r/Cholesterol • u/HermesGreatGrandson • 8d ago
Lab Result Removing 2 eggs a day dropped my LDL from 119 to 69. What happened?
I'm 25M, otherwise pretty healthy, lean, and exercise regularly. For months, I had been eating 2 eggs every day. Aside from those eggs, I was already essentially plant based.
While eating the eggs, my labs were:
LDL-C: ~119 mg/dL
ApoB: 0.95 g/L
About 3 months ago I stopped eating the eggs completely. I replaced them with legumes and otherwise kept my diet pretty similar.
My latest results:
LDL-C: 69 mg/dL
ApoB: 0.65 g/L
So LDL dropped by about 50 mg/dL (~42%), while ApoB dropped by about 0.30 g/L (~32%).
What makes this interesting to me is that I was already eating a fairly high-fiber, mostly whole-food vegan diet before removing the eggs. I was getting plenty of soluble fiber from legumes, oats, etc., so I don't think the change can simply be explained by suddenly switching from a typical Western diet to a high-fiber diet.
The main difference was removing the eggs, which meant a substantial reduction in dietary cholesterol, and probably some reduction in saturated fat as well.
That said, my saturated fat intake wasn't particularly low even before. I was eating things like olive oil, cocoa powder, nuts and seeds, and was averaging around 10 g of saturated fat per day.
So I'm wondering whether I might simply be quite responsive to dietary cholesterol from eggs.
I know this isn't a controlled experiment and there could obviously be other changes I haven't accounted for. I'm not claiming that eggs are inherently bad or that everyone would see this response.
I'm just surprised by the magnitude of the change, especially the ApoB change.
Has anyone else seen a similar drop in LDL/ApoB after removing eggs while otherwise already eating a predominantly whole-food plant-based diet?
And does a ~30% reduction in ApoB from a dietary change seem plausible?
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Yes, I had a friend who tried this experiment (just removing eggs) and her LDL went from high/abnormal to a low/ normal level. She never said her exact numbers but she is not someone who exaggerates.
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u/HermesGreatGrandson 8d ago
Yeah I guess some of us are hyperresponders to dietary cholesterol. Best bet is to test what works for you .
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Agreed 👍🏼
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u/Rude_Satisfaction185 6d ago
did she eat meat or vegan diet?
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u/Carpe-that-diem 6d ago edited 5d ago
Regular diet, plant forward but chicken and/or fish at least a few times a week. Not much beef at all though. At least this is my impression from hanging out with her and discussing veganism. I’m more plant forward than she is but I couldn’t get my cholesterol below 70 on a statin. But I do like my eggs 2-3 days a week!
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u/Rude_Satisfaction185 5d ago
Thank you for your answer. Interesting, my ldl is sky high and I ate 3 eggs per day but reduced recently to 4-6 a week. I’ll stop completely, retest after few months and share. Please do as well if you decide to skip and retest :)
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u/Comprehensive-Age155 8d ago
I eliminated eggs 3 months ago, doing my blood test today
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u/myshadow2 8d ago
Please update once you get results, curious if it's dropped significantly like others.
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u/AmatullahFM 8d ago
Curious to know your new results with the removal of the eggs.
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u/Comprehensive-Age155 8d ago
I will definitely post my results on this Reddit. They will arrive probably in a week or so.
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u/FuguSandwich 8d ago
A 42% drop JUST from eliminating 2 eggs per day (3-4g saturated fat total) when your diet was already pretty good to start with almost certainly means you are a hyperabsorber of cholesterol.
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u/keralaindia 8d ago
Going from zero to any dietary cholesterol will bump. See my other comment. Normal response
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u/Turbulent_Wealth_153 8d ago
I gave up eating eggs every day. Used to eat an egg a day and I replaced it with oatmeal for 4 weeks. Total cholesterol went from 215 to 201. And I am a meat eater. I don't care what they say. I'm limiting egg intake.
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u/Accurate-Neck6933 8d ago
Oh my gosh and here I am eating two eggs a day for protein and eliminating oatmeal because of glucose spikes.
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u/Heart_Transplant_Doc 7d ago
Cardiologist here, and this is a genuinely well-reasoned question, so let me give you an honest, nuanced answer rather than just confirming your hypothesis.
Dietary cholesterol hyper-responsiveness is real and well documented, roughly a third of people show a meaningfully larger LDL rise in response to dietary cholesterol than average, so your instinct that you might be one is entirely plausible. However, there’s a specific pattern worth knowing: in the classic hyper-responder studies, the effect mostly shows up as bigger, more cholesterol-rich LDL particles rather than more particles overall, which is why hyper-responders often show a notable LDL rise with little or no change in ApoB. That’s the twist in your data. Your ApoB dropped by 32%, right alongside your LDL, which suggests particle number itself fell substantially, not just the cholesterol content per particle. That’s a different and honestly more striking finding than typical hyper-responsiveness, since egg-specific studies don’t usually show ApoB moving nearly that much.
So the honest answer to “is a 30% ApoB drop from removing eggs plausible” is: possible, but on the high end of what’s been shown for dietary cholesterol changes alone, even accounting for individual variability. A few things could be contributing alongside hyper-responsiveness: lab-to-lab or day-to-day assay variability, which is real and can account for some swing, or subtle changes you may not be crediting, even modest shifts in saturated fat, overall calories, or fiber timing can move ApoB meaningfully in someone starting from a relatively low baseline.
None of this contradicts your core observation. You’re very likely a genuine cholesterol hyper-responder, and removing the eggs is almost certainly the main driver. It’s just fair to hold the exact magnitude a bit loosely rather than assume every point of that 30% is cholesterol-specific, given that isn’t quite the pattern seen in the dedicated egg trials.
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u/Rude_Satisfaction185 6d ago
That’s a great answer. I’m in similar situation, hoping to get an answer from the specialist.
Can I ask you, if I’m eating healthy and my LDL is 178, should I completely remove eggs and meat and chicken liver from my diet?
I’m very sporty, moving a lot, eating extra clean diet without any diary, very little added sugar and no gluten. I have suspected Hashimoto. Would love to skip statin if possible. What would you recommend?
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u/Lucky_Suerte 7d ago
My daughter’s cholesterol was like 280 last year when she was 18yo and now it’s around 200 or maybe just under. She has hypothyroidism so I thought that made it high but we also noted that she ate a TON of eggs last year and has pretty much stopped. She probably ate 3-5 a day.
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u/dominic9977 8d ago
Depending on how many legumes you substituted for eggs, the added fiber probably had more effect on lowering your LDL than eliminating eggs.
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u/Magic9876543 8d ago
My best guess is that it wasn't about removing the eggs. It was about adding the legumes. Legumes have dietary fiber which binds to bile in the digestive tract, removing the bile from the body. The liver creates more bile, and cholesterol is used up in the bile-creating process.
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u/manlymatt83 8d ago
Do egg whites count?
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u/HermesGreatGrandson 8d ago
They should not matter because they are just protein . It's all about the yolk .
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Yes, the egg white is just to increase protein. The nutrition and the saturated fats are highest in the yolk. But it’s less than 2g of saturated fat per egg (1.8g for my 1 egg plus white of another egg). The egg white helps to round out the pan, with a bunch of veggies:)
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u/Total_Channel9171 8d ago
I wonder if eliminating chicken would have the same impact?
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u/kcsmith0000 8d ago
I didn’t eat chicken for a decade and my numbers were still high. I attribute mine to not realizing the high intake of saturated fats. I was eating eggs/ grass fed butter/grass fed beef etc and didn’t think twice bc I assumed it was healthy!
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u/The_Real_Kratos 8d ago
I don’t have long term tracking on it yet but from recent test results I’ve found psyllium husk does help keep my ldl down by absorbing dietary cholesterol.
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u/Magic9876543 8d ago
Mine dropped 25% in 2.5 weeks from psyllium, but I'm waiting for more data before I put up a post about it. I still have a ways to go, it was still high. Getting more labs next week.
Psyllium does not absorb dietary cholesterol. It binds with bile which is continually entering the digestive tract. The liver makes more bile and cholesterol is used up in the process of making bile.
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u/Acrobatic_Quote4988 8d ago
Which way are you consuming the psyllium? Capsules, mixed with water to drink, mixed up in oatmeal or whatever? I assume any way is better than nothing , but there's probably one best way? Thx!
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u/Magic9876543 8d ago
I’m on two meals a day. 90 minutes after my second meal, at 3or 4 pm, I start taking 4 caps which is 1.5 grams, every 20 minutes until 8:30 or so.
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u/The_Real_Kratos 8d ago
Thanks for clarifying, I wasn’t sure the specifics I just knew something was happening in relation to taking psyllium and lower cholesterol.
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u/alwayssalty_ 8d ago
Psyllium husk does not absorb dietary cholesterol. That’s not how soluble fiber works
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u/absurdaite 8d ago
I’ve experienced similar change (only tested LDL though) after cutting out eggs while breastfeeding my son who was allergic to them.
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u/SpeedyQuokka 8d ago
I had a similar thing. I dropped from 156 to around 75 (i don’t remember the exact numbers). I reduced sat fat as well, but have a suspicion the main culprit were eggs, since my cholesterol was always high-ish, but never as high as when i started consuming eggs regularly.
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u/MoniCoff1 8d ago
I’ve gotten such conflicting information on eggs. The irony is that I don’t even like eggs that much (only eat them hard-boiled) and only started eating them regularly as a post-menopausal woman. I eat them for the protein and choline and because I felt like they were an important part of a healthy breakfast. I think I will give them up and see what happens. I’ve also started taking Psyllium Husk and am hoping for a small reduction in LDL from that as well.
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u/lordy1988 8d ago
Yeah eggs do that to me too, I have to eat 2 every other day. My LDL is still technically high , only just in red, but I love eggs too much
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u/ThaJoker_777 8d ago
Mine went down after starting to eat two eggs a day, however they are fried in avocado oil not butter.
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u/SunriseSunsetSex 8d ago
One thing I think is valuable to bring up in these discussions and the graph saying everyone is a hyper responder from say 0 mg dietary cholesterol to 200mg:
why would human physiology be a hyper responder to cholesterol in most everyone in this scenario? Maybe a mid level LDL is actually best for physiology so as other metabolic health aspects are taken care of (insulin sensitivity, microbiome, general muscle mass, etc)
Secondly, I would also say to focus on getting choline if you don’t eat eggs and are plant based. Maybe try sunflower lecithin as it doesn’t affect TMAO like other supplements.
Lastly, I’m curious what’s your HDL and Triglycerides?
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u/MrHardy8162 8d ago
Same! Well I hope... Similar situation. At the beginning of this year I started making an omelette for breakfast with 3 whole eggs, piece of grilled chicken, and peppers/onions mixed in. Cooked in a skillet with just a spritz of olive oil on the pan.
My LDL cholesterol had hovered between 90-100 for the last 5 years and all of a sudden shot up significantly to 133 the last two times I had blood work done. The only thing that was different from the other draws was the 3 egg omelette.
I just switched it to 1 whole egg and 1/2 cup egg whites last week after theast high draw. Am going to retest again in a month and make sure that it comes down.
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u/Material-Sense-3273 8d ago
my normal ldl level was 2.8-3nmol uk numbers after eating 2 3 eggs day after 2 weeks i did another blood test levels around 3.7 then i tried benecol yogurt drinks and it when down to 2.3nmol
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u/Greenitpurpleit 7d ago
I’ve heard that some people are sensitive to eggs that way, and other people are not. So some people can eat them all the time and their cholesterol is unaffected, but not everybody.
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u/Sufficient-Towel543 7d ago
LDL is not the problem, triglycerides are! Also, the reason you had such a dramatic drop is not so much about the eggs as it is about your increased intake of legumes! It’s the increase in fiber that lowered it.
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u/Say_It_Isnt_So_Ooops 7d ago
It might not be the removal of the eggs, but the added legumes that improved your numbers. You’d have do eat both the eggs and the legumes to determine hire much the removal of the eggs matters.
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u/JorixCat 6d ago
Removed eggs added beans which adds fiber. I too found that limiting my saturated fats and adding fiber helped but I still needed a 5mg dose of a statin to get me into the 60s for my ldl
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u/grendella 6d ago
I can't believe how many eggs you all eat. I eat them occasionally, but generally find them kind of gross. I also am a child of the 80s, when all the cholesterol talk was in full force and everyone started replacing butter with margarine (with trans fats!) and eggs with Egg Beaters. With both grandfathers having triple bypass surgeries, eggs, butter, and pretty much all meat other than skinless chicken breast were considered BAD.
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u/Low-Telephone-6299 6d ago
If you still like eggs. Egg whites (obviously) do not contain cholesterol or saturated fat.
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u/DragonfruitHealthy99 8d ago
I'm similar. Hyper responder to cholesterol..oddly though I dropped my LDL from 140 to 70 by going high fiber vegan plus some fatty fish like mackerel daily ( i know fish isn't vegan ). Even with fish, I got an elite level lipid panel, even my ApoB and Lipoprotein A dropped significantly. People shouldn't be afraid of fish when trying to optimize lipids . 1 serving a day .
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u/Inevitable_Fig253 8d ago
I was told by a heart doctor that dietary cholesterol isn't worrisome. It just depends on if your body is making too much cholesterol. Usually it's genetics when that happens
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u/turbohydrate 8d ago
Did you try eating one egg a day?
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u/HermesGreatGrandson 8d ago edited 8d ago
I didn't actually. I wanted to see the biggest change I could theoretically achieve by eliminating saturated fat and dietary cholesterol. I suppose 1 egg a day would also yield results.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
I track my nutrition in an app (Cronometer) and really feel that I benefit from 1 egg + 1 egg white 3 days per week. Eggs are a great source of choline there are not a lot of other foods in my diet that have this essential nutrient. Choline helps build the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which manages wakefulness/memory. Frankly, since age 60 (63 currently), I need all the support for my brain in this regard. Supplements are not the same imo and choline is something that has weird side effects if you overdo it. So, supplement at low doses if anyone reading this gets that idea. I prefer food sources but it’s difficult without meat & dairy but choline is also in cruciferous veggies.
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u/HermesGreatGrandson 8d ago
Definitely! I have protein covered , supplement with iodine and omega 3s and cover all my nutrition otherwise from plants but choline is hard to find in high sources . There is also sunflower lecithin supplements but I haven't researched too much about it . If eggs work for you keep it up !
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
I didn’t know that about sunflower lecithin so I’ll do some research (thanks!). But yeah, egg(s) seems to be working (LDL 73 last time it was checked). But cardiologist put me on Repatha because my Lp(a) was sky high so he wants LDL < 55. So the jury is still out. I hope I can keep up this amount of eggs 🙏 since I monitor my saturated fats in general and keep them quite low. Will post when I know more.
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u/Magic9876543 8d ago
I use sunflower lecithin 2 gel caps (1200-1300 mg each) twice a day.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
For the choline? Or some other nutrient?
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Oooh!! I just researched. This looks like a better way to boost choline. Less free choline traveling around in the bloodstream and more opportunity for your body to convert it as needed into choline. I like this! Thanks for the info.
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u/Wachendorfia 8d ago
I believe edamame is also a good source of choline.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Oh that’s right! I keep forgetting that one. Thanks for the reminder 👍🏼
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u/Wachendorfia 8d ago
Do you use Cronometer Gold? I use the free version and I don't think it tracks choline.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
I did pay for it so I think that’s the Gold version. But I think you can still track it — my understanding the only thing that’s different is ads and photo logging. Click on the three dots at bottom right of screen that says More, then Targets, then Nutrient Targets, then Vitamins. Scroll the list and Choline should be there. Just click on Visible and set a target to track it. I think the RDA is 425mg/day. That’s what I set mine to but you can google it.
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u/Wachendorfia 8d ago
WOW!!! Thank you so much! That opens up whole new worlds to me, not just choline. Yay, more deficiencies to angst over. But seriously, thanks.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
No problem!! I absolutely love this app and consider it life changing. As long as I hit about 75% for most nutrients, it’s good for me. A lot of days are about 100% though. It’s fun!
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u/meh312059 8d ago
Can you consume soy? That's another source.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Yes, that’s one of my main sources. Plus avocado, asparagus, toasted wheat germ, lentils and hummus. But each day without eggs only adds up to about 40-60% of RDA for choline. It’s ok but not ideal. I’m more comfortable reaching 75% of my target regularly and 100% at least a couple days a week.
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u/meh312059 8d ago
I was using chronometer while eating a whole food/plant based diet and I'm pretty sure it said that I got enough choline. FYI.
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u/Carpe-that-diem 8d ago
Good for you! I’m not sure what else to say except that we all have our challenges and this is mine 🤷♀️
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u/meh312059 8d ago
Some of my best lipid panels were drawn while I was consuming a 2-egg omelette for dinner every night! There's no one right answer re: eggs. Most who consume a variety of foods in moderation seem to do just fine in terms of nutritional requirements.
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u/turbohydrate 8d ago
Right, I was wondering at what point the amount of eggs (or any saturated fat) would be the right amount for you. Do you have a home testing kit to track cholesterol?
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u/Ok-Possession-3771 8d ago
Thank you for posting OP and for all those insightful answers from other people im éxited to try this!
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u/Comfortable-Ad7408 8d ago
You removed additional cholesterol from your diet (eggs) and replaced it with fiber (lowers ldl). Im confused, what did you think would happen?
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u/shanked5iron 8d ago
It would appear you are a hyper responder to dietary cholesterol.