Eating this breakfast staple every day could lower your cholesterol

Eating this breakfast staple every day could lower your cholesterol

This new study is no yolk

Credit: Getty/Anusorn Nakdee


For years, eggs have been seen as a cholesterol culprit – a breakfast treat best enjoyed in moderation. But new research suggests that reputation may be undeserved.

In fact, eating two eggs a day could help lower your levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol – often dubbed the "bad" kind – is a fatty substance in the blood that can clog arteries and raise your risk of heart disease and stroke. For decades, eggs were thought to contribute to this risk. But the evidence is shifting.

“Based on the findings of our study, egg consumption will not increase LDL cholesterol levels,” Prof Jon Buckley, lead author of the study, told BBC Science Focus. “The messaging around this needs to be clearer as some are still recommending that people with elevated LDL avoid consuming eggs.”

To put the egg-cholesterol connection to the test, Buckley and his team asked participants with healthy cholesterol to follow one of three diets for five weeks. One was high in both saturated fat and cholesterol, another was high in saturated fat but low in cholesterol, and a third was high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat.

Only the third diet – which included two eggs per day – lowered LDL levels. The other two diets, which featured either one egg a week or none at all, actually increased LDL.

Cartons filled with eggs.
Eggs are high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat, which was key to their beneficial effects - Credit: Getty/Gregory Adams

“Eggs are one of the few foods that are high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat,” Buckley said. 

“There was emerging evidence that it was saturated fat rather than cholesterol that was the ‘bad guy' in terms of pushing cholesterol up, but ours was the first study to conclusively demonstrate that.” 

The egg-rich diet also improved other blood lipids (fatty substances in the blood) linked to heart health, although Buckley says more research is needed to fully understand those changes.

The key takeaway? Cholesterol in food doesn’t necessarily translate to cholesterol in the blood, especially if your diet is low in saturated fat.

“Most foods that are high in cholesterol are also high in saturated fat,” Buckley said. “That is part of the reason I think that dietary cholesterol intake has been made a bit of a villain because if you get a high cholesterol intake through those foods, LDL increases, but it has been difficult to separate the independent effect of saturated fat in those studies, but we have done that now.”

So next time you sit down to breakfast, don’t feel guilty about cracking a couple of eggs. But maybe hold off on that second helping of bacon.

As for Buckley himself? “I had eggs for breakfast this morning with no concern about raising my LDL cholesterol,” he said. 

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About our expert

Prof Jon Buckley is the executive dean of the Allied Health and Human Performance Academic Unit at the University of South Australia. His research interests focus on the effects of diet and exercise on health and physical function in populations ranging from patient groups to elite athletes.