In episode 137 of his video series, Dr. Larson discusses:
We can finally put the egg controversy to rest. I can finally definitively say that it is okay to eat eggs, unless, of course, you have a food sensitivity or an allergy. I have been recommending eggs in my practice for many years now. There have been numerous small studies that gave me enough information to make me feel confident about telling my patients that eating eggs will not increase their risk of things like cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, or elevated cholesterol.
But now a study released in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, absolutely indicates that the medical community has gotten it wrong when it comes to eggs. It was a very comprehensive study of over 146 thousand participants, in over 50 countries, and six different continents. And the conclusion was that moderate intake of eggs, about 7 eggs per week, has no increased risk for cardiovascular disease or elevated cholesterol.
The study was conducted by researchers out of McMaster University, and it combined compiled the data from three major studies. Researchers looking at the data from these studies were able to evaluate an extremely large and diverse subject group. It was about as robust of a study as you can get.
What about if you already have cardiovascular disease or diabetes, does eating eggs make it worse? This study showed that it does not. Even if you already have high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, eating a moderate amount of eggs does not lead to adverse health consequences as once believed.
So even if you have cardiovascular disease or diabetes, eggs are okay. The old notion that people who have high cholesterol shouldn’t eat eggs is wrong. The small amount of cholesterol contained in eggs is rapidly used and does not get stored as cholesterol in the body. The information that we once had was not backed by any scientific data, but this new information is.
-Dr Chad Larson
I hope that other medical providers get this information and understand that eggs do have cholesterol, but they do not elevate your risk of high cholesterol or other health risks. I am the first person to try to limit things in your diet that will put you at risk. If eggs were a problem, I would tell you to take them off of your plate. But eating an egg a day is not a problem. The safety of eating any more than one egg a day, I can’t be sure of, there isn’t enough information. But go ahead and enjoy your eggs in moderation!