A new study recently published online in the journal Risk Analysis  has supported more than thirty years of research showing that otherwise healthy adults have no significant risk of heart disease if they eat an egg daily. “Eating one egg per day is responsible for less than 1 percent of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)”. The study covered 85 percent of the American population.

On the other hand, avoidable lifestyle factors including poor diet, smoking, obesity and physical inactivity contribute to 30 to 40 percent of drastic heart disease risk while unmodifiable risk factors, such as genetics, and potentially treatable risk factors, such as hypertension and diabetes, accounted for 60 to 70 percent.

“This study should influence health professionals to finally acknowledge decades of research showing that egg consumption is not a significant risk factor for heart disease,” said Leila M. Barraj, Senior Managing Scientist in Exponent’s Health Sciences Center for Chemical Regulation and Food Safety. “The health community should focus on meaningful recommendations when it comes to preventing heart disease, like smoking and obesity, not egg consumption.”

According to the authors, the available data show that very few Americans are leading lifestyles that may reduce the risk of heart disease: only 3 percent of males and 6 percent of females have none of the modifiable lifestyle risk factors that were investigated. The study authors conclude that efforts to prioritize risk factors and eliminate those that have the largest impact on health are more likely to reduce heart disease risk than recommendations against egg consumption.

The study, which was funded by the Egg Nutrition Center, substantiates decades of research challenging the outdated myth that the cholesterol in eggs is linked to increased heart disease risk. Moreover, the study authors note that their analysis did not adjust for the health promoting benefits of eggs which may, in fact, decrease heart disease risk. For example:

The research found that the cholesterol type gained through egg consumption is a health friendly type. Eggs have 13 essential vitamins, minerals including choline and selenium, vitamin B 12, phosphorus and riboflavin.