Eggs Are OK if Diet Is Low in Fat, Cholesterol Study Finds

Eggs, yes; bacon, no. If you’ve already cut much of the fat out of your diet, chances are that eating eggs won’t raise your blood cholesterol level--even if it was a bit high to begin with. In a University of Washington study presented at the Anaheim heart meeting, 161 men and women with moderately elevated blood cholesterol levels ate a low-fat diet for a month. Then, half of them ate two scrambled eggs a day, while half ate imitation eggs containing no cholesterol.

After three months, the only people whose blood cholesterol levels climbed were those who also previously had high blood levels of the fatty substance called triglycerides--a relatively rare occurrence. The sunny side up: It seems that eggs won’t raise the heart attack risk for most people who shun fat.