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Many people limit egg consumption because of the amount of cholesterol contained in egg yolks, which is commonly believed to raise the risk for cardiovascular problems like heart disease and stroke. But a new study published in Heart suggests the equivalent of about an egg per day may actually help reduce heart disease risk.

This research – from the School of Public Health at Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing, China – involved 416,213 healthy adults recruited from 2004 to 2008 for the China Kadoorie Biobank, an ongoing study examining genetic and environmental causes of chronic diseases in the Chinese population. Participants self-reported egg consumption at the start of the study, with 13.1 percent reporting they ate eggs daily and 9.1 percent reporting they ate eggs only rarely or not at all.

During the study follow up period (almost nine years), 83,977 participants were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, 5,103 non-fatal, major heart events were recorded, and 9,985 participants died from causes related to heart disease. According to researchers, people who regularly consumed about one egg per day had a 26 percent lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke, a 28 percent lower risk of death due to hemorrhagic stroke, and an 18 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease-related death