PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Eggs are better for you than you may think.

A new study found the average amount of cholesterol in one large egg is actually lower than previously thought.

“Eggs are more nutritious than we gave them credit for, even as recently as 10 years ago, when eggs were seen as a major source of cholesterol,” Dr. Goutham Rao, CHP Weight Management Center, said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the amount of cholesterol has dropped by 14 percent sinc e2002 and they have 64 percent more vitamin D.

“For most people, even if their cholesterol is up a little bit, as long as they aren’t consuming an excess amount of eggs, meaning roughly an egg a day, no more than that, I think they’re fine,” Dr. Rao said.

Based on sampling eggs from 12 locations across the country, one large egg has 186 milligrams of cholesterol these days. Dietary guidelines recommend no more than 300 milligrams a day.

“There are people who avoid eggs, but then will go out and have a hamburger, not realizing it has at least as much and probably more cholesterol than the eggs they were avoiding,” Dr. Rao said.

The new nutritional content may be related to changes in chicken feed.

“A lot of food has been re-engineered over the last 20-30 years,” he said. “Pork, for example, is much leaner than it used to be.”