Are eggs high in cholesterol?

Eggs are a much-loved food that can not only be cooked a wide variety of ways, but they’re also nutritious and a great source of protein. But eggs also contain cholesterol, which leads people to question whether they’re all that good for you after all.

Key Takeaways

Eggs and Cholesterol:

Eating eggs does not significantly affect your cholesterol levels. The main contributors to high cholesterol are saturated and trans fats found in foods like fatty meats and processed snacks. Recent studies show that eggs do not increase the risk of heart disease and can be part of a healthy diet if prepared in healthy ways, like poaching or making veggie-packed omelettes.

Managing High Cholesterol:

If you have high cholesterol, it's important to make lifestyle changes such as reducing saturated fats in your diet. Choose lean meats and healthier cooking methods like steaming or grilling instead of frying. Regular exercise can also help by raising good HDL cholesterol and lowering bad LDL cholesterol.

Medications for High Cholesterol:

In addition to lifestyle changes, doctors may prescribe medications called statins to help lower cholesterol. Statins work by blocking the substance your body needs to make cholesterol and can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. If prescribed, you can order statins online after a consultation with a registered doctor.

What is high cholesterol?

High cholesterol is a common condition that restricts your blood flow and can increase your risk of heart disease and other related problems. This is because cholesterol can build up as a fatty layer in your arteries, and makes your heart work harder to pump the blood around (NHS, 2022).

The cause of high cholesterol is largely due to lifestyle and diet, with the consumption of too many fatty foods often leading to high cholesterol. So when supposedly healthy foods, such as eggs, contain cholesterol, is this good or bad for you?

Are eggs bad for your cholesterol?

No, eggs are not bad for your cholesterol. While eggs do contain cholesterol, it’s generally the amount of saturated fats and trans fats that we eat that affects our cholesterol levels. Eating eggs doesn’t seem to have as much of an effect on our cholesterol than these kinds of food does.

Case Studies

There have been a few studies that found a link between heart disease and eating eggs, but this is more likely to be linked to how eggs are cooked (fried in oil or butter) and what they’re served with (bacon and sausage) than the egg itself. Recent research has found that eating eggs has no association or even a reduced risk of heart disease (Carter et al, 2023; Krittanawong et al, 2020) .

If you are eating eggs, then opt for a healthy version such as a poached egg or an omelette packed with veg. Alternatively, you could just eat the egg whites, which still contain protein but no cholesterol (which is in the yolk).

How should I treat high cholesterol?

If you’ve been told by your GP or another doctor that you have high cholesterol then it’s important that you make some lifestyle changes to try and lower this. This is so that you can in turn lower your risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart disease.

Cut down on saturated fats

Your priority should be to cut down on saturated fats. These are common in foods such as fatty meats, pastries, pies, cakes, butter and animal fat. Try swapping to leaner alternatives (unprocessed cuts of beef instead of burgers and sausages, for example) and consider how you cook your food. Steaming, grilling and baking is much better for you than frying as you may be consuming more fat/oil than you’re aware of.

Get more active

Exercise can improve your health in many ways:

• Raise your HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol that removes fat from your arteries.

• Lower your LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol that builds up in your arteries.

• Help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

Medications to lower your cholesterol

As well as lifestyle changes, your doctor may recommend medications to lower your cholesterol. These medicines are known as ‘statins’ and they work by blocking the substance your body needs to make cholesterol and have also been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

If you’re taking statins for high cholesterol then you can order your next supply from UK Meds without an existing prescription. Please note, all requests for supply of prescription medications are subject to an online clinical consultation and the decision to prescribe will be made by a GMC registered doctor.