Is Egg Good For Health? | How Many Eggs Can I Eat In A Day?
4 min read | Dec 17, 2016
Evidence Based
- Eggs And Cholesterol
- Egg Nutrition Facts
- Is Egg Good For Health?
- Conclusion | How Many Eggs Can I Eat In A Day?
Paranoia from eating eggs boils down to this fact.
Eating Whole Eggs Raises Cholesterol Levels
According to conventional wisdom, cholesterol is bad for you. It causes coronary heart disease. Therefore the American Heart Association recommends limiting dietary cholesterol intake to <300 mg/d. 1https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.cir.102.18.2284
One medium egg has about 185mg of cholesterol, and if you eat two eggs, you have already crossed that limit! So, eating less or no eggs (or just the white portion) will not cause increased cholesterol, and you will largely reduce the chances of having coronary heart disease. Right?
Well, let’s find out.
First, some anecdotal experience. I have been eating eggs for many decades now.
If I would average out my egg consumption in the last twenty years, it won’t be an exaggeration that I have consumed at least 2 eggs (including the yolk, of course) daily! In fact, in the past five years, my egg consumption would easily touch about 30-40 eggs per week.
What has allowed me to fearlessly eat these many eggs every day when everyone around me is throwing away the yolk or even completely replacing omelets with cornflakes? It’s the power of science, and fortunately, there is enough evidence for me to put a strong argument here.
Ultimately, the decision lies with you; my job is to educate and empower and not force you into making any decision. This is simply my opinion, with a lot of anecdotal evidence and scores of scientific studies to back my claim.
Let’s get started.
Eggs And Cholesterol
Without cholesterol, we won’t exist. It’s found in every cell of our body. Cholesterol is also a precursor hormone to testosterone, estrogen, and cortisone.
Your liver makes up about 75 percent of your body’s cholesterol. So just think, why would your body manufacture something that will harm itself?
If you eat more cholesterol from dietary sources like eggs, your body produces less. So, in the end, your body has the innate wisdom to balance out its cholesterol levels based on your level of dietary consumption.
According to these studies, egg consumption increases HDL. 2https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23021013, 3https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8120521, 4https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18203890
Prospective epidemiological surveys (in the last 30 years or so) of CHD risk have consistently found no independent relationship between dietary cholesterol or egg consumption and CHD risk. (Dietary cholesterol and atherosclerosis) 5https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11111098
The Nurses’ Health Study (1980-1994) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study(1986-1994) totaling over 1 million subjects (A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women).
They could not find any significant difference in cardiovascular risk between groups consuming less than one egg per day and those consuming more than one egg per day. 6https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10217054
Bottomline
Consuming whole eggs raises your HDL cholesterol & does not contribute to coronary heart disease.
Egg Nutrition Facts
1) High-Quality Protein
A medium egg contains about 69 calories and 6g of high-quality protein. Eggs have been given a biological value of 100.
According to Wikipedia
Biological Value is a measure of the proportion of absorbed protein from a food which becomes incorporated into the proteins of the organism’s body.
It captures how readily the digested protein can be used in protein synthesis in the cells of the organism.
This makes eggs a simple and cost-effective protein source for anyone who wants to build muscle.
Related Article:Â How Can I Build Muscle On A Budget?
2) Contains Almost All Vitamins And MineralsÂ
Besides high-quality protein, eggs have a lot of important micronutrients that you should know about. One medium egg (50g) contains varying amounts of 13 essential vitamins and minerals.
One special nutrient with which whole eggs are loaded is choline. Choline has a variety of roles, including nervous system health, DNA synthesis, fat transport and metabolism, brain, and memory development. 7https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2782876/
3) Contains Healthy Fats Which Has A Satiety Effect
A medium egg also contains about 5g of fat. This allows me to eat my breakfast made with 3-5 eggs at around 11 am and not think about food until 6 pm!
Eating healthy fats has a satiety effect. No cravings, no energy dip!
Eating eggs almost every day also makes counting calories very simple, and we all know how important counting calories is for fat loss or muscle gain.
Is Egg Good For Health?
Yes! A high-quality egg from pasture-raised hens is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat. In addition to providing high-quality proteins and almost all vitamins and minerals, it also provides special nutrients for eye health.
Lutein and Zeaxanthin are anti-oxidants that are very beneficial for eye health. Many studies qualify and support lutein’s favorable effects on eye health. 8https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164534/
According to the American Optometric Association  9https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/caring-for-your-vision/diet-and-nutrition/lutein
Lutein and zeaxanthin filter harmful high-energy blue wavelengths of light and help protect and maintain healthy cells in the eyes.
Of the 600 carotenoids found in nature, only these two are deposited in high quantities in the retina (macula) of the eye.
Besides eating eggs, these two nutrients are abundantly found in kale, spinach, collards, turnip greens, green peas, and broccoli.
Conclusion | How Many Eggs Can I Eat In A Day?
Based on my anecdotal experience, and scores of solid scientific evidence, I can say with reasonable confidence that you can eat about 3 whole eggs per day.
Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below!
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About Akash Sehrawat
Akash is a creator of 25+ programs and certificate courses in which more than 200,000 students have enrolled both on Udemy and Fabulous Body's native platform. Akash is also an author of three books that can be found on Amazon. His answers on Quora have gathered more than 12 million views in less than a year.
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Hey Akash, this is an interesting question. When I first started my Keto diet, I started with the eggs. 12 eggs with 6 tbs of coconut oil with a lot of green vegetables. This was a fantastic experience. I never craved for any other things. My blood parameters were also excellent. Yes it is very easy to calculate the calorie intake and good check and balance on your diet. Still I prefer this diet with some alteration.
Sunil, 12 whole eggs? I feel that quite a lot. Thats like 1500 calories? 1-2 tbs oil with 3-5 whole eggs seems digestible dont you think…haha?
Do note, egg is one of the foods that is high on the list of people forming allergies. Too much of something is not good. Having said that, its always a good idea to eat a variety of food and get your protein from varied sources. For a short phase like for few months, maybe even longer it should be fine, but I personally think, its a bit too much in you plan to continue eating these many for over a year or so…Hope this helps!
Agreed Akash..Too much one one perticular Protein source is also not good..We should rely on multiple variet. Also it gives psychological advantage that you don’t feel boring of eating only one source and can easily enjoy multiple taste with multiple sources. I am too following Kito type Diet ( Optimal Health), however my dietitian/coach is not pushing fully on Kito only but encouraging to have carb 109 to 120 gm only. One day out of 7 days is fully protein day ( no carbs) and less carbs on rest 6 days with few Suppliments ( Omega 3, Multivitamin, concentrated fruits/ Vegetable etc.).. Fruits/Veggies r permissible to take for 6 days. BTW, I am really enjoying your Diploma in Nutrition via Udemy 🙂
Great approach! There is no point going too extreme, choose the middle road, as Buddha says:)
Earlier I take only egg whites. From last 3-4 days. I started taking 2 whole boiled egg. One egg omellette in evening in either butter or ghee
Great!
I am 19 years old and my weight is 56 kg i want to loose fat from my body for that is it good for fat loss to eat omelette of4 egg whites with veggies and butter and one more thing how many calories are there in this meal
Hey Mansi, I recommend starting with a 2 whole egg omelet made in ghee with lot of vegetables as your breakfast You can open a free acc. on Myfitnesspal and track your calories. If your overall calories are less than your TDEE, you will surely lose weight. Good Luck!
Befor watching your video I was not having eggs regularly,as I also believed the same myth but now me and my children r having two eggs a day and we r feeling better than before health wise
Good to know this Divya:)
Frm last few months am consuming 6 whole eggs par day and it’s help to completing my daily protein and calorie needs along with other macros, is this ok to continue with 6 eggs?
Hi Sandeep,
While it’s good to be focused on completing one’s protein requirements, remember that any good thing in excess can become bad for you.
Try to stick to 3-4 whole eggs, you can use as many egg whites as you like or start using a protein supplement to fulfill your protein requirements.
Regards,
Kunal,
Team Fabulous Body
Hey Aakash, I started doing gymming 3 months back..so few trainers said to eat eggs everything for protein intake, muscle gaining and getting toned. So i started having two full boiled eggs in the morning before my workout then in the lunch two whole eggs and then i dinner two-three whole eggs or Omelet of the same..so i wanted to know is this much amount oe egg is good or do i need to reduce the number of eggs per day..one more thing, should i be eating 2 full boiled eggs and after that only white parts of boiled eggs during the day.
Hi Nikhil,
That is a genuine concern.
Eggs are a wonderful source of proteins and fats but we have to remember that there is a limit to everything.
You can include a variety of food items in your diet to incorporate more protein like chicken, whole cow’s milk, etc., If you cannot eat eggs, there are other sources including protein supplements as well.
Here is a link for our article on that:
https://fabulousbody.com/7-protein-rich-vegetarian-foods/
Alternatively, you can also reduce the whole eggs to a maximum of 3-4 whole eggs per day and use whites for the rest but the above approach makes more sense.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Kunal,
Team Fabulous Body
Hi Akash, Im a skinny fat type of guy and i want to bulk up. Can I eat 6 eggs a day to increase my progress after workout?
And i workout 3 days a week but mostly eat the 6 eggs daily
Hi,
We would not suggest eating 6 whole eggs daily! Anything good consumed in excess can become bad for you.
If you are so worried about a good protein supplement, it would be a good idea to invest in a good protein supplement or a mix of other protein sources.
I would also like to clarify that eating 15 to 18 g of extra protein will not do wonders to boost your progress. You will still have to eat slightly more than your TDEE in terms of total caloric intake and keep the protein ratio between 1.5 g to 2 g per kg of your body weight.
Muscle growth is a slow but rewarding process. Give it time and planning and you will see good results.
Regards,
Kunal,
Team Fabulous Body
Hi, good to learn. I´m trying to have at least 1 egg per day. I know the benefits and these articles helped to consolidate that an remove some doubts. Thanks
Marà Heidemann
Hi MarÃ,
We are very happy to know that you found the article useful. If you have any more queries, please feel free to ask.
Regards,
Kunal,
Team Fabulous Body