An egg(haustive) list of health dangers ?

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever heard about the idea that eggs, and especially eggs yolk were bad for health since it was increasing the level of cholesterol ? Or that it increases the levels of fat that your body is composed of ?

Our goal will be to take a step back, and stop spreading this common preconception.

Indeed, in this article we will go through scientific literature in order to understand why this received idea can be questioned.

DEVELOPMENT

The fact is that eggs, as foodstuff, are key components of athletes’ diets. This is a cheap and accessible source of proteins that can be found everywhere.

As said before, we will build our reflexion upon scientific researches, in the context of wish to integrate, daily, more eggs through one's diet.

(1) The first study has been carried out by Diana M Dimarco & al (2017) who has studied the following process. They have incorporated eggs (progressive intake of 1,2 and 3 eggs per day) in the diet of male and female subjects for a few months. It has been shown that blood pressure has increased such as the HDL cholesterol « high-density lipoprotein » (often seen as the good cholesterol) while the LDL « low-density lipoprotein » (often seen as the bad cholesterol) has decreased.

It seems like, in a healthy population, the consumption of eggs on a daily basis doesn’t seem to impact negatively the biomarkers associated with cardiovascular risks, and that it would be beneficial for a global health.

(2) Secondly, regarding the study conducted by Roya Kolahdouz Mohammadi & Al (2020), the blood pressure is not impacted negatively by such consumption. Indeed, they precised that the study has been conducted on a total of 748 participants, with random trials, and that the egg consumption had no significant effect on (systolic blood) pressure.

(3) Such affirmation has been confirmed by the study of M. X. Wang & all (2019) since they maintained the idea that consuming whole eggs does not affect CVD (cardiovascular disease), and same for the eggs substitutes.

We know that blood pressure is an important data as far as hypotension or hypertension can be standing for medical issues, such as heart disease, stroke and/or kidney disease.

(4) Then, a study in which Shirin Pourahfshar & al (2018) were involved shown that even obese and overweight people, by consuming more eggs on a daily basis, weren’t affected negatively by such dietary move. Indeed, they found that they were no significant change in total cholesterol levels. It was even precised that « daily consumption of one large egg may reduce the risk of diabetes ».

(5) Last but not least, we wanted to highlight elements about the consumption of either only the white egg or the full egg. Stephan van Vliet & all (2017) aimed to compare the whole-body and muscle protein metabolic responses after the consumption of whole eggs with egg whites during exercise recovery in young men

It has been demonstrated that the consumption of whole eggs immediately following resistance exercise « resulted in greater stimulation of myofibrillar protein synthesis than did the ingestion of egg whites ».

For a population of athletes who wants to optimize their protein synthesis, this also something to know in order to implement it into their routine.

CONCLUSION

First, maybe should we not forget that cholesterol, as structural molecule, plays a role in the overall operation of our body. Indeed, it is used for testosterone / oestrogen and cortisol (metabolism regulations, circadian cycle…) : key functions, or also blood sugar regulation and cholesterol on the whole.

As seen previously, eggs are neither a threat for your health nor a danger for your holesterol levels.

Then, eggs are rich source of nutrients such as protein, and also vitamins and minerals.

Last but not least, people with a « high » egg diet report less hunger and feel greater satiety as mentioned by Nicholas R Fuller & all (2015).

MY EXPERIENCE

After 1 year consuming (almost) each morning 3 eggs, and sometimes more, I decided to make a blood test, and my levels of cholesterol were perfectly fine, and even under the medium (inferior to 2 g /l).

By the way, I feel more satisfied after consuming eggs in the morning, so that I can easily keep pace during my morning routine of work.

Finally, you have a bunch of options when dealing with eggs cooking: fired eggs, boiled eggs, omelette, scrambled eggs…Etc.

TIPS

> Consume qualitative eggs such (category 0 or 1).

> Consume eggs on a regular basis to benefits from the nutrients they offer.

>Cook the egg white for a better assimilation and keep the egg yolk uncooked to preserve the thermosensitive nutrients. You will get the full amino-acid from the eggs.

SOURCES

“Intake of up to 3 Eggs/Day Increases HDL Cholesterol and Plasma Choline While Plasma Trimethylamine-N-oxide is Unchanged in a Healthy Population” – linked at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11745-017-4230-9

“Effect of Egg Consumption on Blood Pressure: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials” - linked at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11906-020-1029-5

“Impact of whole egg intake on blood pressure, lipids and lipoproteins in middle-aged and older population: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials” – linked at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31076323/

“Egg consumption may improve factors associated with glycemic control and insulin sensitivity in adults with pre- and type II diabetes” – linked at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30073224/

“Consumption of whole eggs promotes greater stimulation of postexercise muscle protein synthesis than consumption of isonitrogenous amounts of egg whites in young men” - linked at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28978542/

“The effect of a high-egg diet on cardiovascular risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes: the Diabetes and Egg (DIABEGG) study-a 3-mo randomized controlled trial” – linked at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25833969/

“The effect of a high-egg diet on cardiovascular risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes: the Diabetes and Egg (DIABEGG) study-a 3-mo randomized controlled trial” linked at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25833969/