Popular knowledge has it that eggs, due to their high cholesterol content, are quite bad for us. New research, however, […]
Popular knowledge has it that eggs, due to their high cholesterol content, are quite bad for us. New research, however, suggests we would do well to indulge in more egg consumption: about one per day could help us to steer clear of cardiovascular conditions.
Some studies have suggested that, due to yolks’ high cholesterol content, eggs can be a harmful food — particularly for people already at risk of cardiovascular events.
However, despite being rich in cholesterol, eggs are also a great source of healthful nutrients, such as protein, vitamins, phospholipids, and carotenoids.
And, recent research from the School of Public Health at Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing, China, has increasingly gathered evidence showing that eggs don’t really influence the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Lead investigators Prof. Liming Li and Dr. Canqing Yu have now found that a diet in which eggs are consumed on a regular basis may actually protect cardiovascular health.
In this study, Prof. Li and team analyzed health-related information from 416,213 adult participants recruited in 2004–2008. They were all free of cancer, CVD, and diabetes at baseline.
At recruitment, the participants reported how often they ate eggs — 13.1 percent of them admitting to daily consumption (about 0.76 eggs per day) and 9.1 percent saying that they only indulged in eggs rarely (0.29 eggs per day) or not at all.
The researchers’ analysis revealed that individuals who usually ate about one egg per day had a 26 percent lower risk of experiencing hemorrhagic stroke, a 28 percent lower risk of death due to this type of event, and an 18 percent lower risk of CVD-related mortality.
“The present study finds that there is an association between moderate level of egg consumption (up to 1 egg/day) and a lower cardiac event rate,” the study authors explain.
“Our findings,” the researchers conclude, “contribute scientific evidence to the dietary guidelines with regard to egg consumption for the healthy Chinese adult.”