STUDY: Just One Egg a Week Slashes Alzheimer’s Risk by Nearly HALF
Minimal egg consumption cuts dementia risk by 47% and reduces Alzheimer’s brain pathology at autopsy — mainly due to choline, omega‑3s, and lutein.
Alzheimer’s disease now affects an estimated 6.9 million Americans over 65, with numbers projected to more than double by 2060. There’s currently no cure — making prevention strategies critical.
A recent study by Pan et al followed 1,024 older adults (average age 81) in the Rush Memory and Aging Project for an average of 6.7 years. Participants underwent annual cognitive assessments and lifestyle surveys, and a subgroup even donated their brains for postmortem analysis.
The results? Eating just one or more eggs per week was linked to a ~47% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia — and the protection may be partly due to choline, a brain-essential nutrient found abundantly in eggs. This is the first U.S. study to examine egg intake against both clinical Alzheimer’s diagnoses and physical brain pathology.
KEY FINDINGS
Lower Dementia Risk
1 egg/week → 47% lower risk of Alzheimer’s dementia (HR: 0.53)
≥2 eggs/week → also 47% lower risk (HR: 0.53) compared to <1 egg/month.
Brain Pathology Link
In 578 autopsied participants, higher egg intake was tied to significantly fewer Alzheimer’s-related brain changes, including amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
Choline’s Role
Mediation analysis found ~39% of the protective effect came from dietary choline, which supports acetylcholine production for memory and learning, and maintains healthy cell membranes.
Nutritional Advantage
Eggs also provide omega‑3 fatty acids and lutein, both linked to improved cognitive function and reduced neuroinflammation.
This study suggests that eating just a few eggs a week could be an easy, affordable step to help lower Alzheimer’s dementia risk — especially for older adults.
Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation
www.mcculloughfnd.org
Please consider following both the McCullough Foundation and my personal account on X (formerly Twitter) for further content.
Not sure if that is true about just any old egg. But great pastured eggs for sure! Duck eggs, have a comparatively larger yolk.
My functional medicine/Chinese medicine practitioner recommends one dozen + per week. He also recommends runny egg yolk as the only additional food besides breastmilk for infants at 6 months.
Americans have been guided to limit as bad! High cholesterol! Especially the yolks!. Run the other way from all nutritional and health guidance given by anyone AMA, AAP.
That’s why the government was trying to get rid of chickens