Orris

Is eating 42 eggs per week that is 6 per day bad or good

Reading File
Finding Sources
Searching PubMed

"eggs"[MeSH Terms] AND "cardiovascular diseases"[MeSH Terms]

Searching the Web

egg consumption high intake LDL cholesterol cardiovascular risk meta-analysis daily eggs

Reading File
Six eggs a day is probably not good. It is well above the intake that studies have examined, and it is not clearly safe. The evidence is much weaker at this level than for the usual advice of about one egg a day.
What the evidence covers
  • Textbook guidance covers moderate intake, meaning up to one egg a day. A pooled analysis of 27 prospective cohorts found no link between that intake and cardiovascular disease. The relative risk per extra egg a day was 0.98 (95% CI 0.93-1.03), and the results were similar for coronary heart disease and stroke. - Fuster and Hurst's The Heart, 15th Edition, section "Eggs"
  • The same text calls moderate egg intake "relatively neutral" for cardiometabolic health in generally healthy people. It ranks eggs below vegetables, nuts and legumes, but above processed meats or refined grains.
  • In people with type 2 diabetes, higher egg intake was linked to more cardiovascular disease, though the studies disagreed with each other. - Fuster and Hurst's The Heart, 15th Edition
  • The textbook does not say what happens at 6 eggs a day, and I found no reliable study of that intake.
Why 6 a day is a concern
  • Cholesterol load: An egg has roughly 185-200 mg of cholesterol, so 6 eggs is about 1,100-1,200 mg a day. That is around four times the old 300 mg/day limit. Current US guidelines dropped that limit because dietary cholesterol has little average effect on blood cholesterol. Eggs are the main dietary source of it. - Robbins & Kumar Basic Pathology; Ganong's Review of Medical Physiology
  • LDL response varies: One meta-analysis found that higher egg intake raised LDL by about 8 mg/dL on average. Some people ("hyper-responders") rise much more, especially if their diet is also high in saturated fat. This comes from a web summary, so I treat it as supporting rather than definitive.
  • Cohort data: An updated meta-analysis found a slight increase in cardiovascular risk per extra 50 g egg a day (RR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00-1.08). The signal was stronger in US cohorts and absent in Asian cohorts. Those cohorts rarely include anyone eating 6 a day, so it does not settle this question.
  • Older guidance: Goldman-Cecil Medicine, in its Mediterranean diet advice, suggests limiting egg yolks to about 4 a week. That is a conservative, older-style recommendation, and it is a long way from 42 eggs a week.
  • What else you eat: Bacon, butter, cheese or fried eggs add saturated fat, which makes the LDL effect worse. Six eggs also take up room that vegetables, legumes and whole grains would otherwise fill.
Who should be especially cautious
  • People with diabetes
  • People with known heart disease or high LDL
  • People with familial hypercholesterolemia
  • People with kidney disease
What I'd suggest
  • Healthy people can generally eat 1 egg a day, and up to about 7 a week, without worry.
  • For higher intakes, a reasonable compromise is to keep whole eggs to 1-2 a day. If you want more protein, add egg whites, which have no cholesterol.
  • If you do keep eating 6 a day, get a fasting lipid panel (LDL, non-HDL, ApoB) 6-8 weeks after you start. Repeat it periodically, and cut back if LDL rises meaningfully.
Recent evidence: A 2025 umbrella review of egg consumption (PMID 39934049) did not contradict the library's conclusion for moderate intake. I only saw the abstract details in the search listing, not the full text, so I can't say what it found at very high intakes.
If you tell me your age, lipid results, and whether you have diabetes or heart disease, I can be more specific.
This is a shared conversation. Sign in to Orris to start your own chat.