With the gradual improvement of living standards, our attention to diet in daily life is becoming more and more refined, and many friends have begun to struggle with a question: Is eating eggs good for health or harmful to health?
In February 2021, a research team at Zhejiang University published a paper that followed up with a large prospective study of 520,000 people and followed it up for 16 years to show that egg and cholesterol intake was associated with higher all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer mortality.
Zhejiang University related research: eat more eggs, will increase the risk of cardiovascular and cancer death?
This study was published in the American Public Science Library, conducted by the research team of Zhejiang University, the whole process of research is not described in detail, briefly introduce the relevant content of the study -
Between 1995 and 1996, the researchers recruited 521,000 participants from 6 states and 2 other cities in the United States, with an average age of 62.2 years and 41.2% of women, of whom about 91.8% were non-Hispanic whites, and conducted prospective follow-up until the end of 2011, through an effective food frequency questionnaire, assessing whole egg, egg white/other alternatives (such as nuts, fish, etc.) and cholesterol intake.
During the follow-up period, a total of 129,300 people died, of which 38,747 died of cardiovascular disease, through data analysis, the increase in whole egg and cholesterol intake was positively correlated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cancer mortality, and an additional intake of half an egg per day (including egg yolk) could increase the risk of cardiovascular and cancer death by 7%, while an additional intake of 300 mg per day (the amount of less than two eggs) increased by 19% with systemic mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality and cancer mortality, respectively. , 16% and 24% correlated. All-cause mortality rates are lower for egg white/substitute consumers and for stroke, cancer, respiratory diseases and Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers believe that the increase in mortality associated with egg use is largely affected by cholesterol intake, and that limiting cholesterol intake and replacing whole eggs with egg whites and/or alternative proteins can promote cardiovascular health and increase life expectancy.
Eggs can still be eaten – 3 thoughts on this study
After reading the conclusions of this study, do many friends think that eggs really can't be eaten, or that the yolk should be thrown away when eating eggs? Don't worry, wait until you have read the rational analysis below, and then make a decision.
Regarding this study, there are 3 questions worth considering:
First of all, this study is a prospective statistical study of data, which is usually through statistical analysis and modeling to draw corresponding big data analysis conclusions, and whether such a conclusion applies to each individual should of course draw a question mark. And these studies are mainly aimed at the statistical study of white Americans, whose diet structure is quite different from our Chinese, and whether it is suitable for Chinese is also worth drawing another question mark.
Secondly, if you carefully analyze the relevant data and research conclusions of the above studies, the study emphasizes not to eat eggs, eat or not to eat egg yolk, but should pay attention to the intake of total cholesterol in daily life, to avoid excessive intake of total cholesterol, and then affect the health of the problem, the yolk of the egg does contain higher cholesterol (an egg yolk about 186mg), but also contains vitamin D, DHA, iron, calcium and other dietary nutrition, egg yolk should not eat, or combined with the actual situation of the individual, And such a study cannot be discarded.
Third, while there have been studies that eating eggs may be harmful to health, there are also studies that eating eggs is good for health. When querying relevant information, coincidentally, the same research team of Zhejiang University also published a research paper on the health benefits of eating eggs in China's hypertensive patients in October 2021.
The study, which included 8,095 participants with an average follow-up of 11.4 years, showed that eating more than 7 eggs per week was associated with a 29 percent reduction in mortality among patients with high blood pressure compared to participants who ate no more than 2 eggs per week, while egg-derived cholesterol intake was negatively correlated with mortality, and replacing an equivalent amount of non-egg-derived protein-rich foods with eggs was also associated with lower mortality.
This study is for Chinese hypertension patients, compared with the previous analysis of white people in the United States, is it of greater reference significance for us?
How many eggs should be eaten, and how to eat them to be healthier?
Eggs are a nutrient-rich high-quality ingredient, egg whites are rich in high-quality protein, high absorption rate, amino acid content is also very comprehensive, and although egg yolk contains high cholesterol, it also contains lecithin, DHA, iron, calcium, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin A and other nutrients. Protein and lipids are important nutrients needed by the human body, and moderate intake can provide important nutritional supplements for maintaining normal body functions.
Therefore, for the problem of eating eggs, we must not be frightened because of such a so-called study, the normal diet structure, whether it is a normal healthy person, or an elderly friend with three high problems, eating an egg every day, usually there is no problem, not only will not be harmful to health, but is an important supplement to daily nutrition.
On the question of how much eggs to eat, or should be from the perspective of our individual diet structure, if a person, in daily life, meat, milk eat more, can ensure the body's daily need for high-quality protein and lipid intake, then do not eat eggs or egg yolks, are not a big problem, eat more eggs, but may cause excessive intake of cholesterol, bringing certain metabolic burden and health risks; and if it is a relatively single diet, meat, milk and other protein sources less intake of friends, choose to eat an egg a day Even a little more is an important source of high-quality protein and lipid supplementation for the body, and there is no need to over-control the problem of eating eggs.
And on the issue of how to eat eggs more healthier, we have said many times, the main thing that should be paid attention to is the problem of cooking methods, eggs have strong oil absorption, fried, scrambled eggs and other ways will be in addition to eggs, ingesting more fat, high temperature processing will also cause the loss of nutrients of eggs, boiled eggs are the healthiest way to cook, need to pay attention to, boiled eggs, it is recommended to cook through to eat, heart eggs for some friends taste better, However, there may be pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella that have not been completely killed, and eating them will bring health risks.
When you see some relevant dietary research results on the Internet and other information sources, you must combine your own situation, look at it rationally, and don't feel overwhelmed by some of these contradictory research conclusions, combine your own diet, choose a diet that suits you, and let the body get sufficient and appropriate nutritional supplements as the principle, which will really benefit our health. If this article is useful to you, you are also welcome to forward it to more friends who need it, so let's work together to dispel rumors and help spread health science knowledge.