Egg consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a case–control study

Abstract

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus appears to involve an interaction between susceptible genetic backgrounds and environmental factors including highly calorific diets. As it is important to identify modifiable risk factors that may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, the aim of the present study was to determine the association between egg consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Design: A specifically designed questionnaire was used to collect information on possible risk factors of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals for type 2 diabetes mellitus were calculated by conditional logistic regression. Setting: A case-control study in a Lithuanian out-patient clinic was performed in 2001. Subjects: A total of 234 cases with a newly confirmed diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and 468 controls free of the disease. Results: Variables such as BMI, family history of diabetes, cigarette smoking, education, morning exercise and plasma TAG level were retained in multivariate logistic regression models as confounders because their inclusion changed the value of the odds ratio by more than 10 % in any exposure category. After adjustment for possible confounders more than twofold increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus was determined for individuals consuming 3-4?9 eggs/week (OR 5 2?60; 95 % CI 1?34, 5?08) and threefold increased risk of the disease was determined for individuals consuming $5 eggs/week (OR 5 3?02; 95 % CI 1?14, 7?98) compared with those eating ,1 egg/week. Conclusions: Our data support a possible relationship of egg consumption and increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Eggs: good or bad?

“…Intervention studies that controlled for many of these confounding factors, and especially the intake of saturated fat, found, in the main, no significant effect of egg intake on serum LDL-cholesterol (33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38) , but clear evidence of a dose-response relationship between dietary cholesterol and serum LDL-cholesterol (34) , and considerable variation in the response of serum LDL-cholesterol in both men and women (35,36) . Cross-sectional and prospective cohort studies and meta-analyses, have also reported associations between egg intake and an increased incidence of diabetes, and elevated CVD risk in diabetes (12)(13)(14)(15)(16) .…”

“…Evidence for associations between egg intake and increased incidence of diabetes in meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies has been inconsistent, some of which support associations (12)(13)(14)(15)(16) , while others do not (17)(18)(19)(20) . Egg intake is a well known marker for the intake of dietary fat and energy, both of which can contribute to an increase in body weight and risk of developing diabetes.…”

“…This action was later endorsed by the American Heart Association, who removed their guideline to restrict dietary cholesterol intake in healthy individuals to 300 mg/d in 2013 (10) the grounds of there being insufficient evidence to link dietary cholesterol with CHD (11) . In spite of these changes, reports of associations between egg consumption and the incidence of diabetes, and increased risk of CVD in diabetes still prevail (2,5,7,8,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) . This may be explained, in part, by residual confounding, with eggs acting as a marker of diets that are higher in saturated fat and energy, and also because eggs are simply easier to quantify than other dietary constituents in methods that rely on 24 h recall.…”

The Impact of Egg Nutrient Composition and Its Consumption on Cholesterol Homeostasis

“…Some have shown that egg consumption did influence the blood cholesterol level but did not increase the risk of CVD in healthy people. Meanwhile, other studies reported that high dietary cholesterol intake due to egg consumption is a risk factor for CVD and diabetes [180, 194, 197, 199, 201–204]. The results of epidemiological studies and human intervention studies on the relationship of dietary egg intake and CVD risks are summarized in Table 3.…”

“…These studies also showed that diabetic people are more vulnerable to CVD after egg consumption [13, 208], with a doubling of coronary risk with an egg per day in US population [12, 13], and 5-fold risk in Greece population [213]. Meanwhile, some studies found that high egg consumption increased the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus [214], insulin resistance [215], and the risk of diabetes [202–204]. Therefore, the effect of egg consumption on CVD might be mediated by diabetes.…”