There was a time, not long ago, when Eggs were condemned (along with Butter and other comfort foods) as contributing materially to your risk of developing Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Now, the pendulum is swinging the other way, and some doctors are even recommending we eat more Eggs…
A beautiful, Golden Omelet is just one way to enjoy adding more eggs to your diet!
Study says Eggs not linked to higher risk of CVD
University of Sydney (Australia) researchers aim to help clear up conflicting dietary advice around Egg consumption, as a new study finds eating up to 12 Eggs per week for a year did not increase cardiovascular risk factors in people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
the research was conducted with the University of Sydney’s Sydney Medical School and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
In the initial trial, participants aimed to maintain their weight while embarking on a high-egg (12 eggs per week) or low-egg (less than two eggs per week) diet, with no difference in cardiovascular risk markers identified at the end of three months.
The same participants then embarked on a weight loss diet for an additional three months, while continuing their high or low egg consumption. For a further six months — up to 12 months in total — participants were followed up by researchers and continued their high or low egg intake.
At all stages, both groups showed no adverse changes in cardiovascular risk markers and achieved equivalent weight loss – regardless of their level of Egg consumption, study Lead Author Dr. Nick Fuller explained.
“Despite differing advice around safe levels of egg consumption for people with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, our research indicates people do not need to hold back from eating eggs if this is part of a healthy diet,” Fuller said.
This study says we should eat more eggs…
Scientists and MDs from China and the UK led by Professor Liming Li and Dr Canqing Yu from the School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, set out to examine the associations between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, major coronary events, haemorrhagic stroke and ischaemic stroke.
They used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study, an ongoing prospective study of around half a million (512,891) adults aged 30 to 79 from 10 different geographical areas in China. For their study, the researchers focused on 416,213 participants who were free of prior cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.
At the start of the study period, 13.1% of participants reported daily consumption (usual amount 0.76 egg/day) and 9.1% reported never or very rare consumption (usual amount 0.29 egg/day) of eggs. Analysis of the results showed that compared with people not consuming Eggs, daily Egg consumption was associated with a lower risk of CVD overall. In particular, daily Egg consumers (up to one egg/day) had a 26% lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke — the type of stroke with a higher prevalence rate in China than in high-income countries – a 28% lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke death and an 18% lower risk of CVD death.
In addition, there was a 12% reduction in risk of ischaemic heart disease observed for people consuming eggs daily (estimated amount 5.32 eggs/week), when compared with the ‘never/rarely’ consumption category (2.03 eggs/week).
And there you have it…
Eggs good, anti-Egg paranoia bad. I know I’Il eat more Eggs, now. Eggs are a great source of Omega-3 and -6, as well as protein and other important nutrients. Better yet, Eggs are among a very few foods that have remained steady in price over the past few decades – a Grade A Large Egg still costs only about $0.25. So, enjoy!
~ Maggie J.