Cracking the Debate: Are Eggs Good For You or Not?

The incredible, edible, often-maligned egg is still, after all these years, the center of ongoing debates in the health and nutrition world.

It wasn’t that long ago that egg yolks were considered cholesterol and saturated fat bombs capable of boosting your risk for heart disease. More up-to-date research has since debunked this long-held myth, but there’s still plenty about the egg to, um, unscramble, NBC News reported.

Despite past misinformation, a 1999 study that tracked more than 37,000 adult men and 80,000 adult women for a period of 14 years found that eating an egg a day was unlikely to have an impact on heart disease or stroke. Since then, more research, including an analysis from 2016, have reached similar conclusions. One study actually found that eating up to an egg a day may decrease the risk of stroke by about 12%.

Most experts say it’s OK to eat an average of just under one egg per day, according to NBC. And while, yes, yolks do contain some saturated fat and cholesterol, it’s also where the majority of the nutrients found in eggs are located. Yolks contain vitamin D and choline, a nutrient involved in memory and mood regulation that the government believes most adults are under-consuming

Added bonus: a small study among young men found that eating whole eggs led to a 40% increase in their post-workout muscle-building response; meaning that whole egg eaters would experience better gains in muscle mass compared to those who skip the yolks.