Context: Egg consumption is one of the main dietary sources of cholesterol, but whether individuals who eat more eggs have a worse blood lipid profile remains controversial.
Objective: We examined the relationship between egg consumption and lipid parameters and explored whether this relationship changes according to the presence of chronic metabolic disorders.
Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted with adult participants in the EVIDENT II trial. Adjusted linear regression models were stratified by the main chronic metabolic disorders.
Results: Among the 728 participants (61.9% women, mean age 52.1 ± 11.9 years), the mean egg consumption was equivalent to 5 to 6 eggs per week for a 70-kg individual. In the fully adjusted analysis, no association was found of egg consumption with total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and triglyceride levels. Furthermore, compared with the first quartile of consumption, the fourth quartile was associated with lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels (coefficient -7.01; 95% CI -13.39, -0.62) and a lower LDL-c/HDL-c ratio (coefficient -0.24, 95% CI -0.41, -0.06). In the analyses stratified by chronic metabolic diseases, higher egg consumption was not associated with lipid profile in those with obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, or treated with hypolipidemic drugs, and was associated with a better lipid profile in participants without these conditions.
Conclusion: Higher egg consumption was not associated with blood lipids in individuals with chronic metabolic disorders. In individuals without such conditions, the lipid profile was better among those who consumed more eggs. Our findings support current guidelines recommending eggs as part of a healthy diet.
Keywords: cholesterol; comorbidity; dyslipidemia; eggs; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; lipids.
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.