Moderate egg consumption can increase heart-healthy metabolites in the blood and reduce the chances of a stroke or a heart attack, a new study has found. The findings, published in the eLife journal, suggest that eating one egg a day could help lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Eggs are rich in dietary cholesterol, but also contain various essential nutrients. There is, however, conflicting evidence over egg consumption and its impact on heart health. A 2018 study in Heart, which covered almost 500,000 adults in China, found that those who ate eggs on a daily basis had a substantially lower risk of stroke and heart disease than those who ate eggs infrequently. [1]

Figure 1. Eating Eggs can Protect against Heart Disease and Improve Heart Health

Figure 1 shows “Few studies have looked at the role that plasma cholesterol metabolism plays in the association between egg consumption and the risk of cardiovascular diseases, so we wanted to help address this gap,” explains first author Lang Pan, MSc at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Pan and the team selected 4,778 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank, of whom 3,401 had a cardiovascular disease and 1,377 did not. They used a technique called targeted nuclear magnetic resonance to measure 225 metabolites in plasma samples taken from the participants’ blood. Of these metabolites, they identified 24 that were associated with self-reported levels of egg consumption. [2]

Their analyses showed that individuals who ate a moderate amount of eggs had higher levels of a protein in their blood called apolipoprotein A1- a building-block of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as 'good lipoprotein'.

The researchers further identified 14 metabolites that are linked to heart disease. They found that participants who ate fewer eggs had lower levels of beneficial metabolites and higher levels of harmful ones in their blood, compared to those who ate eggs more regularly. [3]

"Together, our results provide a potential explanation for how eating a moderate amount of eggs can help protect against heart disease," said author Canqing Yu, Associate Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University to ANI. He also added, "More studies are needed to verify the causal roles that lipid metabolites play in the association between egg consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease." [4]

References:

1. https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/eggs-healthy-metabolites-heart-attack-stroke/2538294/
2. https://scitechdaily.com/how-eating-eggs-can-protect-against-heart-disease-and-improve-heart-health/
3. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220524124839.htm
4. https://food.ndtv.com/health/heart-health-moderate-egg-consumption-may-improve-your-hearts-well-being-3010861

Cite this article:

Thanusri swetha J (2022), Eating Eggs can Protect against Heart Disease and Improve Heart Health, Anatechmaz, pp.170