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Eating one egg daily failed to increase CHD, stroke risk
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The relationship between egg consumption and the risk for CVD has remained controversial because of the significant amount of dietary cholesterol in eggs. However, the results of one dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies led researchers to suggest that up to one egg per day is not associated with an increased risk for CHD or stroke.
“Since eggs are a major source of dietary cholesterol, with one large egg containing almost 210 mg of cholesterol, the public has been recommended to limit egg consumption unless the intake of other foods high in cholesterol is restricted,” the researchers wrote.
They reviewed eight prospective cohort studies with 17 reports published in Embase and PubMed from January 1966 to June 2012 that examined the link between egg consumption and risk for CHD (n=9) and stroke (n=8). The meta-analysis included 3,081,269 person-years and 5,847 incident cases for CHD, in addition to 4,148,095 person-years and 7,579 incident cases for stroke.
According to data, researchers did not find evidence of a curve linear association between egg consumption and risk for CHD (P=.67) or stroke (P=.27). However, consuming one egg per day yielded a summary RR for CHD (RR=0.99; 95% CI, 0.85-1.15) without heterogeneity among studies (P=.97). Similarly, consuming one egg per day demonstrated a summary RR for stroke (RR=0.91; 95% CI, 0.81-1.02) without heterogeneity among studies (P=.46), the researchers wrote.
Further researchers is warranted due to findings from a subgroup analysis of patients with diabetes in which the RR for CHD, comparing the highest with the lowest egg consumption, was 1.54 (95% CI, 1.14-2.09), the researchers concluded. Additionally, people with higher egg consumption had a 25% lower risk for developing hemorrhagic stroke.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Michael Kleerekoper, MD, MACE
There is no doubt that a diet full of calories, carbohydrates and meals full of lipids will have an adverse effect on the risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly in older patients with diabetes. I am fortunate to work in a clinical setting that I share with a diabetes educator and a dietitian, both of whom work hard to educate the patient on the types and amount of food they should or should not consume. Our success rate is not as good as we would like to see. A happily married couple has developed their eating habits over a number of years and having that altered is no easy task. As it relates to egg consumption, changing a breakfast of eggs and bacon is not popular. The impact on glycemic control can be overcome to some extent by adjusting pre-meal insulin dosing but that likely has a limited effect on CV risk.
The best tool I have found is Nuval, which provides a long list of the nutrional value of food found on the shelves in many groceries. When I share this with patients, there is a great deal of surprise when they learn what they have been enjoying for years is detrimental to their health. It is too soon to find out how many will take this seriously, but I am not anticipating much change.
For more information, visit http://www.nuval.com/.
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