I really want to ask: How many eggs is the healthiest to eat in a day?

There is a super ingredient that is available in every kitchen. It is very cheap and can be bought all year round. Its nutritional value is far beyond our imagination. It is eggs.

But there are many controversies about eggs. Some people say that egg yolks contain high cholesterol, and eating too much will lead to high cholesterol and high blood lipids, so you can only eat one egg a day; others say that eating too many eggs will cause gallstones, etc.

So, should we eat eggs? What is the healthiest way to eat eggs a day? Today, we invite a nutritionist to explain in detail.

Will eating too many eggs cause high cholesterol and high blood lipids?

Let me first say the conclusion: normal and healthy people don’t need to worry too much about eating too many eggs leading to high cholesterol.

First of all, the two main harmful factors that affect blood lipid levels in daily diet are saturated fatty acids and trans fatty acids. The fat content in eggs is indeed not low, but the saturated fat content is not high, and there is also lecithin which is beneficial to regulating blood lipid levels.

Secondly, as for the high cholesterol content in eggs, there is actually no need to worry too much. This is because about 70% of the cholesterol in the human body comes from self-synthesis, and the cholesterol ingested from food accounts for only a small part. Moreover, the normal human body has a relatively intelligent regulation mechanism for cholesterol levels. Once the intake of cholesterol increases, the cholesterol synthesized in the body will appropriately decrease.

In other words, even if the cholesterol content of eggs is high, as long as the human body's blood lipid metabolism ability is normal, the cholesterol eaten will not affect blood lipids .

In addition, a large study showed that eating one egg a day can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Another study also showed that eating three eggs a day can help lower the level of low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol) in healthy young people and is beneficial to blood lipid health.

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How many eggs is the healthiest thing to eat a day?

At this point, many people may ask, should we still limit the amount of eggs we eat? If we already have chronic diseases such as high blood lipids and high blood pressure, can we still eat eggs?

1. For normal adults, it is recommended to eat 1 egg (including egg yolk) per day

First of all, my country's dietary guidelines recommend that normal adults should consume 280 to 350 grams of eggs per week. Assuming that one egg weighs 50 to 60 grams, this means eating about 6 to 7 eggs per week, or 1 egg per day.

Secondly, from the perspective of cholesterol, which everyone is worried about, let's take a look at the recommended intake by authoritative organizations. The "China Blood Lipid Management Guidelines (2023)" jointly revised by the Joint Expert Committee for Revision of the Chinese Blood Lipid Management Guidelines, the National Cardiovascular Disease Expert Committee, the Chinese Medical Association Cardiovascular Disease Branch, and the Chinese Stroke Society pointed out that the daily cholesterol intake of adults should not exceed 300 mg. The cholesterol content of an egg is about 200 mg. Considering that other foods in the daily diet also provide a certain amount of cholesterol, eating 1 egg a day is also suitable for adults.

2. Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, adolescent students, people who are doing bodybuilding and those recovering from a serious illness are advised to eat no more than 3 eggs a day

For pregnant and breastfeeding women, as well as middle school students in adolescence, people who are working out to gain muscle, and those recovering from a serious illness, their demand for high-quality protein is often greater than that of ordinary people. Using eggs as a source of high-quality protein is a good way to supplement it.

If the proportion of animal food in your daily diet is not large, as long as you pay attention to the cooking method of the eggs, and use methods such as steaming or boiling with little or no oil, there is no problem eating 2 to 3 eggs a day.

Of course, if there is already enough milk, meat, fish, soybeans and other foods in your daily diet, it is not recommended to increase the intake of eggs. It is enough to keep eating 1 egg a day.

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3. People with high blood lipids should pay attention to controlling their total fat intake. It is recommended not to eat more than 1 egg a day and no more than 5 eggs a week.

For people with hyperlipidemia, there are problems with their lipid metabolism. Their ability to regulate cholesterol from food and cholesterol synthesized by the body is not as good as that of normal people. Therefore, they are particularly sensitive to cholesterol intake.

According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Adults with Hyperlipidemia" released by the National Health Commission this year, people with hypercholesterolemia should control their daily cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg. In other words, eating one egg may lead to the risk of excessive cholesterol intake.

If this group of people do not eat too much other high-cholesterol foods in their daily diet, such as animal offal (brain, liver, heart), red meat (pork, beef, mutton), shrimp, etc., and do not consume too much fat (especially animal fat and high-fat processed foods), then it is recommended to eat no more than 1 egg a day. If you consume a lot of high-cholesterol foods, you should control your egg intake accordingly, such as eating half an egg, or only eating 2/3 of the egg yolk.

4. Obese people should pay attention to controlling their total dietary intake, including eggs.

For people with obesity problems, it is necessary to control the intake of dietary calories and fat. Although the saturated fat in the fat composition of eggs is not too much, it is still not recommended to eat too much. A large population study showed that if more than 6 eggs are eaten per week, the all-cause mortality rate of obese people will increase significantly.

However, we should also look at this research result scientifically. On the one hand, eating a few eggs is related to the dietary structure of obese people. Some friends who are in the weight loss period can use steamed and boiled eggs to provide high-quality protein and minerals, and a large amount of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains to provide vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and carbohydrates as a weight loss diet.

On the other hand, the number of eggs eaten is related to the blood lipid level of obese people. If you are obese and have high blood lipid levels, you should also follow the above recommendations and consume no more than 1 egg a day. You can choose other foods to supplement high-quality protein, such as low-fat skim milk, soy beans, low-fat lean meat, etc.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that in addition to paying attention to the amount of eggs you eat, remember to also pay attention to the cooking method of the eggs (try to process the eggs by steaming or boiling, and avoid frying them), and whether the overall diet is reasonable.

References

[1] Mott MM, Zhou

[2] Pan L, Chen L, Lv J, Pang Y, Guo Y, Pei P, Du H, Yang L, Millwood IY, Walters RG, Chen Y, Gong W, Chen J, Yu C, Chen Z, Li L; China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group. Association of egg consumption, metabolic markers, and risk of cardiovascular diseases: A nested case-control study. Elife. 2022 May 24;11:e72909.

[3] DiMarco, DM, Norris, GH, Millar, CL, Blesso, CN, & Fernandez, ML (2017). Intake of up to 3 Eggs per Day Is Associated with Changes in HDL Function and Increased Plasma Antioxidants in Healthy, Young Adults. The Journal of nutrition, 147(3), 323–329.

[4] Joint Expert Committee on Revision of Chinese Blood Lipid Management Guidelines, National Cardiovascular Disease Expert Committee, Chinese Medical Association Cardiovascular Disease Branch, Chinese Stroke Society. Chinese Blood Lipid Management Guidelines (2023). Beijing, 2023.

[5] National Health Commission. Dietary Guidelines for Adults with Hyperlipidemia (2023 Edition). Beijing, 2023.

Liu L, Huang X, Wang B, Song Y, Lin T, Zhou Z, Guo H, Chen P, Yang Y, Ling W, Qin X, Tang G, Liu C, Li J, Zhang Y, Spence JD, Huo Y, Zhang H, Xu X. Egg consumption associated with all-cause mortality in rural China: a 14-year follow-up study. Eur J Public Health. 2021 Jul 13;31(3):613-618.

Planning and production

Author: Wang Lu, registered nutritionist in China

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center

Planning丨Lin Lin

Editor: Lin Lin

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