Harvard University Study Validates Safety of An Egg-per-Day

03/11/2020

A study conducted under the direction of Dr. Frank Hu, Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University has concluded that one egg per day is not deleterious for consumers unaffected by Type-2 diabetes.  The result follows evaluation of data from a 34-year longitudinal study of 215,000 men and women in acceptable health at the commencement of the study period.  No deleterious effect was detected from consuming an average of one egg each day over the study period.  The only increased cardiovascular risk involved subjects with Type-2 diabetes, confirming previous studies.

 

The results denoting that one egg per day is innocuous was supported by a meta-analysis of studies in North America, Asia and Europe.  No adverse effects on heart health could be determined in the 1.7 million subjects in the various trials evaluated. The results published by the Harvard University team are consistent with the 2019 American Heart Association Cholesterol Advisory and the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

 

The Harvard study is timely as Dr. Victor Zhong of the Department of Preventative Medicine at the Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago recently published a paper on data from a 17- year longitudinal study of 29,000 subjects. Statistical analysis apparently established a  correlation between increasing dietary intake of eggs and an elevated risk of heart disease or early death.  The analysis conducted by Dr. Zhong noted that each half egg (presumably contributing 90mgs of cholesterol) per day over the study period was associated with a one percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a two percent higher risk of early death due to any cause.

Dr. Victoria Taylor affiliated the British Heart Foundation stated, “eggs are a nutritious food and eating healthy is all about balance”. She noted that the Northwestern University study only demonstrated an association and did not establish a cause and effect relationship.  Taylor correctly noted that eggs are consumed with other foods and that the type of study conducted by Northwestern University could not establish that either eggs or the cholesterol that they contain was responsible for increased risk of cardiovascular disease.






























































































































































































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