Cardiovascular disease otherwise known as heart disease, includes heart valve problems, arrhythmia, cardiac failure and stroke. Obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes increase the risk of heart disease. The causes of cardiovascular disease include smoking, alcoholism, unhealthy diet, stress and physical inactivity. Cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent in high-income countries such as India, China and US. According to WHO reports and are the leading cause of death, where around 17.7 million people die every year.

A research team under the guidance of Canqing Yu, a co-author of the study and an associate professor in the Peking University School of Public Health in Beijing, China, revealed that consumption of an egg a day might lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Eggs are rich in protein but due to high levels of cholesterol, eggs were thought to be harmful. The myth was however disproved through scientific revelations where mortality rates were reduced.

Caroline Richard, an assistant professor of agricultural life and environmental sciences from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, stated that this piece of work is totally observational and there is no well-defined direct link between egg consumption and the risk of heart disease.

Past research works suggested that egg consumption might increase the risk of diabetes. Caroline Richard said, "In this study however, they didn't assess the risk of developing diabetes, which may be because diabetes is a newer disease in the Chinese population and there is no good documentation of who has it; this will be very important data for helping develop dietary prevention guidelines in China."