What you've been told about eggs and cholesterol is wrong, doctors now say

Skip the bland egg-white omelets: egg yolks are no longer the dietary demons they once were. 

That’s because in recent years there has been a major shift in how experts view dietary cholesterol, or the type of cholesterol found in animal-based foods. Beginning in the 1960s, the dietary guidelines advised limiting cholesterol intake to no more than 300 mg per day, based on the belief that it elevates cholesterol in your blood and puts you at higher risk of heart disease. Egg yolks were considered a particularly potent source of cholesterol.

However, that cholesterol-limiting recommendation was finally removed in 2016 because scientific evidence didn’t support a strong link between dietary cholesterol and heart disease. More recent studies have since shown that saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol, is what really makes the difference in affecting blood cholesterol levels.

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In 2025, a randomized, cross-over study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirmed that consuming two eggs daily as part of a diet low in saturated fat actually led to reductions in LDL cholesterol after five weeks. By contrast, following a high-cholesterol, high-saturated-fat diet with or without one egg per week did not. 

Ditching the yolks also deprives you of some major nutritional perks. “The vast majority of the nutrition in an egg is in the yolk,” says Keith Ayoob, a registered dietitian-nutritionist in New York City and associate professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

That said, there still may be good reasons to limit how many you eat. 

What really raises your cholesterol

While it’s true that egg yolks contain cholesterol, “the majority of our blood cholesterol is made in the liver, not delivered directly from our diet,” explains David L. Katz, a preventive medicine specialist and past president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. 

Our genes play a role in how much cholesterol the liver produces and how much it clears from your blood. Based on genetic factors, individual people may also respond differently to dietary sources of cholesterol; some people are hyper-responsive to it, while others are not. 

Diet still matters, though—just not in the way you think.

“The biggest dietary driver of blood cholesterol is not cholesterol in food but saturated fat,” Ayoob says.

Research has found that saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol by hindering the liver’s ability to remove it from the blood and by ramping up the production of apolipoprotein B. Both of these factors lead to higher levels of circulating cholesterol particles in the blood, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.   

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That’s why experts say it’s wise to focus on restricting saturated fat intake for the sake of heart health and overall health.

The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans continue to recommend limiting saturated fat consumption to no more than 10 percent of total daily calories, or a maximum of 20 grams per day. That means limiting your intake of butter, full-fat dairy products, red meats, cheeses, and tropical oils like coconut oil.

“When people demonize eggs, it’s not the eggs that are the problem—it’s what you’re having them with,” Ayoob says. So consider: Are you scrambling your eggs in gobs of butter? Are you having bacon and toast slathered with butter with your eggs? Or are you eating veggies or fruit with your eggs?

So how many eggs can you eat?

Eggs and their yolks are packed with nutrients. This includes nearly 3 grams of protein, 22 mg of calcium, 66 mg of phosphorus, 19 mg of potassium, and 10 grams of selenium in one large egg, as well as folate, choline, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, and lutein and zeaxanthin. 

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Some of these nutrients are especially noteworthy because not many foods contain vitamin D or choline, which supports brain health, says Bethany Thayer, a registered dietitian-nutritionist and director of the Center for Health Promotion at Henry Ford Health in Detroit. “But that doesn’t mean you should go out and eat a dozen eggs in one sitting,” says Thayer.

The American Heart Association says that healthy adults can safely consume one to two eggs a day, each containing about 206 mg of cholesterol.

Keep in mind, though, that your genes also can affect how much cholesterol you absorb from foods like eggs, Ayoob says. So it’s wise to monitor your cholesterol level and eating habits, and moderate your egg consumption accordingly.

The relationship between consumption of dietary cholesterol and the body’s cholesterol levels “is a little different for everyone,” says Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Center for Human Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic. When it comes to blood cholesterol, 60 to 80 percent is influenced by genetic factors, and 20 to 40 percent is from diet, she notes.

In general, people who have high cholesterol can have up to four egg yolks per week, whereas those who don’t have high cholesterol but have a family history of cholesterol abnormalities can have up to half a dozen egg yolks per week, says Zumpano.

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To keep your egg-based meals on the healthy side, Ayoob recommends cooking them in olive oil or vegetable oil instead of butter and having whole-grain toast, beans, or vegetables with them. “High-fiber foods help block reabsorption of cholesterol your body is putting out,” he explains.

Thanks to this newer scientific understanding regarding the lack of association between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol, eggs have been redeemed as a valuable part of a healthy diet. “Eggs really are the perfect food,” Ayoob says. “They’re super nutritious, versatile and inexpensive.”