If you follow health news, you've probably heard about the recent study concluding that for those over the age of 40, eating eggs yolks is nearly as bad for your heart as smoking. Does that mean we should start whipping up egg white omelets in placed of our soft-boiled egg every morning? Not according to The Atlantic — a recent article points out flaws in the study and reminds us that there are still many good reasons to keep eating the incredible, edible egg.
The original study examined the carotid wall thickness — an important indicator of heart disease risk — of over 1,200 patients who were also surveyed about their health habits, including smoking, exercise and consumption of eggs. Eating egg yolks, the researchers concluded, is two-thirds as bad for your heart as smoking cigarettes.
But there are problems with this study, says The Atlantic; first, it used a type of questionnaire that is notoriously unreliable, and more importantly, it singled out just one food from respondents' diets as causing the trend toward arterial thickening. Experts like Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, agree:
"[The study] did not measure or control other aspects of diet such as intakes of meats, fruits, or vegetables and did not control for lifestyle factors such as physical inactivity. The data could be useful for generating some hypotheses, but it is difficult to draw any causal conclusions."
The connection between egg yolks, cholesterol and good health is more complex than one study, but there is no doubt that these well-publicized conclusions have done some damage to eggs' reputation. We'll continue enjoying eggs in moderation as an economical, high-protein, unprocessed food full of nutrients — the majority of which are found in the yolks.
Check it out: Sunny-Side Up: In Defense of Eggs at The Atlantic
What do you think? Do studies like these change your eating habits when it comes to eggs?
Related: Home-Raised Eggs: Raising Chickens and Putting an Egg on Everything
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I think the most important part of this study was probably "Do you eat BACON with your eggs."
My grandfather ate an egg and bacon almost every day of his 101 years of life. No, these studies do not change my eating habits. Babs
More important than the bacon question, is whether TOAST was served with those eggs.
I just picked up a new pan to improve my french omelette...
Brought to you by the same folks who told us saccharine was good for us, no doubt.
My other half eats one or two eggs every day and just did a cholesterol screening....her numbers were too low to measure.
I've eaten an egg every morning for the past 8 months - ever since my chicks grew up and started to lay. I have heard that egg properties depend on the chicken's environment, anyone know if that is true?
I just love eggs!
Nor did this "study" compare types of eggs. Cheap battery eggs are a completely different beast than omega-rich pastured eggs one might get from their local farmer.
The best people can do is remember that the quality of food matters, moderation matters, and that most of these research studies are funded by those that profit from the results.
Long live my over easies on Sunday morning.
This study's methodology was a questionnaire? Correlation does not infer causation!!
I wish that non-scientists would understand (and journalists as well) that you don't make lifestyle decisions based on the findings of one study. You have to look at the totality of the research in order to draw conclusions about these sorts of things.
A few months ago, my partner and I saw an RD about his high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. I asked her how many eggs a week would be okay for him and she told us two or three, so that's what we're going with.
I'm in agreement with the rest of these folks. Next week there'll be a study praising the nutrients found in the egg yolk. Bottom line? Eggs are a natural, whole food and a good source of proteins and nutrients. I agree with Baker_D--choose quality and enjoy in moderation!
Thank you Whalermeg - I wish more people understood the difference between causation and correlation! Drives me nuts.
Also, the patients in the study were recruited from a vascular surgery group--they were already seeking specialty care owing to vascular issues.
People have been eating eggs for centuries. As Micheal Polan says "Eat real food, not to much, mostly vegetables". A few eggs won't kill you!
http://liviasweets.com
People have been eating eggs for centuries.
Make that millennia.
A friend of mine reversed her type 2 diabetes and got down to her fighting weight (she is around 50) by following the so-called cave man or Paleolithic diet. Basically, you can eat whatever people ate for hundreds of thousands of years before the onset of agriculture about 8000 years ago. So, eggs make the cut, as long as they are from birds that were raised naturally, meaning not in a cage with feed laced with antibiotics and unnatural crap.
A proponent of the diet puts it this way: you may eat anything you can find in the woods with a basket and a sharpened stick. The diet is not for everyone, I can't stick to it religiously myself, but it helps me make sense of all the conflicting dietary claims out there. - Chris
I will eat eggs, organic, cage free, or free range, as long as I live. That study sounds ridiculous and didn't take a lot of factors into account so the results are skewed. I weigh 160 pounds and run 30 to 35 miles per week. I eat free range eggs almost every day.
Eggs are a super food. Their nutrients are incomparable to other foods we eat. This study doesn't seem like it was well executed
I could almost bet that Kellogg's or another cereal company was behind the study just to promote cereal!
"Correlation does not infer causation!!" @ whalermeg: Hear, hear! Finally a bit of common sense. Be still my heart.
QUOTE: But there are problems with this study....
Same problems as with most studies. See whalermeg's comment above. I'm still fuming over all the 'fat' studies from years ago. If it weren't for my dad finally reaching his limit and having a heart-to-heart with the store manager, I STILL wouldn't be able to buy buttermilk & sour cream at the local grocery, despite my numerous complaints. There are some things that cannot be improved upon.
The bottom line is that, society as a whole has been conditioned (read that brainwashed) to treat symptoms rather than root causes. Case in point...never mind, I won't get started on the whole low-sodium business. I will however, briefly mention the 'milk does a body good' campaign. The whole thing was a *marketing ploy* folks. Do.your.own.research. before the herd mentality gets 'hold of you. Do you know where the readily-absorbed calcium in your diet comes from?
*rant over* (before this becomes a book)