It’s been a long journey back to respectability for the common egg. Once attacked as a leading culprit of high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, more recent science has found little strong evidence for these claims. Now, a new review published Tuesday in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition suggests that eggs may even help lower our risk of stroke.

Researchers analyzed 7 similar studies on the effects of egg intake on cardiovascular health. As with earlier studies, including other meta-analyses, they found no clear link between coronary heart disease or cardiovascular disease in general to eating eggs regularly. However, the consumption of up to one egg a day was associated with a 12 percent lower risk of stroke.

Although the findings are unable to determine why eggs could have this stoke-busting ability, there are some possible explanations, offered lead author Dr. Dominik Alexander, a researcher at the EpidStat Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"Eggs do have many positive nutritional attributes, including antioxidants, which have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation,” Alexander said in a statement issued by the Egg Nutrition Center — the scientific research arm of the American Egg Board — which partially funded the study. “They are also an excellent source of protein, which has been related to lower blood pressure."

More research, however, will be needed to tease out which aspects of the egg may be ultimately responsible, Alexander added.

The review is yet another sign of the changing times. Last year, the government’s 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans broke from tradition by removing any recommended limit on dietary cholesterol, which eggs are high in. It also touted eggs for being one of many “nutritionally dense foods” that are “naturally rich in vitamins, minerals, and other substances that may have positive health effects.”

Elsewhere, combining eggs with a healthy mix of vegetables has been shown to increase our ability to absorb other antioxidants like carotenoids.