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out_at_sea said:
Objectives: The main purposes of this study were (1) to assess the nutritional significance of eggs in the American diet and (2) to estimate the degree of association between egg consumption and serum cholesterol concentration.
Methods: Data from the most recent National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-94) were utilized to compare the nutritional quality indicators of diets that contained eggs (USDA food grouping system) with those that did not. Nutrient intake (from 24-hour dietary recall), egg intake (from food frequency questionnaire), sociodemographic data and blood cholesterol levels of subjects who met inclusion criteria (n = 27,378) were grouped according to the occurrence and frequency of egg consumption and were analyzed using SUDAAN.
Results: Daily nutrient intake of egg consumers (EC) was significantly greater than that of nonconsumers (NC) for all nutrients studied (except dietary fiber and vitamin B6). Eggs contributed < 10% of daily intake of energy and vitamin B6, 10% to 20% of folate and total, saturated and polyunsaturated fat, and 20% to 30% of vitamins A, E and B12 in EC. Compared to EC, NC had higher rates of inadequate intake (defined by Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) or < 70% Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)) for vitamin B12 (10% vs. 21%), vitamin A (16% vs. 21%), vitamin E (14% vs. 22%) and vitamin C (15% vs. 20%). After adjusting for demographic (age, gender and ethnicity) and lifestyle variables (smoking and physical activity), dietary cholesterol was not related to serum cholesterol concentration. People who reported eating > or = 4 eggs/wk had a significantly lower mean serum cholesterol concentration than those who reported eating < or = 1 egg/wk (193 mg/dL vs. 197 mg/dL, p < 0.01). More frequent egg consumption was negatively associated with serum cholesterol concentration (beta = -6.45, p < 0.01).
Conclusions: In this cross-sectional and population-based study, egg consumption made important nutritional contributions to the American diet and was not associated with high serum cholesterol concentrations.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 75, No. 2, 333-334, February 2002
© 2002 American Society for Clinical Nutrition
Eggs and heart disease risk: perpetuating the misperception by Donald J McNamara
Egg Nutrition Center 1050 17th Street, NW Suite 560 Washington, DC 20036
E-mail: enc~enc-online.org
Conclusions:The fact that no studies in the past decade have reported a significant relation between either egg consumption or dietary cholesterol intakes and heart disease risk (5) is consistent with the view that the hypothesis that dietary cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease should be dismissed. A small, statistically significant increase in the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol has little biological importance concerning heart disease risk when considered relative to those dietary and lifestyle factors that do in fact contribute to heart disease risk. Concerning the suggestion by Weggeman et al that eggs make no important contributions to the diet, I refer them to a recent supplement of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (10) in which the merits of egg consumption are documented. In an evaluation of the relation between dietary cholesterol and the risk of heart disease, it is crucial to not only have accurate estimates of risk but also a practical perspective of what a risk estimate represents.
Bibliography
10. McNamara DJ, ed. Where would we be without the egg? A conference about nature's original functional food. J Am Coll Nutr, 2000;19:495S–562S.
