Sunday, September 27, 2026
Asian Games 2026 Medals Tally as of 9.29 pm on 2026-09-27
Asian Games 2026 Medals Tally as of 9.29 pm on 2026-09-27
Asian Games 2026 Medals Tally as of 9.29 pm on 2026-09-27
Eggs: Brain food or viral fad?
Now Stirring
Eggs: Brain food or viral fad?
Eggs are rich in nutrients, but dietitians advise against overeating them
Hedy Khoo
Senior Correspondent
Once vilified for their cholesterol content, eggs are now touted on social media as the cornerstone of a healthy diet and building blocks for the brain.
In an Aug 10 Instagram post, American physician and health content creator Paul Saladino (@paulsaladinomd) urged his three million followers to “eat more eggs and your brain will thank you”.
Chiropractor and health content creator Eric Berg, who has 2.8 million followers for his @drericberg account, has garnered more than 328,000 views for a Sept 10 post recommending four eggs a day. He says eggs are rich in choline, which the body uses to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory.
The Sunday Times asks dietitians and neurologists for their expert views on the changing reputation of eggs, the role of eggs in a healthy diet and if there is a “safe” number of eggs to eat.
How eggs got a bad name
In 1968, the American Heart Association (AHA) advised limiting egg yolks to no more than three a week. At the time, high blood cholesterol was linked to heart disease, and cholesterol-rich foods were assumed to raise cholesterol in the blood.
Chaitra Jagdish, 56, a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s School of Applied Science with 25 years of experience in nutrition and dietetics, says eggs became a target because a large egg contains about 185mg to 200mg of cholesterol, almost all of it in the yolk.
But dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol are not the same thing. The body produces much of its own cholesterol, while genetics, saturated-fat intake and overall diet also affect blood cholesterol levels.
“Eggs can increase LDL cholesterol, but the effect is usually modest and varies between individuals,” says Jagdish. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is often viewed as “bad” cholesterol as a high LDL level can lead to a build-up of cholesterol in the arteries.
She adds that while egg yolk is high in cholesterol, it is relatively low in saturated fat. A whole egg contains only around 1.5g saturated fat, whereas foods such as butter, fatty meat and coconut fat can provide substantially more saturated fat.
Saturated fat generally has a greater effect on LDL cholesterol than dietary cholesterol, although individual responses to both can vary.
In 2002, the AHA dropped its specific egg restriction of three to four a week. More than a decade later, in 2015, the United States Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee removed its previous daily limit of 300mg of dietary cholesterol.
Shalene Tan Yien, 25, a dietitian at National University Hospital, says while modern research shows dietary cholesterol in eggs has little effect on blood cholesterol for most people, the impact of dietary cholesterol on blood cholesterol levels varies among individuals due to the differences in how the body processes cholesterol.
Some people, known as “hyper-responders”, may experience a rise in blood cholesterol when consuming eggs, while others, known as “hypo-responders”, may not see a significant change, she explains.
Saturated and trans fats influence cholesterol far more, and eggs are low in saturated fat and contain no trans fat.
Still, the removal of the limit for daily cholesterol consumption does not equate to eating unlimited eggs as overall diet quality remains paramount, she says.
Angel Tey, 30, a senior dietitian at Woodlands Hospital, says individuals who are “hyper absorbers” may tend to absorb more dietary cholesterol than others. She adds: “However, there are currently no routine tests to identify these people and we know that dietary cholesterol from foods such as eggs has a smaller impact on our blood LDL cholesterol levels.”
Are eggs really ‘brain food’?
Jennifer Hung, 36, a consultant at National University Hospital’s Division of Neurology and assistant professor at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, says from a clinical neurology and nutritional neuroscience perspective, the social media claim that eggs are “brain food” is plausible and supported by moderate scientific evidence, but social media trends frequently overstate what the data actually proves.
Eggs are one of the most concentrated dietary sources of choline and also contain lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin B12, which play roles in neural membrane health.
Most research linking eggs with cognitive health is observational, she says. Such studies can show an association, but cannot prove that eating eggs improves memory or prevents dementia.
For someone who already gets enough choline, eating more eggs is unlikely to work like a “smart drug” or supercharge memory.
“Brain health and memory are not an on-off switch and require a holistic approach,” she says.
Neurologist Zhao Yi Jing, 40, of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, whose main areas of clinical practice and research are brain health and neurology, says there are no randomised controlled studies to provide evidence strong enough to recommend eggs specifically to prevent dementia.
Studies suggesting possible benefits generally involve moderate intake – about half to one egg a day, or even one to three eggs a week – “not several daily”, she says.
For protecting the brain, Zhao says there is stronger evidence for regular physical activity, good sleep, social engagement and lifelong learning, along with limiting ultra-processed foods and eating a Mediterranean diet. The diet focuses on quality proteins, carbohydrates, fats and dietary fibre, all beneficial for overall good cardiovascular and brain health.
While eggs have been labelled “brain food” for their choline content, Jennifer Shim, 39, a senior dietitian at Parkway East Hospital, calls it “an oversimplified marketing term”.
There is a scientific rationale because eggs contain choline, as well as vitamin B12 and folate, which support nervous system health and cognitive function, she says, but these nutrients should be consumed as part of a balanced diet.
Egg whites are not necessarily healthier. The yolk holds most of the egg’s choline; vitamins A, B12, D, E and K; folate; lutein; zeaxanthin; and selenium.
An average egg provides about 6g to 7g of high-quality protein, but Shim points out that similar amounts can also be obtained from milk, yogurt, tofu, fish, chicken or lean meat.
Hung cautions that framing any single food as a “brain food” risks creating a false sense of security, encouraging overconsumption while distracting from interventions with stronger clinical evidence.
She observes that nutrients in eggs – such as lutein and choline, which are associated with brain health – can also be obtained from foods such as dark leafy greens and soya beans.
Tey of Woodlands Hospital says: “Egg whites are no healthier than yolks or whole eggs and vice versa. However, they play a different role depending on every individual’s health or diet goals.”
Family physician Desmond Lee, 32, of Crawfurd Medical Centre, who is also a medical content creator, has observed that social media content creators promote eating eggs as part of the protein and “brain food” trend.
Some of their posts feature people eating six, eight or even a dozen eggs a day and then showing off their physique, or a set of clean blood test results, creating the impression that it is advisable for everyone else to follow suit.
“How eggs affect your body, for better or worse, varies a great deal with your genetics, your age and any health conditions you already have,” he says.
A person’s diet, sleep and exercise regimens and genetics may have far more to do with those results than eggs alone, he adds.
How many eggs to eat?
Three dietitians and one nutritionist interviewed say there is no universally agreed upper limit for egg consumption for healthy adults.
Most say one to two eggs a day can fit into a balanced diet, although people with high LDL cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or inherited cholesterol disorders may need individual advice.
Jagdish says current evidence supports about one whole egg a day, or seven a week, for healthy adults. The AHA allows up to two eggs daily for healthy older adults with normal cholesterol levels.
The national health portal, HealthHub, also debunks the food myth that eggs are bad for the heart. Its website states that most healthy people can eat an egg a day as the body compensates for the cholesterol intake by manufacturing less cholesterol.
For older adults, protein is another consideration. Lee says his older patients are “far more likely to be eating too little protein than too many eggs”.
Most experts also say what is consumed together with the eggs may have a greater impact on health than the eggs themselves.
Tey notes that bacon, sausages and buttered toast are more likely to push up LDL cholesterol because of their saturated fat content, while vegetables and wholegrain bread make for a more balanced meal.
Lee says a boiled or poached egg with nothing added has about 60 to 80 calories, while frying the egg adds oil or butter. He observes that locally, fried eggs are also often eaten with bacon, luncheon meat or prata – adding saturated fat or sodium – while half-boiled eggs get a generous splash of soya sauce.
He recommends boiled, poached or steamed eggs as the default. If frying eggs, use a modest amount of oil and pay more attention to the rest of the plate than to the egg itself.
hedykhoo@sph.com.sg
Now Stirring is a series on food topics that get diners talking.
Saturday, September 26, 2026
Singapore is now a super-aged society - 21.4% of the citizen population is 65 and above up from 13.7% a decade ago 2026-09-26
Singapore is now a super-aged society - 21.4% of the citizen population is 65 and above up from 13.7% a decade ago
Wong Yang
The Straits Times
2026-09-26
Singapore has officially become a super-aged society, with more than 21 per cent of the citizen population aged 65 and older.
In 2026, 21.4 per cent of Singaporeans are in this age group, up from 20.7 per cent in 2025 and 13.7 per cent a decade ago.
This means the Republic has crossed the threshold for the United Nations’ definition of a super-aged society, where 21 per cent or more of the population is aged 65 and older.
The number of Singaporeans aged 80 and older also increased to 152,000 in 2026, up from 145,000 in 2025. This is a 60 per cent jump from a decade ago, when there were 95,000 citizens in this age group.
These figures were published by the National Population and Talent Division on Sept 25 in its annual Population In Brief report, which provides an update on Singapore’s key population trends over the past year.
The report said that more than one in four citizens is estimated to be aged 65 and above by 2035.
Meanwhile, the proportion of working-age people has fallen in the past decade.
Those between 20 and 64 years of age are typically defined as working-age people capable of providing economic support to older dependants.
In 2026, there are 59.3 per cent of Singaporeans in this age group, down from 64.3 per cent in 2016.
The report said this figure is expected to remain “broadly stable” between 2030 and 2035, with smaller cohorts moving into the 65 and older age group and younger cohorts flowing into the 20 to 64 band, in part due to immigration.
The ratio of working-age residents to elderly residents aged 65 and older fell from 5.4 in 2016 to 3.2 in 2026.
At the same time, the median age of Singaporeans also rose from 43.7 in 2025 to 44.1 in 2026.
Sociologists who spoke to The Straits Times said the authorities have taken crucial steps to meet the changing needs of Singapore’s rapidly ageing population, such as by reforming healthcare towards preventive care, expanding care beyond hospitals and bringing in new citizens.
But they warned that social dynamics could also change as Singaporeans above 65 form a growing part of the electorate and have a larger say at the polls.
Nanyang Technological University assistant professor of sociology Shannon Ang cited the concept of a gerontocracy, where a society is led by people much older than the general population.
While this has not played out in Singapore, Ang said there is a small chance that the needs and interests of older people are amplified above those of the younger generation.
This could result in both groups viewing each other through a zero-sum lens where “my gain is your loss”, said Tan Ern Ser, adjunct principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies.
“In some countries, there seems to be this dynamic where the young find that they have to support more and more of the old, who contribute less in taxes than before, and that can cause intergenerational conflict. Hopefully, we don’t come to that here.”
Both sociologists pointed out that many seniors here want to continue working.
Nearly one in three Singapore residents aged 65 and older were employed in 2025, up from 24.7 per cent in 2015.
Beyond dependency ratios, Ang said it is important to consider the different forms that work can take for seniors so that they can continue to be valued members of society, and how to foster interactions between the young and the old.
wongyang@sph.com.sg
Singapore population rises 1.6% to 6.21 million -- Increase driven by more construction workers for projects like T5 and housing -- 2026-09-26
Increase driven by more construction workers for projects like T5 and housing
Ng Wei Kai
Correspondent
The population of Singapore has risen to 6.21 million as at June 2026, up from 6.11 million the year before.
Overall, the total population grew by 97,300, with non-residents adding 70,300, citizens 24,200 and permanent residents 2,800.
The increase – 1.6 per cent – was driven in particular by more construction workers for key infrastructure projects such as Changi Airport Terminal 5 and the ramp-up of housing supply, said the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) on Sept 25.
These workers, considered part of the non-resident population, are also involved in the Marina Bay Sands expansion and in building transport infrastructure, it said.
Meanwhile, the citizen population increased by 0.7 per cent to 3.68 million in June 2026, from 3.66 million in June 2025, said the NPTD in its annual Population in Brief 2026 report.
Singapore’s permanent resident (PR) population remained relatively stable at 0.55 million in June 2026, the report added.
In 2025, 25,094 people were granted citizenship, and another 35,352 were granted permanent residency. The average number of citizenships and permanent residencies granted per year from 2021 to 2025 rose compared with the five years before, it said.
In that time, Singapore granted an average of 22,400 citizenships and 34,600 permanent residencies, compared with an average of 20,600 citizenships and 31,200 permanent residencies between 2016 and 2020.
The report broke down the demographics of the 25,094 new citizens and 35,352 new PRs for 2025.
Most came from South-east Asia, with 62.1 per cent of new citizens and 61.6 per cent of new PRs hailing from the region.
Another 35.4 per cent of new citizens and 31.6 per cent of new PRs came from other Asian countries, with the remainder coming from elsewhere.
Among new citizens and PRs aged 20 and above, more than four in 10 had post-secondary qualifications. The rest had a secondary education or below.
Non-residents, which make up the remainder of the population, increased by 3.7 per cent to 1.98 million in June 2026 from 1.91 million in June 2025.
The increase was driven primarily by more work permit holders and migrant domestic workers, the report said.
Foreign employment growth in Singapore was higher over the period of June 2025 to June 2026, compared with June 2024 to June 2025, primarily because of increases in the number of work permit holders, it said.
The report said Singapore’s non-resident population, which includes these two groups, is diverse and that its size and composition vary over time to support the country’s “evolving economic and social needs”.
Today, the foreign workforce, not including migrant domestic workers, makes up about two-thirds of the non-resident population.
The remaining one-third comprises mainly migrant domestic workers, dependants, and students, it added.
The country’s annualised population growth rate between 2021 and 2026 was higher than the preceding five-year period between 2016 and 2021.
“This was in part influenced by Covid-19, which contributed to a lower total population base in 2021 and subsequent higher growth registered on average over 2021-2026,” said the report, which also released figures on the rate at which Singapore’s population is ageing.
Singapore is now a super-aged society, with more than 21 per cent of the population aged 65 and older.
Commenting on the growth in Singapore’s foreign workforce, labour economist Walter Theseira said demand is concentrated in areas where locals are unwilling to take up jobs, such as construction or domestic work.
The ageing population also means increased demand every year for domestic and care work – much of which is also not desirable for local workers, said Theseira, who is an associate professor of economics at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Singapore also has a “long list” of upcoming infrastructure projects including new MRT lines, plans for land reclamation along the East Coast and the merging of several offshore islands announced at the National Day Rally in August, Theseira noted.
On the rising numbers of new citizens and PRs, Mathews Mathew, principal research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said immigration in 2020 would have been unusually low because of the pandemic.
Aside from this, the Government did increase the intake of residents in line with the concerns over Singapore’s ageing population and low fertility rate, he noted.
Immigration is increasingly important in preventing the citizen population from shrinking too quickly, and the Government has indicated that it expects somewhat higher citizen and PR intake over the next five years, he said.
At the 2026 Budget debate, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said Singapore will carefully manage the immigration flow to augment the dismal birth rate.
Depending on demographic trends, the Government expects to grant 25,000 to 30,000 new citizenships annually over the next five years – which means from 17 per cent to 41 per cent more than the average of 21,300 new citizenships granted annually between 2020 and 2024.
He added that the number of new PRs granted will also go from an average of 33,000 a year between 2020 and 2024, to about 40,000 a year in the next five years.
Individuals must be PRs for at least two years before they can apply for citizenship.
Socially and politically, the issue will increasingly be about how immigration and naturalisation are managed, Mathew said.
“Polls show that Singaporeans generally understand why immigration is necessary, but while there is an understanding of the economic imperative, there remain concerns about jobs, fairness, whether we have sufficient infrastructure to absorb more of a population and whether newcomers actually integrate,” he said.
The population does not just need persuasion that immigration is critical for Singapore’s well-being, but have to feel that the pace is manageable, he added.
“Very importantly, they need to feel that new citizens have developed a genuine sense of belonging and commitment to Singapore,” he said.
Marriage and parenthood
The report also gave some new figures on marriage and parenthood. There were 21,671 citizen marriages in 2025, 5.6 per cent lower than the 22,955 citizen marriages in 2024, the report added.
The average number of citizen marriages per year from 2023 to 2025 was 23,000, lower than between 2016 and 2019 when the average was 23,500 a year, it said.
Singaporeans are also getting married later. The report said the median age at first marriage for grooms was 30.8 and 29.1 for brides in 2025, up from 30.1 for grooms and 27.9 for brides in 2015.
It added that transnational marriages made up 37 per cent of citizen marriages in 2025 – a figure which has been largely stable since 2015, barring dips during the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
Inter-ethnic marriages made up 19 per cent of citizen marriages in 2025. This proportion has also remained largely stable since 2015, it said.
Meanwhile, the proportion of single Singaporeans has been rising over time, it added.
Between 2015 and 2025, the proportion of singles rose across most male and female age groups.
It noted that this trend is particularly pronounced for those aged from 25 to 29 and 30 to 34.
ngweikai@sph.com.sg
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