Background knowledge: Cholesterol is an indispensable nutrient for human health. However, if consumed in excessive amounts, it can cause atherosclerosis, venous thrombosis, cholelithiasis and other diseases, which will have adverse effects on the body. Experts recommend a daily intake of 50mg to 300mg of cholesterol.

Egg yolks contain a lot of cholesterol. Friends in the fitness circle know that you should not exceed two egg yolks a day. But there are many types of eggs, such as common free-range eggs and ordinary eggs. Can we only eat two egg yolks every day? Let’s explain it carefully below.

Native eggs

Let’s first take a look at the nutritional content of native eggs, which is in the “Chinese Food Composition Table 2014 Edition”. The ingredients of local eggs (click to check) are as follows:

In 100 grams of free-range eggs, there are 1338 mg of cholesterol. Since an egg has an average weight of 50 grams. So two eggs may contain 1,338 mg of cholesterol. The absorption rate of cholesterol is only 30%, so eating two eggs will consume 400 mg of cholesterol. So if you eat free-range eggs, don’t have more than 1 yolk.

Egg ( White shell), egg (red shell)

Next, let’s take a look at the two types of eggs that are often bought in the market, Eggs (white shell, red shell) (click to check) The ingredients are as follows:

From: "Chinese Food Nutritional Facts 2014"

Then two ordinary eggs may contain 585 mg, and the absorption rate of cholesterol is 30%. Eating two eggs will consume 175.5 mg. Then you can eat 3 yolks of regular eggs (263 mg of cholesterol) per day.

Therefore, not all eggs can eat two yolks every day. To learn more about the cholesterol content of eggs, you can visit http://www.jiroushop.com/cha/shiwu.php?id=16.

​Literature reference:

Shi Chuanlin. Zhang Na. Nie Man. Wang Changqing. Experimental study on reducing cholesterol content in eggs [J]. Poultry Science. 2014, (6)
Zhang Hongyuan, editor-in-chief Wan Haiqing. Biochemistry. Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2006: 35.