Washington: Don't crack that egg. Here's a sombre news for all the egg lovers out there. A recent study found that egg yolk contains higher level of cholesterol, which ultimately increases the chances of heart disease and early death.
Egg yolks are one of the richest sources of dietary cholesterol among all commonly consumed foods. One large egg has 186 milligrams of dietary cholesterol in the yolk. The researchers pooled data of 29,615 US racially and ethnically diverse people to understand if eating dietary cholesterol or eggs were linked to cardiovascular disease and death which has been a point of debate for decades. The study was published in the journal JAMA.
The message is about cholesterol, which happens to be high in eggs and especially yolks, and as a part of healthy diet, people need to reduce their daily intake of cholesterol. The reduced intake of cholesterol will result in decreased risks of heart diseases.
The evidence for eggs has always been mixed. Previous studies found that eating eggs did not raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. But those studies generally had a less diverse sample, shorter follow-up time and limited ability to adjust for other parts of the diet.
"Our study showed if two people had exact same diet and the only difference in diet was eggs, then you could directly measure the effect of the egg consumption on heart disease. We found cholesterol, regardless of the source, was associated with an increased risk of heart disease." said corresponding study author Norrina Allen.