A series of studies have been published in the past few years about the
dietary benefits of eggs. Unfortunately, way too many nutritionists and
medical doctors are still offering the tired old advice to cut back on
eggs. Here is what you should know instead.
One of the best studies is the following:
Vander Wal JS, Gupta A, Khosla P, Dhurandhar NV. Egg breakfast enhances weight loss. Int J Obes 2008 Oct;32(10):1545-51.
The objective of this study was to find out whether an egg breakfast
would match up with a bagel breakfast regarding weight loss. I know for
all you slow carb diet and low carb diet fans out there that this seems
like searching for the obvious. The study design had a little twist,
though, that makes their conclusions a bit murky.
Overweight or obese men and women (n=152) between the ages of 25-60
years were divided into four groups. They were assigned to one of the
following dietary strategies: 1) Two eggs for breakfast, without daily
caloric restriction; 2) Two eggs for breakfast, with total daily energy
intake limited to 1000 calories; 3) Bagel for breakfast, with the
caloric equivalent of two eggs, without daily caloric restriction; 4)
Bagel for breakfast, with the caloric equivalent of two eggs, and a
total daily energy intake limited to 1000 calories.
Overall results after 8 weeks:
Groups 1 and 3, which had no daily caloric restriction, showed no
significant differences for BMI, weight loss, waist circumference, or
body fat composition.
Groups 2 and 4, the calorie-restricted groups, showed the following
changes for those who ate eggs for breakfast: 61% greater reduction in
BMI, a 65% greater weight loss, a 34% greater reduction in waist
circumference, and a 16% greater reduction in percent body fat. All
changes were statistically significant except for the reduction in body
fat.
A bonus for these groups is that total cholesterol, high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and
triglycerides, did not differ between the groups.
The conclusions of this study were: Breakfast eggs enhance weight loss
when combined with a calorie-restricted diet but not when caloric intake
is unrestricted.
What is Missing?
Just imagine what the results could have been if the researchers had
compared a slow carb diet with eggs for breakfast and without caloric
restriction. This would have been a really nice chance to assign a fifth
group to this diet. Ah, well, an opportunity missed.
We can only speculate on the possibilities at this time. However, the
slow carb diet is already well-known among its practitioners to be a
highly effective approach to weight management. I'd bet that speculation
would probably be accurate that the fifth (nonexistent) group would
have shown even better results.
Worried About Cholesterol in Eggs?
It is high time that we lay to rest the myth that cholesterol in eggs is
bad for anyone. For that matter, we should extend such silliness to
include all dietary cholesterol. If you or your medical people are still
clinging to the misguided notion that consuming cholesterol is a health
risk, take a look at these two publications.
Harman NL, Leeds AR, Griffin BA. Increased dietary cholesterol does not
increase plasma low density lipoprotein when accompanied by an
energy-restricted diet and weight loss. Eur J Nutr. 2008
Sep;47(6):287-93.
Skipping to the conclusions of interest: An increased intake of dietary
cholesterol from two eggs a day does not increase total plasma or LDL
cholesterol when accompanied by moderate weight loss (7.5 to 9.5 pounds
in 12 weeks). These findings suggest that cholesterol-rich foods should
not be excluded from dietary advice to lose weight on account of an
unfavorable influence on plasma LDL cholesterol.
(Once again, it is too bad they had to confuse the issue with calorie
restrictions instead of food types such as those recommended on a slow
carb diet.)
