Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Perhaps this is not the most important question, but whether eggs are good or bad for your health. Unfortunately, science doesn’t seem to be able to establish a clear answer to that either, CNN commented.
Last year, a large Harvard University analysis of 215,000 people found that eating one egg a day was not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Now, a new study of more than 500,000 people has found that eating even a daily serving of a whole egg, with its cholesterol-laden yolk, increases the risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer.
In fact, the overall risk of death increases by 7% for each additional half egg per day, according to the study published in PLOS Medicine.
“Despite many years of research, this question of egg consumption and health has not been answered, and in recent decades there have been numerous studies showing conflicting results: some suggest that moderate egg intake is good, while others suggest that it may be bad , he said Riyaz Patela consultant cardiologist at University College London.
This study, while well conducted, unfortunately only adds more noise to the discussion, Patel said in a statement.
The study results are problematic because they only asked people once about their egg consumption, then followed them for many years without checking whether their diet changed, said Dr. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
“They’re just taking a snapshot in time,” says Willett, who is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The conclusions of this study are overstated,” Ada Garcia, senior lecturer in public health nutrition at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, said in a statement. Blaming eggs alone for an increased risk of cardiovascular disease is a simplistic and reductionist approach to the concept of diet and disease prevention.
What are the egg substitutes?
Egg producers have long promoted the theory that “eating eggs is great.” They say that at just 75 calories, one egg provides 7 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of fat and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, plus iron, vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting nutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin.
Eggs are affordable, making them an inexhaustible source of nutrition for families on a tight food budget. Many people following popular low-carb diets like keto also rely heavily on eggs in their meal plans.
The problem, of course, is the level of cholesterol in the egg yolk: a large egg yolk can produce about 185 milligrams of cholesterol.
Cholesterol is not harmless. Produced by the liver, cholesterol is in every cell of the body and is used to make hormones, vitamin D, digestive compounds, and more. Sometimes a person’s body can produce too much cholesterol, leading to a build-up of waxy plaque in the blood vessels and later cardiovascular disease.
Cholesterol plays a role in our diet, but it’s more complicated than we thought, said Willett, who has spent more than 40 years studying the effect of diet on the onset of major diseases.
The Dietary Guidelines are used to recommend an upper limit of 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day. Current guidelines suggest eating as little as possible while keeping saturated fat below 10% of daily calories.
The key, Willett said, is to look at the overall nutritional pros and cons of the food, as well as what the food replaces in the diet.
Look at fish, for example. Fish contains cholesterol, but also provides essential omega-3 fatty acids needed for optimal health.
And saturated fat in butter, full-fat dairy, and fatty cuts of meat have a much greater effect on raising blood LDL (low-density lipoprotein) levels than dietary sources of cholesterol, such as eggs.
“If someone were to replace eggs with donuts, other refined starches and sugar or saturated fat, I would rather they eat eggs,” Willett said.
“But for someone who really wants to be in optimal health, focusing on plant-based protein sources like oatmeal and nuts would be a better way to go.”
“Someone taking medication to lower blood cholesterol levels would probably be better off limiting their intake,” Willett says. Eggs don’t have to be completely eliminated, but I think the old recommendation of no more than two eggs a week, for most people, is still a good recommendation
People with type 2 diabetes should also be careful. The 2020 Harvard study found that higher egg intake by people with type 2 diabetes was associated with increased cardiovascular risk, a link that has been replicated in previous studies.
What about egg whites?
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Can you safely substitute egg yolks for egg whites? The new PLOS study found that replacing half a whole egg with an equivalent amount of egg whites or egg substitutes reduced the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 3%.
“In my view, the authors’ recommendation to replace whole eggs with egg whites is not supported by the totality of the available evidence,” said Patel of University College London.
“Most studies haven’t looked at eggs without yolks,” says Willett, “mainly because egg white consumption is quite low in the general population. The lowest risk is to replace eggs with nuts and plant-based protein sources.
Patel added: I don’t think this study changes the general advice that, for most people, eggs can be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet, unless they’ve been advised not to for some reason. Specific medical or dietary”.
