxy substance that can clog arteries.
The University of California, San Francisco, recommends limiting dietary cholesterol to 300 milligrams per day, or 200 milligrams if you're prone to heart disease. A single egg provides 186 milligrams of cholesterol, which is more than half of the maximum recommended daily intake for healthy people. This brings up the question, how many eggs can you safely eat each day?
What you should know about the cholesterol in eggs
Eggs have a bad rap because of their cholesterol content, a potential risk factor for cardiovascular problems. However, the research is mixed. For example, a 2022 study published in the journal Circulation found that eating one large egg per day can increase the risk of heart disease. Other studies had similar findings, showing a positive association between egg consumption and diabetes, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and overall mortality, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The problem is that most studies didn't take into account the participants' diet and other lifestyle factors, such as their smoking or drinking habits. Additionally, some people eat eggs with bacon, ham, and other high-fat or high-sugar foods, which may put them at risk for heart disease, notes the Mayo Clinic. How the eggs are cooked matters, too. It's one thing to eat boiled or steamed eggs, and another thing to fry them in butter.
Last but not least, the latest research indicates that dietary cholesterol has little or no effect on blood cholesterol levels, according to the journal Nutrients. On the contrary, egg consumption may lower the risk of heart disease, elevated cholesterol, and death from all causes. For example, one study found that eating more than 12 eggs per week for three months didn't increase the levels of C-reactive protein, blood glucose, cholesterol, or triglycerides in people with type II diabetes or pre-diabetes, reports The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
This is how many eggs you should eat per day
While there are no set rules on the number of eggs you can eat in a given day, you should use common sense. As with most things, moderation is key. Harvard Medical School says that eating one egg per day is unlikely to cause any harm. However, as shown in a 2018 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it may be safe to consume 12 or more eggs per week as part of a balanced diet.
"Egg yolks are high in cholesterol, but it's not the cholesterol in food that significantly raises LDL [the "bad"] cholesterol. The main problem is the saturated fat in foods like cream, butter, bacon, fatty meats, and poultry skin, and the trans fats in processed products like deep-fried foods and many commercial pies and pastries — these fats increase the liver's production of LDL cholesterol," dietitian Sonia Middleton told Good Food. She also warns that eating eggs with bacon and foods high in trans fats would most likely increase bad cholesterol levels.
Alternatively, you can remove the yolk to cut back on cholesterol, but you'll be missing out on essential nutrients. Another option is to use egg white powder in cakes, cloud bread, cookies, and other homemade desserts and eat whole eggs for breakfast or lunch. This approach would allow you to reap the health benefits of eggs while limiting your cholesterol intake.