General Health
Eating many eggs linked to elevated risk of earlier death
By David Liu, Ph. D.
Apr 10, 2008 - 6:28:25 PM

THURSDAY April 10, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study suggests that eating too many eggs per week may raise risk of dying from all causes. The increase in the risk was found particularly significant in diabetics.

The study led by Dr. Luc Djousse at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston showed eating seven or more eggs a week among healthy participants was associated with a 23 percent increased risk of death.

In the study, the researchers followed more than 21,000 men aged 40 to 86 participating in a Physician's Health Study for an average of 20 years.

All participants were surveyed for information on their daily consumption of eggs, stroke and heart attack incidence, diabetes status, cholesterol levels, alcohol and smoking habits and general dietary habits.

The physicians consumed an average of one egg a day, the researchers found.  Overall, egg consumption was not linked with heart attack or stroke risk.

Although those who consumed seven or more eggs a week were at higher risk of earlier death, eating six eggs or less per week was not linked with an increased risk, the study showed.

For doctors who had diabetes, eating seven or more eggs a week was associated with 100% increased risk of death from all causes.

The study was published in the April issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The study is not a trial, meaning that the association may not necessarily be a causal relationship.  So the results are suggestive when it comes to the effect of eating eggs on the risk of premature death.

However, eggs contain farily higher cholesterol, about 200 mg per egg, twice as much as the daily limit advocated for those at risk of heart disease, according to the researchers.

Some studies have pointed out dietary cholesterol may not increase the cholesterol level in the blood in most healthy people, but it may have an effect in those with diabetes, the researchers noted.

No plausible explanation was offered to explain why the association was strongest in doctors with diabetes or how egg consumption could possibly affect risk of earlier deaths.