Egg Consumption And Risk Of Type-2 Diabetes: For Good Results Eat 4 Eggs/week
Eggs are delicious
but also a major source of cholesterol. High cholesterol in human has been
associated with elevated blood glucose and an increased risk of Type-2 Diabetes
Mellitus (T2DM). Hence, high consumption of eggs was always felt against the good
health of a person.
Contrary to
the above belief, the researchers from the University of Eastern Finland has
given all of us a pleasant surprise with their finding showed that eggs could
reduce the risk developing Type 2 diabetes by 40 %. Though they are also amazed
to see the result of the study but they think the constituents of an egg improves
the metabolism in the body to make use of sugar and reduce reasons that can
cause diabetes.
The study involved
2332 men aged 42-60 years in 1984-1989 at the baseline examinations of the
prospective, population-based Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study
in Eastern Finland. Dietary intakes were assessed with 4 day food records at
baseline. Incident T2DM was assessed by self-administered questionnaires; by
fasting and 2-hour oral-glucose-tolerance-test blood glucose measurement at
re-examination rounds 4, 11, and 20 year after baseline; and by record linkage to
a hospital discharge registry and reimbursement register of diabetes medication
expenses. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to estimate
associations with the risk of incident T2DM.
The results
are:
1. Eggs, if
taken in right amount could reduce the risk developing Type 2 diabetes by 40%
per cent.
2. Men those who
regularly took 4 eggs a week were 38% less likely to fall ill than those who
never ate eggs or rarely consumed them.
3. 38% of men
also showed lower blood sugar levels with no increase in their cholesterol
levels.
4. The study did
not consider the way the egg was cooked for the study. Hence, proving that the
cholesterol effect was not much among those who ate it four times in a week.
5. The
associations between cholesterol intake and risk of T2DM, plasma glucose, serum
insulin, and C-reactive protein were mainly nonsignificant, especially after
accounting for egg consumption.
6. The results
suggest an inverse association with fasting plasma glucose and serum C-reactive
protein but not with serum insulin.
Article Citation: Virtanen, J. K.; et. al. Egg consumption and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in
men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2015 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.114.104109
