Researchers at Loma Linda University Health have linked egg consumption to a lower likelihood of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease among adults aged 65 and older. Those who ate one egg per day on at least five days a week showed up to a 27% reduction in risk compared with people who ate eggs less often.
The association appeared even at modest levels of intake. According to Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH, professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and the study's principal investigator, participants eating eggs just one to three times a month had a 17% lower risk, while those eating them two to four times a week had a 20% lower risk. That stepwise pattern - more frequent consumption tracking with greater risk reduction - is the kind of dose-response signal that strengthens a nutritional finding.
For older adults and the families who care for them, the practical appeal here is that eggs are inexpensive, widely available, and already familiar in most diets, unlike many of the dietary interventions studied in dementia research. The finding also adds to the case that what people eat in later life, not only in midlife, may still influence cognitive outcomes.
The caveat worth holding onto is that this is an association drawn from observed eating patterns, not a trial showing that eggs prevent Alzheimer's. People who eat eggs regularly may differ in other ways that affect dementia risk, and untangling that will take further work.