Associations of egg consumption with cardiovascular disease in a cohort study of 0.5 million Chinese adults

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the associations between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD), ischaemic heart disease (IHD), major coronary events (MCE), haemorrhagic stroke as well as ischaemic stroke.MethodsDuring 2004–2008, over 0.5 million adults aged 30–79 years were recruited from 10 diverse survey sites in China. Participants were asked about the frequency of egg consumption and were followed up via linkages to multiple registries and active investigation. Among 461 213 participants free of prior cancer, CVD and diabetes, a total of 83 977 CVD incident cases and 9985 CVD deaths were documented, as well as 5103 MCE. Stratified Cox regression was performed to yield adjusted hazard ratios for CVD endpoints associated with egg consumption.ResultsAt baseline, 13.1% of participants reported daily consumption (usual amount 0.76 egg/day) and 9.1% reported never or very rare consumption (usual amount 0.29 egg/day). Compared with non-consumers, daily egg consumption was associated with lower risk of CVD (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.92). Corresponding multivariate-adjusted HRs (95% CI) for IHD, MCE, haemorrhagic stroke and ischaemic stroke were 0.88 (0.84 to 0.93), 0.86 (0.76 to 0.97), 0.74 (0.67 to 0.82) and 0.90 (0.85 to 0.95), respectively. There were significant dose-response relationships of egg consumption with morbidity of all CVD endpoints (P for linear trend <0.05). Daily consumers also had an 18% lower risk of CVD death and a 28% lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke death compared to non-consumers.ConclusionAmong Chinese adults, a moderate level of egg consumption (up to <1 egg/day) was significantly associated with lower risk of CVD, largely independent of other risk factors.

Cardiovascular benefit of egg consumption is most unlikely

“…The conclusion of the recent report that egg consumption reduced cardiovascular risk1 is most unlikely to be valid. It has been clear for many years that dietary cholesterol increases coronary risk, and a single 65 g egg contains 237 mg of cholesterol, more than the 200 mg daily limit that is still wisely recommended in a number of guidelines 2…”

“…In the Chinese study,1 there were important differences in many recognised determinants of health, between the categories of egg consumption (table 1). Furthermore, in China, urban residence probably reflects very large differences in availability of healthcare.…”

Sixty seconds on . . . eggs

“…A large prospective cohort study published in the journal Heart has found that people who eat about five eggs a week are less likely to have a stroke and other cardiac events than those who eat no eggs 1. The effect was especially noticeable for haemorrhagic stroke.…”

Associations of egg consumption with cardiovascular disease

“…Qin and colleagues1 analysed the China Kadoorie Biobank study to examine the associations between egg consumption and major cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and CVD mortality among Chinese adults. After adjusting for potential confounders, they found that compared with non-consumers, daily egg consumption was associated with lower risk of CVD (HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.92).…”