From Lab to Life: Eggs Got a Bad Rap

A close friend, former Vice-Dean of the Technion Medical School, explained to me once that the current wave of obesity and related health problems stems in part from the bad rap that eggs were given by ‘experts’.  The idea was that cholesterol in eggs caused cardiac disease.  But eggs have for centuries been an economical, vital source of protein in our diets.  They were replaced by things far more damaging to our health.  Eggs got a bad rap.

Science Daily reports now that “Eating eggs might do more than just start your day—it could help protect your brain. Researchers found that people 65 and older who eat eggs regularly have a significantly lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, with daily or near-daily consumption linked to up to a 27% reduction. Even modest egg intake showed benefits, suggesting that small dietary changes could make a meaningful difference over time.” *   The research was done at Loma Linda University, a private Seventh-day Adventist health sciences university in California.

• Jisoo Oh, Keiji Oda, Gabriela Chiriac, Gary E Fraser, Rawiwan Sirirat, Joan Sabaté. Egg Intake and the Incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease in the Adventist Health Study-2 Cohort Linked with Medicare Data. The Journal of Nutrition, 2026; 101541 DOI: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2026.101541

“The study followed about 40,000 participants in the Adventist Health Study 2 cohort. Alzheimer’s cases were identified through physician diagnoses recorded in Medicare data. Eligibility was determined using the Medicare Master Beneficiary Summary Files, and participants were followed for an average of 15.3 years.”

And, regarding how the ‘experts’ gave eggs a bad rap – and did massive damage to public health:  A study by Haward et al. * revealed, in 2024:

“ …[there is] a recent trend of discarding nutritious and energy-rich egg yolks due to the belief propagated by the media that removing egg yolks from a normal diet is cardioprotective after the media started to blame egg yolks as the cause of the recent surge in heart attacks. However, the media fails to highlight the fact that eggs have been an integral part of the human diet since the domestication of hens. On the other hand, recent additions to the human diet a few decades ago, such as fructose-rich breakfast cereals, coffee beverages with sugar levels comparable to candy bars, protein supplements for diabetics that are notorious for raising blood glucose levels, and the heightened consumption of seed oil, which causes inflammation, have been responsible for the surge in cardiovascular events in recent times. Social media platforms often showcase visually appealing junk food products and sugary beverages as a sign of wealth, promoting unhealthy processed food and ultimately causing a decline in an individual’s lifespan and overall health.”

• Haward, R., Chacko, J., Konjeti, S., Metri, G. R., Binoy, B. K., Haward, R., … & RAJU, S. (2024). Debunking the Myth: Eggs and Heart Disease. Cureus, 16(5).

Irresponsible ‘popular science’ can do huge damage.  I think we all are responsible for checking out media claims, to verify if there is real science behind them.  In the case of ‘bad eggs’:  there wasn’t.