Thank you Chickens!
Please give me some good news, since I can’t eat bacon. Do eggs prevent heart disease? How many can I eat a week?
It seems like eggs are in nutrition prison one day and out the next. A great egg study out of China, surveyed about a 1/2 million people about their egg consumption and then followed them over 9 years for heart disease and stroke. They found that compared to people who hardly ate eggs, that daily egg consumption may protect people from heart disease, death, and strokes. This finding confirms a trend that was seen in the Nurses Health Study where daily egg consumption was associated with less strokes.
Do eggs prevent strokes?
Other studies have shown at least there is no harm with daily egg consumption. One study showed that eating eggs daily compared to two times a week, did not lead to different outcomes with heart attacks. That being said, the study did show that even one egg a week may reduce stroke rates. In the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Lifespan study they found that four types of protein (eggs, dairy, fish, and broiled fish) were associated with a lower risk of stroke, while other protein types (beef, pork, chicken, ham, sausage and milk) were not harmful or protective. Specifically, the reduction in strokes was seen in “bleeding” type strokes.
But egg yolks have CHOLESTEROL!? Everyone healthy I know gets the egg WHITE only omelets at the fancy hotel breakfasts.
One of the reasons that eggs have been discouraged is that eggs have cholesterol and other fats (See the above video off YouTube). Repeat this three times: Fat is not the enemy! Multiple large, well done studies have shown that certain fats are very protective of heart disease. Interestingly a recent study has shown that even though eating cholesterol slightly raises total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, it also raised HDL (good) cholesterol. Furthermore, there was NO association between dietary cholesterol and heart disease or strokes.
How do eggs prevent heart disease?
Eggs contain things that may be protective from heart disease. For example, eggs contain Lutein and Zeaxanthin that have been shown to reduce inflammation in the blood vessels. Reducing inflammation by eating these types of compounds reduces inflammation within the blood vessels and may prevent atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
So, what’s the bottom line?
There is good evidence that regular, even daily, egg consumption prevents heart disease and strokes (and yes, eat the yolks). There is no well done study indicating that eggs are harmful. Oh, and enjoy the video.