The relationship between egg consumption, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease has been widely discussed in the past, and is still uncertain. Two recent epidemiological studies tried to clarify this relationship.

In the first one, 29,615 subjects have been followed (Zhong et al., 2019). 5400 cardiovascular events and 6132 all-cause deaths have been registered. A clear relationship between egg consumption or dietary cholesterol, and cardiovascular events and deaths has been noted. The association between egg consumption and cardiovascular events or deaths were no longer significant after adjustment for dietary cholesterol consumption, highlighting the role of egg cholesterol.

Recently, a larger study (177,000 subjects, 50 countries) provided contradictory results (Deghan et al., 2020). No significant association between egg intake and blood lipids, mortality or major cardiovascular events has been highlighted.

Despite these large epidemiological studies, the impact of eggs on cardiovascular health still remain controversial.

Dehghan M, Mente A, Rangarajan S, Mohan V, Lear S, Swaminathan S, Wielgosz A, Seron P, Avezum A, Lopez-Jaramillo P, Turbide G, Chifamba J, AlHabib KF, Mohammadifard N, Szuba A, Khatib R, Altuntas Y, Liu X, Iqbal R, Rosengren A, Yusuf R, Smuts M, Yusufali A, Li N, Diaz R, Yusoff K, Kaur M, Soman B, Ismail N, Gupta R, Dans A, Sheridan P, Teo K, Anand SS, Yusuf S. Association of egg intake with blood lipids, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in 177,000 people in 50 countries. Am J Clin Nutr. 2020 Jan 21. pii: nqz348.

Zhong VW, Van Horn L, Cornelis MC, Wilkins JT, Ning H, Carnethon MR, Greenland P, Mentz RJ, Tucker KL, Zhao L, Norwood AF, Lloyd-Jones DM, Allen NB. Associations of Dietary Cholesterol or Egg Consumption With Incident Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality. JAMA. 2019 Mar 19;321(11):1081-1095.