Egg consumption does not appear to boost cholesterol levels in healthy adults, according to a new study that adds to a growing body of research suggesting that eggs may not be so bad after all.

An analysis of nationwide federal data involving 15,633 healthy adults found that even high egg intake - defined in the study as egg consumption four or more times per week — did not raise blood levels of cholesterol.

The study, presented here at the annual meeting of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), was conducted by researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing and funded in part by the Egg Nutrition Center, an industry group in Washington, D.C.

Study author Jean Kerver, a dietitian, said the findings weren’t very surprising because other recent research has shown similar results.

For instance, a 1999 Harvard study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that healthy people who consumed up to seven eggs a week did not increase their risk for heart attacks or strokes. The study involved more than 80,000 women and nearly 38,000 men.

Kerver stressed that neither study applies to people who have high cholesterol or heart disease and therefore may need to carefully control their cholesterol intake.

In addition, experts cautioned all people against going overboard with eggs or any single food. Eating several eggs daily could contribute to a person exceeding recommended limits of dietary fat, which can promote heart disease, obesity and other problems, they said.

FOCUS ON SATURATED FAT

Registered dietitian Jackie Berning, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs and an ADA spokesperson, said most people need to worry more about their daily fat intake than how many eggs they eat. "The culprit is more saturated fat than single food items that have cholesterol," she said.

People are advised to consume no more than 30 percent of their daily calories from fat, including no more than 10 percent from saturated fat. Cholesterol recommendations suggest limiting consumption to no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day. A typical egg contains about 70 milligrams of cholesterol, Berning said. Some dietary cholesterol is good for us. "Every cell in the body needs cholesterol," she said. Eggs also are a great source of protein and vitamins A and E, she added.

Niva Shapira, a dietitian at Tel-Aviv University Medical School in Israel, said an egg a day or so is probably fine for most people. "We don’t have to be afraid of eggs," she said.

The new study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) III, a large governmental survey conducted from 1988 to 1994. People with heart disease and high cholesterol were excluded from this latest analysis.

Ten percent of participants reported eating eggs four or more times a week, 27 percent consumed eggs two to three times a week and 63 percent ate them once a week or less.

When calculating the results, the researchers accounted for various factors that may have affected cholesterol levels, including age, smoking and sedentary behavior.