Are Eggs as Bad for Your Cholesterol as People Think?

Summary

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Chasing Life Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Are Eggs as Bad for Your Cholesterol as People Think?
Host: Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Release Date: March 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode addresses a common health concern: do eggs really raise cholesterol levels, and should they be avoided for heart health? Using listener questions as a jumping-off point, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and expert guest Dr. Andrew Freeman (cardiologist and Director of Clinical Cardiology and Prevention at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado) discuss the nuances of dietary cholesterol, the specific case of eggs, and practical advice for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. The second half of the episode briefly explores the relationship between strength training and pelvic floor health in older women, with insights from pelvic floor specialist Liz Miracle.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding Cholesterol: Basics and Sources

[02:37-03:41]

• Cholesterol is mostly produced by the body:
  • “Your liver and intestines make up about 80% of the cholesterol in your body. About 20% comes from the foods you eat.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [02:42]
• Types of cholesterol:
  • There’s HDL (good) and LDL (bad). Only LDL is closely linked to heart disease risk.
• Blood tests measure both types, and context is important.

2. Eggs and Dietary Cholesterol

[03:41-04:05]

• Eggs as a concentrated source:
  • “Eggs remain the most concentrated source of cholesterol in the modern diet.” — Dr. Andrew Freeman [03:41]
  • “A single large egg contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, nearly all in the yolk.” — Dr. Andrew Freeman [03:59]
• Most cholesterol in eggs is found in the yolk.

3. Eggs in the Context of an Overall Diet

[04:05-04:39]

• Dietary context matters:
  • “What you’re eating around those eggs probably matters just as much as the eggs themselves.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [04:05]
  • Diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol already have elevated LDL.
  • Switching to a plant-based, low-fat, fiber-rich diet lowers LDL, even if small amounts of dietary cholesterol are consumed.
• No single food determines heart disease risk on its own.

4. How Much Is Too Much? Egg Consumption Patterns

[05:49-06:08]

• Americans eat more eggs than they realize:
  • “Low egg intake is up to 3 eggs per week. The average US consumption can be 280 to 300 eggs per year, or about 5 to 6 eggs per week. Many households consume a dozen or more eggs per person weekly.” — Dr. Andrew Freeman [05:49]
• Such high intakes mean dietary cholesterol adds up.

5. Interpreting Studies on Eggs and Heart Disease

[04:39-05:49]

• Association vs causation:
  • “These studies are not showing cause and effect... but the risk tends to rise as egg intake goes up. That could be because of what else you’re eating those eggs with.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [05:11]
• It's difficult to isolate eggs as the primary culprit, given overall dietary patterns.

6. Practical Recommendations

[06:08-07:06]

• Focus on overall eating patterns first.
  • Whole plant foods (beans, grains, veggies, fruits) are best for lowering LDL.
  • “After you do that, figure out how eggs fit into that pattern... It's probably helpful to think of them as an every now and then food instead of an everyday food.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [06:46]
• Consider moderation, especially if you already have high cholesterol.
• Eggs don’t need to be eliminated but should be eaten mindfully.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Eggs remain the most concentrated source of cholesterol in the Modern Diet.”
  — Dr. Andrew Freeman [03:41]
• “Your liver and intestines make up about 80% of the cholesterol in your body. About 20% comes from the foods you eat.”
  — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [02:42]
• “What you’re eating around those eggs probably matters just as much as the eggs themselves.”
  — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [04:05]
• “These studies are not showing cause and effect... but the risk tends to rise as egg intake goes up. That could be because of what else you’re eating those eggs with.”
  — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [05:11]
• “Many Americans eat way more eggs than they realize.”
  — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [05:21]
• “After you do that, figure out how eggs fit into that pattern... It's probably helpful to think of them as an every now and then food instead of an everyday food.”
  — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [06:46]

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Important Timestamps

• [02:37] – Dietary cholesterol vs. body-produced cholesterol explained
• [03:41] – Dr. Freeman introduced: eggs and cholesterol content
• [04:05] – Importance of dietary context for eggs and heart health
• [05:11] – Studies on eggs and increased health risk explained
• [05:49] – National averages of egg consumption
• [06:08] – Practical tips for including eggs in a healthy diet

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Brief on Secondary Topic: Pelvic Floor and Strength Training

[08:45-13:15]

• Strength training remains crucial for older adults’ health.
  • “Strength training... is really important for long-term health. It helps increase muscle strength, endurance, bone density, and reduces risk of falls.” — Dr. Sanjay Gupta [08:45]
• Pelvic floor disorders shouldn't keep women from lifting heavier, but adaptations and professional guidance are key.
  • “If lifting heavier is a goal of yours, don't let a pelvic floor disorder keep you from being able to achieve that goal.” — Liz Miracle [11:30]
• Work with professionals (pelvic floor therapists) to assess, strengthen, and support the pelvic floor, possibly considering devices like pessaries
• Breathing techniques can help protect the pelvic floor during lifting.

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Takeaways

• Most cholesterol in your body is made internally; only about 20% comes from food.
• Eggs do contain a significant amount of cholesterol, primarily in the yolk, but how they affect you depends on your overall diet and individual health profile.
• Moderation and dietary context matter far more than demonizing a single food like eggs.
• Emphasize plant-based foods to lower LDL cholesterol.
• For those concerned about cholesterol or heart disease, eggs can fit into your diet—just not as an everyday staple.

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Additional Information

Listener Q&As like those in this episode are central to the show, shaping both the tone and the content. Dr. Gupta’s approach balances scientific nuance, personal experience, and empathy for listener concerns.

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For more questions or to submit your own, contact: pagingdrgupta.com or call 470-396-0832.

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Transcript

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. You know, if you're like most people, you probably have a few health questions. You may be wondering how to improve your health, how to optimize your health, or how to deal with a nagging health problem. And you've been sending a lot of questions in, so every week we're trying to answer them. Jennifer is back with us. Who do we have first?

[Jennifer]

Hey, Sanjay. Our first question is from a listener named Gwen, and she's calling from Magnolia, Texas.

[Liz Miracle]

I have a question about cholesterol and about the foods and how it directly relates to cholesterol levels in our body. For example, if we eat a lot of eggs, does it actually raise our cholesterol levels in our body? Thank you so much.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Okay, Gwen from Magnolia, Texas, thanks so much for calling in. Cholesterol is one of the things we're often told to watch out for, as you may know if you're a listener to this podcast. I have a significant family history of heart disease, so I do think about all sorts of things, including cholesterol. But what I've realized is that a lot of people are confused about cholesterol, what it actually is, where it comes from, what we should really be paying attention to. And on top of that, what we know about cholesterol and the guidance around it has changed over time. So today we're going to talk about cholesterol and we are going to talk about whether you need to worry about foods like eggs. More on that right after the break.

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[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Okay, Gwen from Magnolia, Texas, wants to know how what we eat, eggs, for example, relate to cholesterol levels in our body. Now, before I answer that, I want to give you some, I think, important context. First of all, cholesterol is a type of fat, and it is something your body naturally produces. How much? Well, your liver and intestines make up about 80% of the cholesterol in your body. About 20% comes from the foods you eat. Okay, just keep that in mind. 80% is made by your liver and intestines. On top of that, not all cholesterol is bad for you. In fact, when you measure cholesterol with a blood test, you are measuring hdl, which is good cholesterol, High density lipoprotein and ldl. Low density lipoprotein. Now, for many people, eating foods that are high in cholesterol raises ldl, and that is the type of cholesterol most linked to heart disease. But the question specifically is about eggs.

[Dr. Andrew Freeman]

Eggs remain the most concentrated source of cholesterol in the Modern Diet.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

That's Dr. Andrew Freeman. We invited him on the podcast today to talk a little bit more about eggs and cholesterol. He's a cardiologist. He is the director of clinical cardiology and prevention at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado.

[Dr. Andrew Freeman]

Believe it or not, a single large egg contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, near, really all in the yolk.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

But there's an important caveat. What you're eating around those eggs probably matters just as much as the eggs themselves.

[Dr. Andrew Freeman]

Eggs are eaten as part of a typical standard American diet, which is already high in saturated fat. Cholesterol. LDL levels are already elevated. Adding or subtracting a few eggs may not appear to produce a dramatic change. But if you shift to people who have a healthier dietary pattern, one that's predominantly low fat, whole food and plant based, with high soluble fiber, ldl cholesterol typically falls substantially even if small amounts of dietary cholesterol remain in the diet.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Now, it is important to know that adding eggs is going to introduce a concentrated dose of cholesterol, not dramatic again, depending on what you're eating it with, but may be enough to matter to some people who are particularly worried about heart disease. The key point is your overall diet is going to be the main driver of your cholesterol levels. Eggs can absolutely fit into a healthy diet, but you need to be mindful, especially if you're trying to lower your ldl, or if you already know, your cholesterol runs high. And as Dr. Freeman said, the yolks are a big culprit here. The yolks have the majority of the cholesterol. There have been some studies that have shown eating more eggs to be linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. But I think it's important when you read these studies to realize that these studies are not showing cause and effect. They're not proving that eggs cause these conditions, but they show that the risk tends to rise as egg intake goes up again. That could be because of what else you're eating those eggs with. And the fact is, many Americans eat way more eggs than they realize.

[Dr. Andrew Freeman]

Some studies define low egg intake as up to three eggs per week. The average US consumption can be 280 to 300 eggs per year, or about five to six eggs per week. Many households consume a dozen or more eggs per person weekly. At those levels, dietary cholesterol exposure is substantial.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

So what do you do? Focus on your overall eating pattern. First, eggs can be part of a healthy diet. What you're eating them with matters a lot. You want to have more whole plant foods such as beans, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Those changes can actually lower the ldl. They can lower the bad cholesterol for most people. After you do that, figure out how eggs fit into that pattern, especially if you're someone who has high cholesterol. If you're trying to lower your cholesterol and if you love eggs, you don't necessarily need to cut them out, but it's probably helpful to think of them as an every now and then food instead of an everyday food. Especially again, if you're watching your cholesterol. Gwen, hope that helps answer your question. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break here, but when we come back, there's an interesting question about the pelvic floor and weightlifting. Stay with us.

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[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

We are back with paging Dr. Gupta. Jennifer. Who do we have next?

[Jennifer]

Okay, we have a question from a listener named Jeannie who's 75 years old and reached out to us from Pioneertown, California with a great question. She is wondering about strength training for older women. Now, she recently listened to some podcasts that said that in order to build muscle strength, you need to lift heavier. However, she does have some pelvic floor disorder and is afraid that lifting heavier weights will strain her abdominal pelvic floor too much. She wants to know, is there a way that she can build up her strength without causing any undue pressure on her lower pelvic floor?

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

All right, thanks so much for the question. First of all, strength training, so important. Whether you use weights or bands or machines or even just your own body weight, this is really important for long term health. I think for a long time, people focused on aerobic activity, which can be really important, but sometimes it was to the detriment of resistance training. We know strength training can help increase your muscular strength, your endurance and bone density. Very important, especially as you get older. Also, weight training can help with blood glucose control and improve your sleep. CDC says it can even reduce your risk of falls and fractures as you age. So I really commend you for wanting to lift heavier weights. That is awesome. But I think your question is about the pelvic floor specifically. Look, everybody's body is different. Everybody's body is going to have a unique set of challenges and. And something known as pelvic floor dysfunction. Well, that isn't uncommon as people age. Now, I want to start off by acknowledging that not everyone probably knows what we mean when we say pelvic floor. First thing to point out is that everyone has pelvic floor muscles, men and women. Both those pelvic floor muscles help hold up our internal organs inside of our pelvis, like the uterus, but also the bladder and the rectum. So this is really important. If you think about it, these muscles are actually dynamic as well, meaning they can contract and they can release. They're what allow us to hold it, if you will, until we can find a bathroom and then go. When we actually get to the bathroom,

[Liz Miracle]

when those pelvic floor muscles get weak, they can kind of be a little too open.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

That's Liz Miracle. She's a board certified Women's Health clinical specialist. She's been practicing pelvic floor physical therapy for over 20 years. She's an assistant clinical professor at UCSF School of PT and head of Clinical Quality and Education at Origin Physical Therapy.

[Liz Miracle]

And if you are someone who has internal pelvic organs and a vagina, those organs can start to kind of drop down. And so when you contract the pelvic floor muscles, it can help to lift those organs back up inside of you and prevent that type of feeling.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

So the pelvic floor, even if you might not think of it very often, is very important for all of us. Now, it's hard to make an assumption about what pelvic floor dysfunction you have specifically, Jeanne, because there are different types that are out there. Some people have too little pelvic floor muscle strength. Others actually have the opposite problem. The muscles are actually too tight. But the question about weightlifting, I think there's some good news here.

[Liz Miracle]

I would say if lifting heavier is a goal of yours, don't let a pelvic floor disorder keep you from being able to achieve that goal.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Liz says that a common problem is that there is too much pressure going into the bowl of the pelvic floor. Imagine the pelvic floor like a bowl and think about all those organs being inside that bowl and, and causing a lot of pressure.

[Liz Miracle]

The way to combat that pressure is to provide enough force up and against it. And the way that we do that is by strengthening our pelvic floor. So it might just be that the level that you're lifting is too heavy for what your pelvic floor is able to combat against. In terms of the pressure, it doesn't mean that you don't want to lift heavy. It means that you want to increase your pelvic floor strength to be able to meet the demands of the lifting that you're doing now.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

One obvious option is to do pelvic floor physical therapy and book an appointment with someone like Liz who can really help you understand how to strengthen and work with your pelvic floor muscles. You could also talk to an obstetrician, a gynecologist, a urogynecologist, and maybe even get fit for something known as a pessary.

[Liz Miracle]

Pessaries are little devices that you insert into the vagina and they kind of act like a splint so if you had an injury, you wouldn't just go run a marathon without putting, like a brace on that injury, Right? So if we have a deficit in strength, think about bracing that muscle with a pessary. So this device is helpful because you can put it in, you can take it out when you're not lifting if you don't want to have to wear it all the time. But the problem with these devices is they can be so helpful that people then often don't strengthen the pelvic floor because the pessary is working when they're lifting. And then that weakness can show up in other places in their life.

[Dr. Sanjay Gupta]

Another thing that can be really helpful is learning how to properly incorporate your breathing when you work out. And again, a pelvic floor physical therapist can teach you how to do this. They can teach you how to breathe in a way that supports your pelvic floor instead of adding more pressure. You can kind of probably imagine already how that might work. In fact, Liz says that a lot of patients who are weightlifters have even met their personal records because they incorporate their breath with their pelvic floor and their weights. So don't hesitate to reach out to a pelvic floor physical therapist. They can help you figure out what's really going on, whether or not your muscles need strengthening, relaxation, coordination, or maybe some combination of all three. So, Jeanne, I hope this answers your question. I know it doesn't cover it all, and you can definitely get a lot more information by talking to your doctor. But I hope it at least gets you thinking about the things you can do if you. And the answer is you can do most things you can lift safely. You can lift heavy once you understand how your pelvic floor is functioning and how to support it. All right, that wraps up today's show. I just want to say again, your questions. They're guiding us. They help make the show. They help shape what we talk about. They show us what you're thinking about and what you're worried about. So thank you for trusting us with some of the most intimate things in your life. If you've got a health question, send it in. We may tackle yours on the next episode. Reach out to us. Record a voice memo. Email it to pagingdrgupta.com that's pagingdrgupta.com or give us a call 470-396-0832 and leave a message. Thanks so much for listening.

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