After a raft of studies reassuring people that eggs are okay to eat, a new report associates an increasing risk of heart disease with the increasing consumption of eggs.

The report, combining data from six earlier studies, shows a 6% increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) when the average number of eggs consumed per day went up by half an egg.

“The take-home message is that individuals who consume higher levels of dietary cholesterol are at increased risk for the development of heart disease and mortality later in life,” says Dr Norrina Allen, one of the authors and an associate professor of preventive medicine Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, US.

Still, Dr Allen isn’t ready to tell everyone to go cold turkey on eggs.