Moderate egg consumption would improve the levels of certain metabolites, beneficial for heart health.
- Lipoproteins are responsible for transporting cholesterol in the blood.
- Researchers have identified 15 metabolites from egg consumption that are beneficial for heart health.
- In China, health authorities recommend eating one egg a day, but the average consumption is said to be lower.
Eggs are often blamed for their cholesterol content. But according to a recent study, these sources of protein would be good for heart health. In eLifethe authors explain that a moderate consumption can increase the amount of healthy metabolites for the heart: these are the products of digestion of this food.
Understanding the links between egg consumption and heart health
In 2018, a study published in the journal Heart, based on data from around half a million adults in China, has already explored this theme. It showed that those who ate eggs daily (about one egg a day) had a significantly lower risk of heart disease and stroke, compared to those who ate them less frequently.
To better understand the links between egg consumption and heart health, scientists from Peking University in Beijing conducted this new research. In particular, they looked at how this consumption affects markers of cardiovascular health in the blood. “Few studies have examined the role plasma cholesterol metabolism plays in the association between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease risk, so we wanted to help fill that gap.“, specifies the main author of this study Lang Pan.
Superior levels of high density lipoprotein
With his team, he selected 4,778 profiles from a Chinese database, of which 3,401 had cardiovascular disease. They used a technique called targeted nuclear magnetic resonance to measure the levels of 225 specific metabolites in plasma samples taken from participants’ blood. Of these metabolites, they identified 24 that were associated with egg consumption. Their analyzes reveal that people who eat a moderate amount of eggs have higher levels of a protein in the blood, apolipoprotein A1, a building block of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also called “good lipoprotein”. “. In the study, these people had more HDL molecules in their blood, which help remove cholesterol from blood vessels and thus protect against the risk of heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, they found that participants who ate fewer eggs had lower levels of beneficial metabolites and higher levels of harmful metabolites in their blood, compared to those who ate eggs more regularly. “Our results provide a potential explanation for how consuming a moderate amount of eggs may help protect against heart disease.“, concludes Canqing Yu, co-author of the study.
