In the world of nutrition, the debate over eggs has sizzled for years. Are they a source of high-quality, muscle-building protein or a cholesterol-laden risk to cardiac health?

Recent findings from the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session may scramble previous concerns, at least when it comes to nutrient-enhanced eggs.

The issue dates back to the 1970s when reducing dietary cholesterol was a heart-healthy mandate from organizations like the American Heart Association. With more than 186 milligrams of cholesterol, a single large egg carried considerable blame.

Yet new analyses might’ve cracked all those theories on dietary cholesterol, lessening its accused link to higher blood cholesterol levels and fingering saturated and trans fats as the true heart health offenders. This shift in perspective even led to the removal of the official cholesterol consumption limit in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 2015.

Fast-forward to the present; further clarity beckons with the American College trial’s preliminary insights. This controlled study put fortified eggs — ones with extra omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D — under the spotlight to ascertain their impact on heart disease markers.

The study’s four-month data found that participants at high cardiovascular risk who consumed 12 or more enriched eggs weekly fared similarly in good high-density lipoprotein and bad low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels as those who had fewer than two eggs per week.

“This is a small study, but it gives us reassurance that eating fortified eggs is OK with regard to lipid effects over four months, even among a more high-risk population,” said lead author Nina Nouhravesh, a research fellow at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, in a statement, Study Finds reported.

The study has a few problems, though. Its small participant number and self-reported dietary habits, coupled with funding from a large fortified egg producer like Eggland’s Best, invite skepticism and warrant follow-up research for firmer conclusions.

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