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Many people sometimes view eggs almost as criminals. Nutrition experts promote them one moment, and then again say they are bad for us.
This contradiction stems from the overall controversy that eggs increase cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease.
Previous research linked regular egg consumption with heart attacks, high blood pressure and weight gain. Conditions that cause damage to the heart, arteries or circulation are also known to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the American Heart Association (American Heart Association) a healthy adult should consume every day more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol. One large egg contains approximately 186 milligrams of cholesterol and a small egg about 141 milligrams.
This means that just 2 eggs richly cover this cholesterol requirement.
A new study from the University of Eastern Finland now shows that a relatively high dietary cholesterol intake is not associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease – the world’s biggest killer.
Many people also believe that eggs increase the risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Finnish researchers, however, found that daily egg consumption may help improve brain function.
Better brain performance
For their study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the scientists analyzed the diets of nearly 2,500 men aged 42 to 60 for 22 years. At the start of the analysis, no participant had been diagnosed with a memory disorder such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Of those 2,500 men, 337 developed some neurological condition at some point – the majority suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The authors of the study found that neither cholesterol nor egg intake was associated with an increased risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Despite the widespread belief that dietary cholesterol impacts blood cholesterol levels, Professor Jyrki Virtanen, adjunct professor of nutritional epidemiology at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, said that cholesterol and egg intake were not linked to a higher risk of heart disease.
He added that it is thought that dietary cholesterol has some effect on blood cholesterol levels only in carriers of the APOE4 gene.
According to Virtanen and colleagues, however, it seems that when it comes to consuming eggs or any other form of dietary cholesterol, even carriers of the APOE4 gene have nothing to worry about.
Moreover, the data also showed that regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of memory disorders, not even in individuals who are predisposed to them.
On the contrary, the researchers found that egg consumption improved performance on neuropsychological tests of frontal lobe and executive functions.
This study was funded by the University of Eastern Finland and Virtanen added that they did not receive any funding from the egg-producing industry.
Don’t be afraid of eggs
Although eggs have gained a bad reputation in recent years, they are making a comeback to the shelves of healthy foods.
As stated in Daily Mail Online, one large egg contains around six grams of high-quality protein and decent levels of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as vitamins E, D and A.
While lutein may help prevent artery blockages, vitamin E has also been shown to reduce the risk of future heart attacks in people with existing cardiovascular disease.
American researchers have previously stated that there is no clear association between egg consumption and ischemic heart disease.
A study was also recently published that found that consuming just one egg a day can reduce the risk of stroke by 12%.
