Eggs and Cholesterol, breaking away from old beliefs
If you are still advising your patients to limit their egg consumption, it's time to reconsider.
Extensive research has determined that there is no link between heart disease and egg consumption in non-diabetic adults.2
In fact, eggs are a nutritious food that plays an important role in a healthy diet. This website presents the new scientific evidence about eggs and cholesterol and provides resources to help you educate your patients about healthy lifestyle choices. For more details, click on the links below:
- Regular Egg consumption does not increase cardiovascular risk in healthy people
- Recommend up to an egg a day
- Dietary cholesterol has little effect on serum cholesterol
- Lifestyle modifications to reduce heart disease risk
- Omega-3 eggs
Regular egg consumption does not increase cardiovascular risk in healthy people
A large, prospective study found no association between the consumption of 1 egg per day and the incidence of coronary heart disease or stroke in healthy, nondiabetic men and women.2
The study monitored egg intake and CVD risk profiles of 37,851 men and 80,082 women, included 8 and 14 years of follow-up for the respective cohorts, and adjusted for multiple confounders.2
Recommend up to one egg a day
Now you can recommend the nutritional benefits of eggs with confidence.
A recent study found that healthy adults, aged 25-74, consumed up to 7 or more eggs per week with no increased risk for stroke, ischemic stroke or coronary artery disease, over a 20-year follow-up period.5
Dietary cholesterol has very little effect on blood cholesterol
It's the saturated and trans fats in foods that increase blood cholesterol and CVD risk.
You can help your patients reduce the risk of heart disease by recommending lifestyle modifications, such as losing weight and eating a nutritious diet low in saturated and trans fats.
Eggs have NO trans fat, are low in saturated fat (1.5 g) and provide an affordable source of high-quality nutrition:
- Provide beneficial nutrients (including vitamins A, D, E, B6 and B12).
- Source of high-quality protein, highly bioavailable iron and folate.
Lifestyle modifications to reduce heart disease risk27:
- Eating a diet that includes plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, but is low in saturated and trans fats.
- Engaging in regular aerobic physical activity 30 – 60 minutes per day, most days of the week.
- Achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.
- Limiting alcohol consumption to no more than 2 drinks per day.
- Being smoke-free.
Omega-3 eggs – a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 eggs contain ALA*, DHA and EPA.** ALA intake has been associated with a significantly lower risk of sudden cardiac death and arrhythmia.28, 29,‡
Omega-3 eggs represent an important source of omega-3 fatty acids and may provide an acceptable alternative for increasing omega-3 levels in people concerned about the environmental pollutants, taste or high cost of fish.
Omega-3 eggs come from hens fed grains enhanced with flaxseed – a known source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Canada's Food Guide considers two eggs a serving in the Meat and Alternatives food group.
* ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) derived from flaxseed, canola oil and other plant sources
** DHA and EPA (docosahexaenoic and ecosapentanoic acid) derived from fish and fish oils
‡ One omega-3 enhanced egg on average provides approximately 0.27 g ALA, 0.01 g EPA, 0.07 g DHA.