How Many Eggs Can Be Eaten Daily Without Harm?
Author: Alexander Bruni
Time for reading: ~1
minutes
Last Updated:
August 08, 2022
Consumption of up to 3 eggs a day has only beneficial effects on the body, does not significantly affect blood cholesterol.
Eggs are among the most nutritious foods in the human diet. They are a relatively cheap source of quality, bioavailable protein, vitamins B and D, as well as the minerals selenium, zinc, iron and copper.
However, their high cholesterol content has a bad reputation. The yolk of an average egg contains an average of 186 milligrams of cholesterol. This represents over 60% of the required daily intake of cholesterol for the human body. Many people are concerned about this fact, believing that high dietary cholesterol intake raises blood cholesterol levels.
This is not right - human metabolism requires cholesterol for many synthetic and regulatory reactions, and in its role as a structural molecule, cholesterol is involved in smoothing almost all cell membranes in the body. It is also used to produce hormones such as testosterone, estrogen and cortisol.
Cholesterol is so important to the body that it is also produced by the liver. When not taken in enough with food, its production increases, and when taken in larger quantities, the liver begins to produce less. Through this compensatory mechanism, blood cholesterol levels change slightly under normal conditions, regardless of diet.
Common recommendations for proper nutrition limit egg intake to 2-6 per week, but no scientific studies are available to support this recommendation.
A study from the pages of the journal Metabolism (2013, issue 62, pp. 400-410) and a similar study from the journal of the British Chemical Society Food & Function (2013, issue 4, pp. 213-221) reveal that the consumption of 3 eggs per day has the following effects : increased levels of high-density "good" cholesterol, a slight decrease in blood levels of triglycerides and a significant increase in levels of antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin.
After 4 weeks of taking 3 eggs a day in 70% of the subjects, total cholesterol levels did not change and in 30% they rose slightly.
According to the cited and other studies, the intake of 3 eggs a day is completely safe for people in good general health. Scientific data on the effects of daily intake of more than 3 eggs are not known, but if food allergies or metabolic disorders are not present, infrequent intake of larger amounts is not considered a health hazard.
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