|The Egg or Not the Egg

I have been wondering about the benefits and risks of eating eggs. Here's a bit of what I've found.

[1] Time To Put Eggs Back On The Breakfast Menu (The Princeton Longevity Center Medical News, no date).

Dietary intake of cholesterol is likely to be a minor contributor to blood cholesterol levels.  Most of the cholesterol in your blood is produced internally by the liver and is not from the diet.  Other dietary and environmental factors can influence the amount of cholesterol the liver produces.  Cholesterol levels are likely to be affected more by a high intake of saturated or trans fats, lack of exercise, smoking and other factors than by dietary levels of cholesterol. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

 [2] Eggs and Heart Disease (Harvard, no date).

A solid body of research shows that for most people, cholesterol in food has a much smaller effect on blood levels of total cholesterol and harmful LDL cholesterol than does the mix of fats in the diet. Recent research has shown that moderate egg consumption—up to one a day—does not increase heart disease risk in healthy individuals (1, 2) and can be part of a healthy diet. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[3] Myth #8. Cholesterol in eggs is bad for the heart (Mother Nature Network, 2012).

The perceived association between dietary cholesterol and risk for coronary heart disease stems from dietary recommendations proposed in the 1960s that had little scientific evidence, other than the known association between saturated fat and cholesterol and animal studies where cholesterol was fed in amounts far exceeding normal intakes. Since then, study after study has found that dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol found in food) does not negatively raise your body’s cholesterol. It is the consumption of saturated fat that is the demon here. So eat eggs, don’t eat steak. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[4] Sunny-Side Up: In Defense of Eggs (The Atlantic, 2012).

Are we to increase our consumption of egg yolks as Seneff suggests or completely eliminate them as Spence advises? What we need are clear guidelines, not influenced by industry, that present a straightforward approach to weight loss and a healthy body. The simplest answer currently available is to eliminate processed foods from our diets -- the saturation of processed foods into our diets tracks most closely with the rise in obesity and diet-related disease in this country. So when presented with confusing dietary advice or questions while food shopping ask yourself this simple question: What's my least processed option? Take that one. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[5] A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women (PubMed, 1999).

These findings suggest that consumption of up to 1 egg per day is unlikely to have substantial overall impact on the risk of CHD or stroke among healthy men and women. The apparent increased risk of CHD associated with higher egg consumption among diabetic participants warrants further research. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[6] An egg a day won’t increase your risk of heart disease (WebMD, 2013).

Given that eggs are high in cholesterol, it’s not clear why they don’t increase the risk of heart disease. Researchers think it might be because your cholesterol levels may have less to do with how much cholesterol you eat, and more to do with your general diet, such as how much saturated fat you eat.

 [7] Unscrambling Egg Science (Huffington Post, 2012).

The study most recently in the headlines -- just published in the journal Atherosclerosis -- suggests not only that egg ingestion increases the risk of heart disease, but also that the association is as strong as that for cigarettes. I don't believe either is true. [COMPLETE ARTICLE] [MORE & MORE]

[8] 8 Fatty Foods with Health Benefits (Mens Health, no date).

In a recent review of dozens of scientific studies, Wake Forest University researchers found no connection between egg consumption and heart disease. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[9] No more than 6 (About, 2008; correlational study).

A Harvard study of over 21,000 male physicians found that men who ate up to 6 eggs a week had no increase in their rate of death. But once they ate a seventh egg, their risk of death went up 23%. [COMPLETE ARTICLES]

[10] Eggs: Dietary Friend or Foe? (MedicineNet, no date)

Finally, some scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health looked at a population of 117,000 nurses who had been followed for eight to 14 years and found no difference in heart disease risk between those who ate one egg a week and those who ate more than one egg a day. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[11] Are chicken eggs good or bad for my cholesterol? (Mayo Clinic, no date).

Chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, and a diet high in cholesterol can contribute to high blood cholesterol levels. However, how much the cholesterol in your diet can increase your blood cholesterol varies from person to person. Although eating too many eggs can increase your cholesterol, eating four egg yolks or fewer on a weekly basis hasn't been found to increase your risk of heart disease. [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

[12] Eating Eggs: A Near Dozen Reasons For and Against (EmaxHealth, 2013). [COMPLETE ARTICLE]

CONCLUDING REMARK
Eggs aside, this line from #4 above stood out to me, and is in harmony with Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: "So when presented with confusing dietary advice or questions while food shopping ask yourself this simple question: What's my least processed option? Take that one."

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