Eggs: Healthy or Not?
Eggs are in the news again. Is it good news this time or bad news?
Well--it's both. Yet again, eggs are confusing us all by being nutritious, but associated with certain health risks.
According to recent studies, the news looks good if you're a woman trying to avoid breast cancer; not quite so good if you're a middle aged man who eats more than one a day.
The Good News: Eggs and Breast Cancer
A recent study out of the University of North Carolina suggests that women who consumed more choline, a nutrient found in eggs, had a reduced risk of breast cancer. The study involved 3,000 women and concluded that those who got the most of the nutrient had a 24% lower risk of developing breast cancer.
Choline is found only in the yolk of the egg. It's also present in other food, like liver, wheat germ and cauliflower, coffee, and skim milk. According to the researchers, only about 10% of Americans get enough of it.
(Previous research, like a 2003 Harvard study, has also shown an association between egg consumption and reduced breast cancer risk.)
Now the Bad News: Middle Aged Men May Want to be Cautious
A 20 year study of male physicians published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (and summarized here), had some unfortunate news for men who ate more than 6 eggs a week: they had a higher risk of earlier death. Men with diabetes died sooner if they ate any eggs at all.
Researchers concluded that while "egg consumption of up to six eggs a week was not associated with the risk of all-cause mortality, consumption of (seven or more) eggs a week was associated with a 23 percent greater risk of death."
However, according to the Reuters summary, the men who ate the most eggs were older, fatter, ate more vegetables but less breakfast cereal, and were more likely to drink alcohol, smoke and less likely to exercise. This caveat makes one wonder: are egg-eating physicians less healthy generally than granola-crunching physicians? One would presume that these factors were taken into account in the data analysis, but if not, perhaps the eggs weren't the real culprit.
Researchers suggested further study was needed. In the meantime, Dr. Robert Eckel, a nutrition expert from the University of Colorado (and former president of the American Heart Association) urged caution for middle-aged men.
Do you eat eggs? Do you plan to continue?
I grew up with the idea that eggs were a healthy way to get protein for breakfast. Then came the news they had Evil Cholesterol, and many health-conscious folks like me started to avoid them.
Then researchers figured out that the cholesterol in the eggs wasn't all that problematic, and eggs started to look like a great convenient choice again. (I get tired of yogurt every morning, and morning alternatives often seem to involved smoked or cured meats--foods I have more concerns about than I do about eggs).
I probably eat about 7 eggs a week myself, the kind with a bit of an Omega-3 boost, and don't plan to stop. But then I'm female and getting tired of the back-and-forth on eggs.
How about you folks? Are you chicken to eat eggs or do you gobble them with gusto?
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75 Comments
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Created / Updated: February 3, 2012
it is SO HARD TO KNOW as the moment you/one make a decision the data changes!
I do a LOT of eggbeaters and toss in whole eggs every other day or so (and get my omega 3's elsewhere)
ReplyI eat a lot of eggs, because I'm a vegetarian who has found she needs a fair amount of protein. I figure that eating lots of eggs didn't kill people in the past, so if I avoid the real crap of processed stuff, I'll be fine.
ReplyI'm a vegetarian, too and I eat a A LOT of eggs! It's almost disgusting...but I recently started exercising a lot and I started taking up protein isolates (they make great protein shakes) and they help keep you fit. Plus, every serving has like 30-40g of protein and I usually take 2 shakes a day...It's a good change.
ReplyI've tried protein supplements, but I always come back to whole food sources...thus my affection for the eggs.
Replyhey sara, protein supplements are a good source of protein, you only need as a women 0.75 maybe 0.85grams per kg of body weight depending on exercise. taking 2 shakes a day might be to much as protein is found in lots of foods and you will be surprized how much protein you have with out protein shakes.
i used to do the same, then i started studying fitness and now a personal trainer. excess protein can lead to kidney dysfunction with an intake equal or greater then, 1.5grams/kg. With high protein intake the body excretes more calcium through unrine wihch can lead to a decrease in bone density meaning more prone to fractures. so an efficient amount of calcium is needed aswell. you also have to drinks lots of water, approx 1litre per 25/g. but maybe a 1/2 a litre more to help with protein metabolism which will put less pressure on your kidneys and liver.
just a little information for you there.
ReplySo far the articles I've seen on this study, make no mentions of how or what the eggs were prepared with. How many of the participants of this study fried eggs in "healthier" margarine? Until someone definitively finds a key factor in eggs being unhealthy, I will continue to enjoy them, and implore everyone else to do the same.
ReplyI think if you are a fit and active person eggs can't do any harm. The benefits seem to out weight the negatives.
RT
ReplyI eat anywhere from 10 - 16 eggs a week ,and another one of these shaky association-type studies isn't going to stop me.
ReplyI'd agree that it seems likely people who age over 6 eggs per week just had a less healthy diet in general.
Nothing wrong with eggs themselves (and current recommendations, in the UK at least, allow for 1 per day) -- but if they're fried in oil and accompanied by bacon, they'll obviously be a little less than healthy...
I probably average a couple of eggs per week, usually as scrambled eggs or omelette.
Ali
ReplyEverthing in moderation! I see no harm in having an egg a few times a week as part of a nutritious breakfast, particularly on the days you know you'll need the extra protien. And I find the quality of the omelette suffers without them.
ReplyI grew up eating a hardboiled egg with just about every breakfast in my European household. That, and dark bread and local honey and cheeses and real butter and fresh jams. Amazingly enough, none of us is fat...not even my aged grandparents.
Compare that to the breakfast bars and doughnuts and other crap people eat and it is pretty obvious why. Real food for the win!
ReplyReal food for the win, indeed! And notice that choline is only found in the yolk, not the white, which means that Egg Beaters with the added gums and coloring and salt don't have the same protective effect.
Of course, next week some medical journal will probably do a 180, but I'll still be choosing whole foods over packaged foods and nutritionism, and I'm okay with that.
ReplyI saw the stupidest thing ever in the store today..."Egg Beaters with Yolks". Come on. Why not just buy REAL eggs and mix a whole egg in with a few whites to get the same dang effect? The Egg Beaters have stabilizers and preservatives, plus they cost more. Human laziness has reached a new high, I think.
ReplyAs much as I hate Egg Beaters I still have to buy them (they don't break in a backpack when I ride my motorcycle), so I like that they've added yolks now. I miss real eggs tho :(
ReplyI eat eggs, but only a couple once a week or so. I think they're healthy but I'm usually not in the mood for cooking in the morning.
ReplyMy family has a high risk of breast cancer (at least, many of the women in my family have had it) so maybe I should eat some more.
I currently live alone and cook for myself. I try to stay healthy, but at the same time, I'm EXTREMELY lazy about cooking. The solution is lots of raw fruits and vegetables, toast, and easily prepared protein. Hence, lots of beans, milk, and eggs. I usually eat one to two a day (never more than two, and rarely that many). Honestly, unless they definitively link egg consumption with global warming, I have no plans to stop.
ReplyActually factory farming, which produces roughly 95% of eggs in the US, contributes more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry combined. Thus if greenhouse gases do contribute to global warming, eating eggs contributes to global warming.
ReplyReally? I am 26, and I hate egg whites for lunch everyday. They are a major component in my diet, and I really do like them.
After reading this, I may be reducing the amount I eat ever week.
ReplyMy boyfriend and I go through a half-dozen medium organic eggs (poached or soft-boiled) per week. I think, as someone mentioned above, that the issue is more that people who eat too much of *anything* have the health troubles.
These studies make me crazy anyway. I seem to recall a widely cited one that found eggs and cigarettes were associated with lower incidence of Parkinson's disease. Probably because people who eat Western omelettes and smoke are dead from heart disease before the Parkinson's can manifest.
ReplySince starting my healthy living, (the last 18 months or so). I have lost over 40 pounds. I eat an omega-3 hard boiled egg almost every day day for breakfast, some days I switch up and have oatmeal or fruit, but the egg is very satisfying.
ReplyI agree with everyone else, the eggs are not bad, it's the diet of the people who eat them.
Um, seems to me that the egg might be a scapegoat here and not the real culprit. Especially since:
"the men who ate the most eggs were older, fatter, ate more vegetables but less breakfast cereal, and were more likely to drink alcohol, smoke and less likely to exercise."
Gee, maybe those factors contributed more to the death rate than one measly egg a day.
During my healthiest kick ever, I ate two egg whites and one whole egg every day with a little feta cheese and klamata olives along with a side of oatmeal, a fruit, and a 1% milk latte (easy on the flavoring). My overall cholesterol dropped, my good cholesterol went up, and I shed 60lbs.
I really need to get back to that kick . . .
ReplyI eat 10 - 12 eggs a week and I have no plans to stop. They fill me up and improve my mood. Whenever I eat a carb-based breakfast I feel hungry all day and irritated till the next meal. They are also an easy dinner option...
Reply