Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the new study revealing eggs don't scramble cholesterol

The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

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13d ago 3:51

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For years, eggs have been breakfast’s most controversial ingredient. Despite being packed with protein and essential nutrients, they’ve carried the weight of dietary guidelines that linked them to high cholesterol and an increased risk of heart disease. But a new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has cracked that myth wide open. The world-first study investigated the independent effects of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat on LDL cholesterol levels. The results: it’s not the cholesterol in eggs that’s the problem, it’s the saturated fat in other parts of our diet, like bacon and sausages.

In this controlled trial, researchers assigned participants to diets with varying combinations of cholesterol and saturated fat. In one group, participants consumed two eggs per day as part of a high-cholesterol but low-saturated-fat diet. In another, participants ate high-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol meals. A third group consumed both high saturated fat and high cholesterol.

What they found was surprising: LDL cholesterol only rose in diets high in saturated fat regardless of dietary cholesterol intake. But when cholesterol came from eggs in the absence of excess saturated fat, LDL levels actually dropped slightly.

This is an important finding because it challenges long-held assumptions in nutritional science. For decades, dietary cholesterol (often from eggs) was lumped in with saturated fats as a heart health hazard. But as this study demonstrates, the two have very different effects on the body.

Eggs contain around 186 mg of cholesterol per yolk, which historically raised alarms. However, they are very low in saturated fat (about 1.6 grams per large egg). Saturated fats found in processed meats, butter, and fried foods are the true drivers of increased LDL cholesterol, which is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease.

The study reaffirms a growing body of evidence that dietary cholesterol has minimal impact on blood cholesterol in most people, especially when consumed as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

The key takeaway isn’t just that eggs are safe, it’s that context matters. A couple of eggs at breakfast is fine. A couple of eggs alongside bacon, sausages, and buttered toast? Not so much. It’s the overall pattern of your diet, not individual foods, that makes the biggest difference to your heart health.

So feel free to enjoy your poached, scrambled, or sunny-side-up eggs. Just remember: it’s the saturated fat, not the eggs, that’s more likely to scramble your cholesterol.

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