Although eggs are an affordable source of high-quality protein, iron and unsaturated fatty acids, their cholesterol content has always given them a bad reputation. The association of egg consumption and cardiovascular disease risk has been a topic of intense debate over the past decade. However, now egg lovers can rejoice once again.
A massive new meta-analysis suggests that consumption of one egg per day may not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. The data analysed for this study was collected over a period of three decades and has been published in the scientific journal The BMJ. Researchers, including those from Harvard University in the US, analysed health data of 173,563 women and 90,214 men who were free of cardiovascular heat disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer.
For the study, researchers used repeated measures of diet and followed it up over a period of 32 years to gain a detailed picture of potentially confounding lifestyle factors such as correlation of high body mass index (BMI) and red meat consumption. In this process, they managed to conduct the largest meta-analysis of this topic, including 28 prospective cohort studies, with up to 1.7 million participants.
During the follow-up period, there were 14,806 cases of cardiovascular disease, including 9,010 cases of coronary heart disease and 5,903 cases of stroke. Most people ate between one to five eggs per week and those with a higher egg intake had a higher BMI, were less likely to be treated with statins and ate more red meat. After adjusting for age, lifestyle and dietary factors, no association was found between egg intake and risk of cardiovascular disease.
The results supported the finding that moderate egg consumption is not associated with increased risk of heart disease in Americans and Europeans. However, researchers observed moderate egg consumption was associated with a slightly lower cardiovascular disease risk in Asian populations. This may be due to the fact that eggs are consumed in a variety of dishes in Asian cultures.
“Recent studies reignited the debated on this controversial topic, but our study provides compelling evidence supporting the lack of an appreciable association between moderate egg consumption and cardiovascular disease,” said lead author Dr Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier.
It is also important to note that, while moderate egg consumption can be part of a healthy eating pattern, it is not essential. “There is a range of other foods that can be included in a healthy breakfast, such as whole grain toast, plain yogurt and fruits,” said Dr Shilpa Bhupathiraju, research scientist at the Harvard Chan School Department of Nutrition and associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Readers should be aware that this was an observational study and, as such, cannot establish cause. The study’s authors have also pointed to some limitations, including the fact that the participants of the study were health professionals and, therefore, the findings may not be reflective of the general population.
