Most healthy people can eat up to seven eggs a week without affecting their heart health. Some choose to eat only the egg white and not the yolk, which provides some protein without the cholesterol.
For most healthy adults, it's safe to eat 1–2 eggs a day depending on how much other cholesterol is in your diet. If you already have high cholesterol or other risk factors for heart disease, it may be best to eat no more than 4–5 eggs per week.
If you're healthy, it's totally fine to enjoy about two eggs per day or around 12 per week. If you have high cholesterol, heart disease, or diabetes, you can eat eggs, but you might need to cut back a little bit.
Consuming too many eggs in a day is believed to increase the level of bad cholesterol in the body. It is because of the presence of a high amount of cholesterol in the egg yolks. One egg yolk contains approximately 200 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol and its daily recommended level is not more than 300 mg per day.
There is no specific number of eggs that a person should eat as part of a healthy diet. Experts once considered eggs to be an unhealthy food source in terms of high cholesterol and heart problem concerns. The fact that egg yolk contains a high level of cholesterol was the primary cause of this belief.
Most healthy people can eat up to seven eggs a week without affecting their heart health. Some choose to eat only the egg white and not the yolk, which provides some protein without the cholesterol.
A review of 14 studies published in the journal Atherosclerosis showed that those who consume the most eggs increase their risk for diabetes by 68%. Another review found similar results: a 39% higher risk of diabetes in people who eat three or more eggs per week.
The American Heart Association recommends up to one egg a day for most people, fewer for people with high blood cholesterol, especially those with diabetes or who are at risk for heart failure, and up to two eggs a day for older people with normal cholesterol levels and who eat a healthy diet.
Eggs are a nutritious protein source and a staple in many people's diets. Though they're high in cholesterol, they also have many health-promoting qualities. For healthy adults, eating 1–2 eggs a day appears safe, as long as they're consumed as part of an overall nutritious diet.
“To increase muscle mass, you need about 1.6 or 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. That's about 155 grams of protein per day for a 200-pound man. If eating 4 meals per day, that would amount to about 39 grams of protein per meal, or about 11 egg whites.”
Consuming eggs regularly can lead to an increased amount of swelling and joint pain. The yolks contain arachidonic acid, which helps trigger inflammation in the body. Eggs also contain saturated fat which can also induce joint pain.
Eggs are also a great source of heart-healthy nutrients like potassium, folate and B vitamins. Some research suggests that up to two eggs per day actually improves heart health. As with anything, moderation is important, especially if you enjoy eggs daily.
5 eggs a day is seen by many bodybuilders as the ultimate number for more muscle mass. Five a day is also recommended in various diets to lose weight.
The egg diet may lead to weight loss initially, but it is not a balanced or safe weight loss plan in the long-term. Once a person returns to their usual eating pattern, they may regain the weight. In addition, any restrictive diet can limit a person's intake of essential nutrients.
If you ate that for dinner and had even just one egg at some point in the day — maybe boiled as a snack, or fried on toast for breakfast — you'd be at 50 grams, as one egg had six grams of protein in it.
Eggs are a quick, easy and delicious way to help meet our protein needs: two large eggs contain 13 grams of protein! Eggs are one of the few foods considered to be a complete high-quality protein source, because they contain all 9 essential amino acids.
No, 2 eggs do not contain enough protein for optimal muscle protein synthesis following a workout. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the optimal amount of high-quality protein for muscle protein synthesis post-workout is 20-30 grams [1].
Most healthy people can eat up to seven eggs a week without increasing their risk of heart disease. Some studies have shown that this level of egg consumption might even help prevent certain types of stroke and a serious eye condition called macular degeneration that can lead to blindness.
People with raised cholesterol often wonder if it's OK to eat eggs, as egg yolk is rich in cholesterol. Generally speaking, it should be fine for most people, as the cholesterol in eggs does not have a significant effect on blood cholesterol. It's much more important to limit the amount of saturated fat you eat.
The optimal amount of egg protein is not known, but most people use a 30-gram serving providing 20 grams of protein once per day. Athletes sometimes take up to three servings per day, depending on their training level and the protein content of the rest of their diet.
Three eggs a day is perfectly fine to eat, but it is important to look at the rest of the diet. If your background diet is high in saturated fat this can affect the degree to which blood cholesterol is increased when more dietary cholesterol is eaten.
“For people who suffer from high cholesterol, Type 2 Diabetes or heart disease, we recommend fewer than seven eggs per week as evidence suggests that eating more eggs may increase your risks for heart disease and stroke.”
If you are in general good health, seven eggs per week should be fine.
A bodybuilder's diet must be much higher in protein than the average persons. Eggs contain about 6 grams of high quality protein, so high that it is used as the standard by which other foods are measured.
Egg white protein and whey protein are at the top for absorption and have the best amino acid profiles. The graph below shows the difference in macronutrients for egg white and whey proteins. As you can see, whey protein provides, on average, 10 more calories per serving than egg white protein.