Should You Eat Eggs? Unscrambling the Advice

Eggs are excellent for your health! Eggs are evil! Science suggests the answer is somewhere in between.

Humans have eaten various types of bird eggs since long before we were even human. In more modern times, domesticated chicken eggs became a dietary staple in many countries, and were a mainstay of the American diet among early European settlers. Then in the 1960s and 1970s, eggs were suddenly vilified for their high level of cholesterol. Doctors advised people to avoid them.

Since then, the portrayal of eggs among health experts has flipped and flopped, from sunny side up to totally scrambled.

History suggests that anyone who weighs in on the topic risks eventually having some egg on their face, as scientific understanding continues to evolve, as it does with many aspects of diet and nutrition. But that shouldn’t stop an intrepid science reporter from trying to unscramble myth from reality and figure out where things stand today. So let’s start with some basic facts for aspiring eggheads:

• Eggs are rich in vitamins A and D, B vitamins, iodine, and other nutrients.
• One large egg has about 6.3 grams of protein (small eggs have less).
• Surprise! About 43% of the protein is in the yolk, while 57% is in the white.
• Depending on size, an egg has 140 to 200 milligrams of cholesterol.