Eggs are one of those things that we include in our daily diet. We can easily make tons of dishes from eggs. Be it for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner, eggs are the ultimate dish to relish. While you just may like to have eggs to gain protein or keep yourself healthy, did you know that moderate egg consumption can increase the number of heart-healthy metabolites in the blood? In a recent study published in the journal 'eLife,' scientists from China found out about the same.
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Eggs have a lot of dietary cholesterol, but they also include a lot of other nutrients. A 2018 study published in the journal Heart indicated that people who ate eggs daily (roughly one egg per day) had a significantly lower risk of heart disease and stroke than people who ate eggs less frequently. To better understand this link, the authors of this study conducted a population-based study to see how egg consumption affects markers of cardiovascular health in the blood.
Lang Pan, MSc at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University, Beijing, China, told ANI, "Few studies have looked at the role that plasma cholesterol metabolism plays in the association between egg consumption and the risk of cardiovascular diseases, so we wanted to help address this gap."
Pan and colleagues chose 4,778 people from the China Kadoorie Biobank, 3,401 of whom had cardiovascular disease and 1,377 of whom did not. They measured 225 metabolites in plasma samples collected from the individuals' blood using a technique called targeted nuclear magnetic resonance. They found 24 metabolites that were linked to self-reported egg intake levels among these metabolites.
Their findings revealed that people who ate a moderate number of eggs had more significant amounts of apolipoprotein A1 in their blood, a component of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), generally known as 'good lipoprotein.' These people had a higher concentration of big HDL molecules in their blood, which assist remove cholesterol from blood vessels and prevent blockages that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
In addition, the researchers discovered 14 metabolites connected to cardiac disease. Compared to those who ate eggs more frequently, those who ate fewer eggs had lower levels of good metabolites and higher amounts of toxic ones in their blood.
"Together, our results provide a potential explanation for how eating a moderate amount of eggs can help protect against heart disease," said author Canqing Yu, Associate Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University to ANI. He also added, "More studies are needed to verify the causal roles that lipid metabolites play in the association between egg consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease."
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"Current health guidelines in China suggest eating one egg a day, but data indicate that the average consumption is lower than this. Our work highlights the need for more strategies to encourage moderate egg consumption among the population, to help lower the overall risk of cardiovascular disease," he concluded to ANI.
So, if you also want to add eggs to your diet and improve your heart health, here we have some egg recipes you can try out.