Eating Eggs Almost as Bad as Smoking

Seems like we were just hearing how nutritious eggs are; now, they're bad for us again. Or so says one new study, that found that eating yolks on a regular basis is almost as bad as smoking. It found that consuming yolks speeds up the buildup of plaque in arteries, which in turn contributes to heart attacks and strokes. In the Canadian study of 1,200 patients, subjects who ate at least three yolks—which are high in cholesterol—per week suffered plaque buildup at two-thirds the speed smokers experience.

Three yolks per week were significantly more dangerous than two, the study found. The growth of plaque buildup, known as atherosclerosis, is linear after the age of 40 for most people—but for smokers and yolk fans, the study found it is exponential, the Globe and Mail reports. What's more, "in diabetics, an egg a day increases coronary risk by two- to five-fold," says the author. Still, a study just last year found that a daily egg didn't boost stroke or heart attack risk in healthy men; the debate goes on. (More eggs stories.)