Eggs are Good for You

A generation of Americans reduced their egg intake because eggs contain cholesterol and cholesterol = bad. Now comes this study from the Journal of Nutrition of the effect of 3 eggs/day:

In this study, 28 overweight/obese male subjects (BMI = 25–37 kg/m2) aged 40–70 y were recruited to evaluate the contribution of dietary cholesterol from eggs in a CRD [calorie-reduced diet]. Subjects were counseled to consume a CRD (10–15% energy from carbohydrate) and they were randomly allocated to the EGG group [intake of 3 eggs per day (640 mg/d additional dietary cholesterol)] or SUB group [equivalent amount of egg substitute (0 dietary cholesterol) per day]. Energy intake decreased in both groups from 10,243 ± 4040 to 7968 ± 2401 kJ (P < 0.05) compared with baseline. All subjects irrespective of their assigned group had reduced body weight and waist circumference (P < 0.0001). Similarly, the plasma TG [triglycerides] concentration was reduced from 1.34 ± 0.66 to 0.83 ± 0.30 mmol/L after 12 wk (P < 0.001) in all subjects. The plasma LDL-C concentration, as well as the LDL-C:HDL-C ratio, did not change during the intervention. In contrast, plasma HDL-C concentration increased in the EGG group from 1.23 ± 0.39 to 1.47 ± 0.38 mmol/L (P < 0.01), whereas HDL-C did not change in the SUB group. Plasma glucose concentrations in fasting subjects did not change.

I want to raise my HDL. I am going to eat more eggs. Perhaps nose-clipped.

6 thoughts on “Eggs are Good for You

  1. Don’t know if you’ve cited this on your blog, but here is an older study concerning eggs & cholesterol:

    https://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/131/9/2358

    Excerpt from related web article on Unisci.com

    https://www.unisci.com/stories/20014/1029013.htm

    Why Eggs Don’t Contribute Much Cholesterol To Diet

    “Nutrition researchers at Kansas State University have published the first evidence that the absorption of cholesterol is reduced by another compound in the egg, a lecithin.

    “The research by Sung I. Koo, Yonghzhi Jiang and Sang K. Noh has resulted in the issue of U.S. Patent No. 6,248,728, “Compositions and methods for lowering intestinal absorption and plasma levels of cholesterol.” The patent was issued June 19 to the KSU Foundation.

    “A peer-reviewed research paper by the three researchers, “Egg phosphatidylcholine decreases the lymphatic absorption of cholesterol in rats,” appears in the September issue of Journal of Nutrition. …”

  2. “I want to raise my HDL. ” Why? I thought you were of the opinion that cholesterol doesn’t matter. Also, feeding eggs to someone on a 10 to 15% carbohydrate diet couldn’t make a lot of difference, good or bad, because they’re bound to be consuming huge amounts of fat and protein already. Adding a few eggs to a horrible diet doesn’t make it much more horrible, and hey, it even raises HDL, so party on!

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