After years of doctors warning patients to avoid eggs for fear of raising their cholesterol, more and more research is disproving that notion.
People who ate 12 fortified eggs per week had cholesterol levels similar to those who followed a non-egg diet, a study to be presented on Apr. 6 at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session has found.
The trial involved 140 people with heart disease or at high risk for it, who were randomly assigned to eat either a dozen or more eggs a week, or consume less than two.
When they were followed for four months, researchers didn’t see any adverse effects on cardiovascular health in the people who ate eggs every day and even noticed signals of potential benefits compared to the egg abstainers, says Dr. Nina Nouhravesh, lead author and a research fellow at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina.
“The consumption of 12 fortified eggs per week did not negatively impact their cholesterol,” Nouhravesh tells TODAY.com.
Insulin resistance improved in those who ate eggs every day, the study found. People over 65 in this group even saw their HDL “good” cholesterol rise and LDL “bad” cholesterol drop.
Researchers asked the participants to eat fortified eggs — which contain more omega-3 fatty acids, iodine and vitamins D, B and E, and less saturated fat than regular eggs — because they might offer a healthier profile, Nouhravesh notes.
That’s accomplished with the type of feed hens receive. Fortified eggs are widely available in supermarkets, but they’re more expensive than regular eggs, she adds.
The study hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet. It was funded by Eggland’s Best, but that didn’t influence the results, Nouhravesh says.
Are eggs bad for your cholesterol?
All recent studies exonerate eggs, so this paper’s results are consistent with other research, says Dr. James O’Keefe, a member of the American College of Cardiology’s nutrition and…
Read the full article here
