The benefits of eggs against cardiovascular diseases
Daily egg consumption can reduce cardiovascular disease. Their benefits could even reduce the risk of stroke by up to 26%.
In fact, people who consume one egg a day could significantly lower their risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those who do not eat it. This is reported in a study published May 21, 2018 in the journal Heart (BMJ Journals).
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, mainly because of ischemic heart disease and stroke (hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke).
A study published in December 2017 found that the benefits of eggs act on the development of the brain of infants. This last study on the potential of eggs against cardiovascular diseases thus highlights the importance of having eggs in one's diet.
1 EGG PER DAY REDUCES RISK OF stroke by 26%
Conducted in China, this study shows that, unlike ischemic heart disease, which is the leading cause of premature death in most Western countries, stroke is the most responsible cause in China, followed by heart disease. Although ischemic stroke accounted for the majority of strokes, the proportion of hemorrhagic stroke in China remains higher than in many countries.
Eggs are an important source of dietary cholesterol, but they also contain high quality proteins, many vitamins and bioactive components such as phospholipids and carotenoids.
Previous studies examining the associations between eating eggs and the impact on health have been inconsistent, and most of them have found insignificant associations between egg consumption and coronary heart disease or stroke.
Therefore, a team of Chinese and British researchers examined associations between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease, major coronary events, hemorrhagic stroke, and ischemic stroke.
They used data from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study, an ongoing prospective study of about half a million adults aged 30-79, from 10 different geographical regions in China. Participants were recruited between 2004 and 2008 and were asked about the frequency of egg consumption. They were followed to determine their morbidity and mortality.
RISK REDUCTION OF 26% HEMORRHAGIC AND 12% ISCHEMIC CARDIOPATHY
For the new study, researchers focused on 416,213 participants who were free of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.
From this group, after a mean follow-up of 8.9 years, a total of 83977 cases of CVD and 9985 deaths by CVD were documented, as well as 5,103 major coronary events.
At the beginning of the study period, 13.1% of participants reported daily consumption - a usual amount of 0.76 eggs / day - and 9.1% reported "never or very rare" consumption - either a usual amount of 0.29 eggs / day.
The analysis of the results showed that, compared to those who do not consume eggs, daily egg consumption was associated with a lower risk of CVD overall.
In particular, daily egg users - up to one egg / day - had a 26% lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke, and a 28% lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke deaths and a lower risk of death from CVD. 18%.
In addition, there was a 12% reduction in the risk of ischemic heart disease observed in people consuming eggs daily - an estimated 5.32 eggs / week - compared to the "never or rarely" category of consumption ( 2.03 eggs / week).
Finally, this observational study does not support a firm conclusion, but the authors stated that their study had a large sample size and took into account established and potential risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
This research concludes that there is an association between a moderate level of egg consumption (up to 1 egg / day) and a lower rate of cardiac events. The results provide new scientific evidence for dietary guidelines for egg consumption.
What the study does not relate is the origin of the eggs, their quality and their method of cooking. It seems obvious to prescribe a consumption of eggs from organic farming and a healthy cooking method, without too much fat or aggressive cooking.