The 61 participants did not have diagnosed health conditions and had an LDL-C of less than 135 mg/dL at baseline (105 mg/dL, on average). They were instructed to consume the following diets for 5 weeks each:

High-egg diet: 594 mg of cholesterol daily, including 2 eggs per day, and 8% of calories from saturated fat
Egg-free diet: 300 mg of cholesterol daily (no eggs) and 14% of calories from saturated fat
Control diet: 520 mg of cholesterol daily, including 1 egg per week, and 14% of calories from saturated fat

The diets were isocaloric and had a similar macronutrient distribution (35% fat, 20%–25% protein, and 40%–45% carbohydrate).

LDL-C was lower with the high-egg diet (104 mg/dL vs. 109 mg/dL) than with the control diet. The same was found for apolipoprotein B (93 vs. 97 mg/dL).

There were no differences in LDL-C or ApoB between the control and egg-free diets, despite a lower cholesterol intake during the egg-free diet.

The Egg Nutrition Center, a division of the American Egg Board, funded the study.

Saturated fat vs. dietary cholesterol: Is one worse than the other for blood lipids? Original paper