A Mediterranean (MED) diet decreases atherogenic lipoproteins and cardiovascular disease risk. We tested the hypothesis that daily consumption of whole eggs in a MED diet improves lipid metabolism compared with responses of both a control American diet and a MED diet without whole eggs. Thirty-nine overweight to obese participants were recruited into a randomized, crossover designed, controlled feeding trial evaluating 3 diets: a control, average American diet (AAD), a MED diet without whole eggs (MED-E), and a MED diet plus whole fresh eggs (1 whole egg/1000 kcal; MED+E). Treatments lasted 4 weeks followed by a >4-week washout period. Lipid concentrations, lipoprotein particle size, and number were determined at baseline and posttreatment. Intake of the AAD and MED-E decreased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrations (change from baseline, P < .05), without a treatment effect. Similarly, MED-E reduced (change from baseline, P < .05) triglyceride concentrations, without a treatment effect. Particle concentrations were reduced for intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL; 26%, P < .05) and total LDL (8%, P < .05) by MED-E intake only. Very low-density lipoprotein size was reduced by MED-E intake (treatment effect, P = .04). Variability in responses, assessed by unsupervised machine learning, identified 3 main clusters of IDL- and LDL-type responses. Adoption of a MED diet meal plan without whole eggs improved lipid parameters associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk. Significant treatment differences following inclusion of whole eggs were not observed. Individual differences in lipoprotein responses warrants further exploration.
Keywords: Cholesterol; Eggs; Lipoproteins; Machine learning; Mediterranean diet.
Published by Elsevier Inc.