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MedWire News: Eating two eggs a day, as part of an energy-restricted weight-loss diet, does not increase levels of ?bad? or total cholesterol, results of a UK study show.
?The observation that high intakes of dietary cholesterol can increase plasma [blood] cholesterol in a number of species has led to the belief that the intake of dietary cholesterol in humans should be restricted,? said lead researcher Dr Nicola Harman, from the University of Surrey in Guildford.
?However, energy-restricted diets, that may contain a relatively high proportion of fat and cholesterol, have been shown to produce neutral or in some cases favourable effects on plasma cholesterol,? she added.
Dr Harman and team recruited 45 participants, aged an average of 44 years and with an average initial body mass index of 29.5 kg/m2, who were assigned to follow an energy-restricted diet including two eggs a day or the same diet excluding eggs for a period of 12 weeks.
The participants? cholesterol levels and weight were measured at the start of the study and again at 6 and 12 weeks.
At 12 weeks, participants in both groups had lost significant amounts of weight. Indeed, the 24 participants with the egg-based diet had lost an average of 3.3 kg and the 21 participants assigned to the diet without eggs had lost an average of 4.4 kg.
Furthermore, over the 12-week period, total cholesterol levels fell by an average 0.225 mmol/l in the egg-based diet group and by 0.266 mmol/l in the other group. Similarly, levels of ?bad? cholesterol fell by 0.125 mmol/l and 0.160 mmol/l, respectively.
Dr Harman conceded that the study was small, but said that their results should give people who are trying to lose weight the confidence to include eggs as part of their daily diet.
?The observation that high intakes of dietary cholesterol can increase plasma [blood] cholesterol in a number of species has led to the belief that the intake of dietary cholesterol in humans should be restricted,? said lead researcher Dr Nicola Harman, from the University of Surrey in Guildford.
?However, energy-restricted diets, that may contain a relatively high proportion of fat and cholesterol, have been shown to produce neutral or in some cases favourable effects on plasma cholesterol,? she added.
Dr Harman and team recruited 45 participants, aged an average of 44 years and with an average initial body mass index of 29.5 kg/m2, who were assigned to follow an energy-restricted diet including two eggs a day or the same diet excluding eggs for a period of 12 weeks.
The participants? cholesterol levels and weight were measured at the start of the study and again at 6 and 12 weeks.
At 12 weeks, participants in both groups had lost significant amounts of weight. Indeed, the 24 participants with the egg-based diet had lost an average of 3.3 kg and the 21 participants assigned to the diet without eggs had lost an average of 4.4 kg.
Furthermore, over the 12-week period, total cholesterol levels fell by an average 0.225 mmol/l in the egg-based diet group and by 0.266 mmol/l in the other group. Similarly, levels of ?bad? cholesterol fell by 0.125 mmol/l and 0.160 mmol/l, respectively.
Dr Harman conceded that the study was small, but said that their results should give people who are trying to lose weight the confidence to include eggs as part of their daily diet.
