Posted on 12/12/2023 12:15:49 PM PST by Red Badger
A new study on egg consumption in healthy young adults finds that whole eggs increase beneficial nutrients without negatively impacting heart disease or diabetes markers. The research also highlights gender-specific dietary responses and sets the stage for future studies on personalized nutrition.
New research broadens the understanding of the nutritional impact of egg consumption in young, healthy adults.
Are eggs good for you?
Scientists have been studying this divisive question for years. Some have found that egg intake increases LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and inflammatory markers associated with heart disease and diabetes, while others have highlighted the benefits of egg consumption thanks to their nutritional density.
Catherine J. Andersen, associate professor of nutritional sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, recently published a study in Nutrients that provides a broader perspective on the nutritional outcomes of egg consumption in healthy young adults.
Most existing research articles that evaluate the health effects of eggs tend to focus on a more limited range of standard clinical measurements, looking at biomarkers for heart disease, diabetes, body composition, inflammation, immune health, and anemia in isolation, rather than all together. Participants in these studies also tend to have pre-existing risk factors for chronic disease. They typically also follow additional dietary regimen changes like weight loss plans. These factors can complicate interpretations of how eggs affect health markers in the general or young, healthy population.
Andersen and her collaborators conducted a more comprehensive, clinically focused study that considered many health measurements a doctor would look at during a routine physical.
“It helps to provide a comprehensive picture of the effects of egg intake in a young, healthy population utilizing standard, routine clinical biomarkers,” Andersen says. “We believe that allows for greater translation to the general public.”
Findings on Choline and Heart Disease Risk
The study compared eating no eggs, three egg whites per day, and three whole eggs per day. Participants could prepare the eggs however they preferred.
Andersen found that blood samples showed a significant increase in choline, an essential nutrient found in egg yolks, when participants ate whole eggs daily. Choline intake has been associated with increases in a metabolite known as TMAO, which is linked to heart disease. But Andersen’s study found that TMAO did not change in this population despite increases in choline.
“That’s kind of the best-case scenario,” Andersen says. “We want to have rich amounts of this important nutrient, but not increase this metabolite that could potentially promote cardiovascular disease.”
Impact on Inflammation, Cholesterol, and Diabetes
The researchers did not see any adverse changes in inflammation or blood cholesterol levels either. They also found that eating whole eggs had less of a negative impact on markers associated with diabetes risk than eating egg whites.
Overall, participants had greater nutrient density in their diet when consuming the whole eggs, in addition to higher hematocrit – a measure of red blood cell density in the blood, which can be lowered in anemia.
“The fact that we were looking at the comprehensive range of measurement allows for a better assessment of the overall effects of egg intake that one might expect,” Andersen says. “I think that’s important because if you see one marker change that is less positive, you can see, perhaps in context, beneficial shifts in others.”
Gender-Specific Effects and Future Research
The study included both male and female participants. About half of the female participants were taking a combination oral birth control pill. This allowed Andersen to look at potential differences between the nutritional outcomes for women taking the pill versus those who were not.
“These are very common medications, and there are a lack of studies that have looked at the effect of taking these medications on how one might respond to a dietary intervention,” Andersen says.
While not all statistically significant, the researchers did observe some differences in this sub-group.
Blood samples from female participants who were not taking the pill had greater increases in the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL-cholesterol, which is considered a risk factor for heart disease.
“That was the opposite of what we could expect,” Andersen says. “Because hormonal birth control medications are often associated with adverse metabolic changes. But in this case, it seemed to have more of a protective effect in response to eggs.”
Female participants who were not on the pill also had greater increases in blood monocytes compared to participants who were taking the pill. Monocytes are part of the body’s first-line immune defense. Interestingly, regardless of medication use, changes in clinical immune profiles from whole egg intake correlated with a number of clinical HDL measures.
This paper is the first in a series in which Andersen is looking at mechanistic pathways related to egg intake and the HDL-immune relationship. Other questions her lab is addressing include the composition of HDL particles and their capacity to regulate the activity of immune cells, since it was recently found that HDL can carry hundreds of proteins, not just cholesterol. Andersen also plans to explore differences in nutritional outcomes of eating eggs in older versus younger participants.
“The trend in the field of nutrition is to establish a framework for making precision or personalized nutrition recommendations, and explore how differences age, sex, genetics, microbiome composition, and more can impact an individual’s response to dietary intervention,” Andersen says. “Certainly, that’s something my lab and others in my department are starting to look at more.”
Reference:
“Consumption of Different Egg-Based Diets Alters Clinical Metabolic and Hematological Parameters in Young, Healthy Men and Women” by Catherine J. Andersen, Lindsey Huang, Fangyi Zhai, Christa Palancia Esposito, Julia M. Greco, Ruijie Zhang, Rachael Woodruff, Allison Sloan and Aaron R. Van Dyke, 26 August 2023, Nutrients.
“The incredible, edible egg”
“Surprising” ...one of the most natural foods on the planet.
Two a day for me. At least.
I have a shiite load of free range chickens.
I have more eggs than I can possibly consume if I can find them!
I love eggs but have read that they are associated with prostate cancer due to the high choline content.
Eggs are excellent 2 hard boiled eggs are a meal for me... can go about 4-5 hours off of them without any sort of hunger.. 120 calories, zero carbs.
Whisk them up and freeze them. If you find them
Once you do find them leave one egg behind and they will come back to continue laying in that spot. An uncle of mine taught me that trick many years ago and it definitely works. Hence the phrase “nest egg”.
LOL, you should be careful or some city slickers might actually believe you. (It was on the Internet, so it MUST be true!)
+1 (Thank you!)
My Guy always said eggs are a complete chicken dinner on a budget without the feathers!
“Once you do find them leave one egg behind and they will come back to continue laying in that spot”
That is true!
But you don’t want them in your shop, car, or under house as they often end up.
I live in rural Hawaii close to the ocean so temps rarely deviate from low 60’s to high 80’s and the house and shop is very open year round.
I have to chase chickens out of my house, shop, and cars!
bkmk
Fifty-five years ago I was seeing my gynecologist regularly. We had a big discussion at work over the safety of eating eggs regularly. Several of us decided to eat 2 eggs a day and have our blood checked on our next doctor’s visit. None of us had any egg attributable problems when tested.
Today there was an interesting announcement that doctors thought they might have found a way to conquer the nausea of pregnancy problem. Sheesh, Adele Davis had the answer to that more than 55 years ago, which I tried during my second pregnancy. With my first baby I felt nausea during most of my pregnancy. Then I read about the use of Vitamin B6 for nausea and seasickness. I took 25 mg. a day during my second pregnancy and never had any nausea until one day I forgot to take my vitamins. the next day I did take my vitamins, and no nausea ever again for the remainder of the 9 months. Please urge your women friends to consider this cheap and effective cure for nausea of pregnancy. I should add I also tried to use the pill which caused such nausea I quit after 3 days.
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