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 Eating egg yolks regularly increases plaque buildup about two-thirds as much as smoking does, according to a new study.
August 15th, 2012
05:38 PM ET
Is eating egg yolks as bad as smoking?A new study suggests eating egg yolks can accelerate heart disease almost as much as smoking. The study published online in the journal Atherosclerosis found eating egg yolks regularly increases plaque buildup about two-thirds as much as smoking does. Specifically, patients who ate three or more yolks a week showed significantly more plaque than those who ate two or less yolks per week. It may seem harsh to compare smoking with eating egg yolks, but lead study author Dr. David Spence says researchers needed a way to put it into perspective since both eating cholesterol and smoking increase cardiovascular risks - but the general public believes smoking is far worse for your health.
The issue is with the yolk, not the egg, says Spence, who is also a professor of neurology at the University of Western Ontario's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. "One jumbo chicken egg yolk has about 237 milligrams of cholesterol." Keeping a diet low in cholesterol is key, says Spence. Even if you are young and healthy, eating egg yolks can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases later. "Just because you are 20 doesn't mean egg yolks aren't going to cause any trouble down the line," he says. Study: Egg yolk nearly as bad as smoking For those patients with increased coronary risk, such as diabetics, eating an egg yolk a day can increase coronary risk by two to five-fold, he adds. Atherosclerosis, also called coronary artery disease, occurs when plaque builds up in the blood vessels leading to the heart, specifically the inner arterial wall, and limits the amount of blood that can pass through. Doctors write a prescription for fresh produce In the study, researchers looked at 1,231 patients of the vascular prevention clinics at London Health Sciences Centre's University Hospital, with a mean age of 61.5. Each patient had already experienced a small stroke or had high blood pressure, hypertension or a family history of cardiovascular disease. Spence says researchers chose to use patients with a higher likelihood of cardiovascular issues because it would have been harder to get visible results using the general population with a lower risk. Patients were asked to fill out questionnaires about their diet, lifestyle and medications, including how much they smoked and the number of egg yolks they ate. An ultrasound was performed to examine their plaque buildup. Researchers took into account sex, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking, body mass index and diabetes. In addition to relying completely on the recollection of patients as to what they ate, the study did not account for waist circumference and it did not account for a patient's exercise program. And perhaps most notably, it only looked at patients with existing cardiovascular issues. The study confirms what doctors already know about eating cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, says Dr, Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at John Hopkins University School of Medicine and the former president of the American Heart Association. "Cholesterol intake should be limited to 300 milligrams a day, particularly in people who do not have underlying heart disease," he says. However, people with high LDL blood cholesterol levels or those taking a blood cholesterol-lowering medication should eat less than 200 mg of cholesterol per day. So what can you do to keep your heart healthy? Talk to your doctor if you have a history of heart disease and consider a change in lifestyle – things like eating better, watching your cholesterol, stopping smoking, and exercising. soundoff (1,086 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next »Leave a Reply to chicago7
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Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
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I'm sure if I eat an egg yoke for every cigerette someone smokes it would be. 1 pack a day = 20 egss, 2 = 40, etc. etc. That;s a log of eggs. My father has eaten two eggs a day with the yoke for his now 87 years. He can still run an 8.30 mile, and his sitting heart rate is ~60. The reality is, excercise and you can eat pretty much what you want. Don't, and you're screwed no matter what you eat.
Your single anecdotal data point is irrelevant. You can also point to plenty of individuals who smoked a pack a day and lived to 90. The point is consuming high amounts of cholesterol increases your chances of having heart problems. Pointing out one person who ate 2 eggs a day and didn't have them doesn't make the statistics any less valid.
Why do so-called news organizations even publish this stuff. The study is a farce. It didn't consider exercise programs and only included people with existing cardiovascular risks. Eggs do contain cholesterol but are one of THE BEST sources of protein and nutrients around. If you exercise regularly, you can eat eggs daily without concern for heart disease. But that information wouldn't make for a dramatic study....Unbeleivable.
Ha. His anecdotal evidence may not be worth much. Probably as much as this study, as it relies itself on anecdotal reporting and does not isolate the variable in question. This study is worth exactly 0. This is the same "fat and cholesterol is bad for you" line of thinking that made America dependent on cheap value-add staple grains and made it obese in the process.
The truth of the matter is the kind of calories you consume matters. There are good fats and good cholesterols (Omega-3s, monounsaturated, medium-chain triglycerides, etc. and HDL cholesterol) and there are bad fats and bad cholesterols (i.e., trans fats and LDL cholesterol).
The Paleolithic Diet, Mediterranean Diet, Far-East Asian Diet, and South Beach Diet all provide essential nutrition while accelerating metabolism and regulating blood surgar.
Avoid dairy, avoid overconsumption of grains, and avoid processed foods. Eat a lot of colorful vegetables, a moderate amount of fruit, and a moderate amount of lean proteins from fish, poultry, eggs, meat, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, etc. You will live a long happy life.
Steve is right. The study included only people who were predisposed to cardiovascular diseases. A persons genetics heavily influence what is called nutrigenomics (Which means how each persons genetics affect the way the body processes foods). My guess that since a lot of these people had preexisting conditions as it is probably indicates that many have a genetic predisposition to not process cholesterol effectively. Also, there are other factors that play into it such as soluble fiber intake which can lower cholesterol.
All of it has more to do with genetics than anything else. My Great Grandmother lived to 101 and ate everything deep fried in bacon grease. She ate eggs and bacon cooked floating in lard with buttered white bread and jam every morning with her coffee full of sugar. She wasn't overweight and took no medication. I wish the medical community would tell the truth about all the variables involved in our health rather than general statements.
As for eggs, they are healthy in one study and unhealthy in the next. Can we all agree all things in moderation UNLESS your family history shows something causes your lineage a problem?
Grey, I am glad your father is doing so well at an advanced age, but you are nuts if you think exercise is the only way to a healthy heart. I completed the Chicago marathon seven months before falling into heart failure and having a life-saving transplant. I have since run another marathon; and I agree exercise is very important, but so are GENES and diet.
Yeah basket....except that they have never once proven a link between consuming cholesterol, and having high cholesterol.
I've been eating on average 2-3 whole eggs (Fried and scrambled) a day for the better part of ten years. My immediate family does have a history of high blood pressure and cholestorol, and have ben asking for quite a while for me to get a blood analysis. Received my results about a week ago and couldn't be much better. It does show my HDL cholesterol is slightly high, but what i've been told, is it's the "good" cholesterol and can actually be a good thing. I am only 25 and have been very active my whole life, so this article and research is far from comparing apples to apples, but i'll take my chance and continue to eat my 2-3 eggs/day.
Just like smoking, 10 years probably won't do that much damage. keep up your habits and let's review in another 10, 20, 30 years.
I'm just very surprised that there's no solid evidence of whether eggs are good or bad, keeping in mind eating too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Obviously eating 10 eggs a day for life will probably have some consequences. However, I like how you go to the doctor and they tell you have high cholesterol and they hand you a paper with a list of foods to avoid, one of which are eggs. Meanwhile you go to get a second opinion and this doctor tells you eggs are nothing to worry about.
If I ate porridge 3 meals a day, I would still have high cholesterol. I exercise, and eat right. Very little meat, mostly vegetables. My older sister eats anything and everything, is slightly overweight, has never exercised a day in her life, and her cholesterol is a third of mine. Not fair.
that's data point Jim
the whole point of studies is to summarize large amounts of people.
I have also been consuming 3 jumbo eggs thrice weekly for at least 10 years. My cholesterol is normal. I do not exercise, other than to move my jaws to eat more food. I am 68 1/2 years old. The key here is genetics, not cholesterol or fat.
This is good news. I'm taking up smoking again!
Have some bacon with that cigarette, honey! 🙂
My grandparents started the day with a couple of eggs, a slab of bacon, a skillet full of potatoes fried in grease, strong coffee with real sugar, and a cigarette. They lived in a house with asbestos, drank more than a few beers a week, and never wore seat belts. They both lived well into their 90s. I'm not suggested anybody live recklessly, but for crying out loud, LIVE instead of sitting around worrying about all the stuff that's supposed to be dangerous for you.
amen! well said i agree
I like this post. Well put. The health industry has gone back and forth on SO many products ESPECIALLY eggs. One week they are good, the next bad, the next they cause cancer, the next they reduce joint pain or whatever. Just stop it already. Eggs COULD cause heart disease. So what? So COULD eating almost anything. If you even have to think for a second ... 'maybe I'm eating too many eggs each day'... common sense will usually drive you in the right direction.
Interviews I've read with people over 100 includes at least 2 oz of whiskey a day.
Good advice. Live life not some sort of walking death! Cheers.
This looks like a sound study to me and the only explanation I can gather for all the backlash is the America love for the fatty, artery-clogging diet.
And perhaps most notably, it only looked at patients with existing cardiovascular issues.
The study confirms what doctors already know about eating cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, says Dr, Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at John Hopkins University School of Medicine and the former president of the American Heart Association.
Confirmation Bias.
I don't see how you can say this is a "sound" study. They admit up front that they used people who already have heart disease and their data collection includes self reporting of diet by the subjects. I don't place very much validity in this study at all.
It doesn't matter what in the he!! it is. "Reasearchers" will ALWAYS find something that's going to kill you.
You know....you only live life once, so do what makes you happy. If eating egg yolks makes you happy than continue doing so.
YOLO
BS
My grand parents are the best studies I have. They ate eggs and drank strong Coffee on a daily basis and all them reached the 90s. My Grand mother died last year at 96 just because of the aging disease, but a month before her dead she was very active... natural food don't kill people, laziness and junk food kills people.
Agree. Laziness kills.
Lifespan is complex, and anecdotal evidence is meaningless. It's likely that your ancestors simply have a genetic predisposition to long life, or toward a low probability of heart disease and other top killers.
"The aging disease"? There is no such thing. The probability is high that, had anyone bothered to look, heart disease was the culprit. The might have lived into their hundreds if they had been examined and treated for it, but people like to think that if you make it past 80 it isn't worth paying attention to health anymore.
before they make such a claim shouldnt they use "normal" people meaning people with no underlying heart problems that ate 1 egg a day and maybe exercise?
I eat at least 4 eggs a week mind hard boiled or poached I am at average weight moderate exercise and have my blood checked every year yet my levels are great I am 45
I agree with you, seems most of these people had health issues to begin with, obviously they need to watch what they eat more since they are prone to health issues related to high cholestoral diets. I would like to see if the same is actually true in healthy people, which I doubt. The egg yoke is really the only other source outside of milk and sun exposure you can actually get vitamin D (there may be another food item, but the sources of vitamin D are very limited outside of sun exposure and supplements).
All the more reason to try a mostly vegan diet. There are some great recipes here: http://www.livingrawandvegan.com
Oh, wow, more vegan garbage. Go play in traffic, you pale, frail little weirdo. I bet you can't even go up a flight of stairs without saying "that was a good workout!"
Don't take what comes out of Canada seriously.
"Most importantly, the yolk contains most of the nutrients in an egg.
Egg whites, on the other hand, contain far fewer nutrients. The only thing that could justify their consumption is their attachment to their companion yolk". http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/Egg_Yolk.html
How can any doctor make these evaluations? Does anyone eat only eggs all day, every day? How can they separate all the other foods from just the eggs and conclude that it is the key cause of the problem? How can they evaluate any one person or group of people and be so sure that none of their other lifelong habits; smoking, drinking, exercise, smog, stress, genetics and I don't know how many other possible factors could be part of the result. I see other similar comments and questions. I don't know how this doctor did the research, but it is one that causes many people to panic, and I find that negligent.
I have been eating a dozen eggs including the yokes for close to a year and my cholesterol has never been better. I work out every day too so I really doubt that egg yolks do to me what cigarettes would. Where do these studies come from?
probably the single dumbest thing i've EVER seen reported on CNN, and as of late, that's really saying something.
the study surveyed people OLDER THAN 60 who ALREADY HAD HEALTH ISSUES. of course those people should cut down on cholesterol. but for the vast majority of people who are younger than 60 and who don't already have heart disease, no, an egg yolk is not worse than a cigarette.
what a terrible, sensationalist headline and an even worse article. you people should be ashamed of yourselves.
The study also makes no actual measurements and relies solely on self-reporting.
Flash – People bitten by a rabid dog die sooner than those who have not been bitten.
1) The general public believes smoking is much worse for your health than eating eggs because IT IS much worse for your health. It is not only a major contributor to heart disease; it also vastly increases the risk of a variety of very unpleasant cancers, COPD and other lung diseases, gum and other oral diseases, circulation problems in general and a host of other bad things. The public is being both right and reasonable when they believe this, because it is correct.
2) The link between dietary cholesterol, serum cholesterol and arterial plaques is still tenuous. There are large numbers of people with high serum cholesterol who keep those high levels even when their dietary intake is reduced to a tiny level; there are others who consume vast amounts of cholesterol but show normal serum levels; in both cases, plaque formation is only weakly correlated with serum cholesterol. It just isn't clear whether diet has any significant effect on plaque formation; we're almost certainly better off using drugs to lower serum cholesterol levels, although even that isn't a sure-fire way to avoid plaques.
The test pool was completely polluted from the start. Results were guaranteed to justify the grant money and support the corporate sponsor’s position.
"Spence says researchers chose to use patients with a higher likelihood of cardiovascular issues because it would have been harder to get visible results using the general population with a lower risk."
I want to find out who supported and funded this study. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a tobacco company.
What a crock of sh!t. This is the same mentality that consuming fat makes you fat. Countless studies have come out disproving that absurd idea. These "researchers" aren't taking anything else into account, like, for example; what else these people eat. I've been eating whole eggs my entire life, and my blood work is so clean, there's not a single trace of what these studies claim. Let me guess, eating white bread and pasta 8x a day is also healthy...? Give me a break.
Is he retarded? Or is this a joke?
no he's yoking around
Eat eggs, don't eat eggs. I am tired of hearing from these people. Everybody will die someday so give it a break.
My father-in law ate an egg (soft boiled) every day of his life.
And he did die a a heart attack (at 97 years of age).
Maybe people with heart disease shouldn't eggs.
But that doesn't apply to everyone.
What ever happened to "get your food as close to the source as possible".
You cannot get any closer to the source than an egg unless you eat a pregnant chicken
With all the smog and impurities in the atmosphere, a researcher in India found out that breathing is not healthy for you, so quit breathing and you will be fine.
Oh, no. Does this mean there will soon be "egg yolk" sections in our restaurants? Will the waitress who seats us have to ask, "Yolking or non-yolking?"
LOL! Thank you, I needed a good laugh today 🙂
I'm calling BS. Way to skew your study. It was too hard to get the results you wanted by looking at the general population? Because that is what the article basically says ... see below.
"In the study, researchers looked at 1,231 patients of the vascular prevention clinics at London Health Sciences Centre's University Hospital, with a mean age of 61.5. Each patient had already experienced a small stroke or had high blood pressure, hypertension or a family history of cardiovascular disease. Spence says researchers chose to use patients with a higher likelihood of cardiovascular issues because it would have been harder to get visible results using the general population with a lower risk"
Exactly its shoddy science. Those people who separate out egg whites live a different lifestyle than people who don't. Doesn't mean yolks are bad. People who spend 40 dollars a day on food are healthier than people who spend 10.
Raw spinich topped with walnuts,bluberries,red onion, a few crumbs of blue cheese and some slices of egg yoke with an olive oil and vinegar dressing. All that good stuff counter-acts the bad stuff in the egg. Right?
At the Science-Based Medicine blog on the 15th, Steven Novella destructed the eggs report.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/eggs-and-atherosclerosis
In part he writes:
The table does indeed show a significant increase in carotid plague, the build up of cholesterol on the inner
lining of the main arteries that feed the brain, with increase in egg yolk years. There are significant confounders
and contradictions in the data as well, however. The most glaring to me is that total cholesterol, triglycerides, HD
and LDL do not vary significantly across the egg yolk years columns. Apparently what the authors have shown
(which is consistent with previous data) is that eating lots of eggs does not increase total cholesterol or bad
cholesterol (LDL) nor does it decrease good cholesterol (HDL). In my mind this leaves the authors completely
without a mechanism to explain a causal relationship between egg consumption and carotid plaque. This strongly
suggests the association is not causal but is incidental or spurious – unless an alternate mechanism can b
proposed and supported by evidence.
George
I wouldn't call this is a "study". A slight corelation, maybe.
This Just Came in...... Breathing air may lead to cancer
Sleeping wrong leads to cancer
Waving Hello to fast leads to cancer.
Here's the end to all Cancer Articles
"Your Genes Determine If You Will Have Cancer"
"Specifically, patients who ate three or more yolks a week showed significantly more plaque than those who ate two or less yolks per week." Gee, with such an uncanny knack for the obvious, how can you NOT trust their research?
BTW, I've known many researchers and they are not infallible. And as someone else pointed out, exercise is a trump card. Lack of exercise is more of the problem than what we eat. I think the estimates that 30% of the population is obese are grossly under-exaggerated.
university of connecticut research showed that egg yolks contain the majority of the egg's nutrients and vitamins over the whites. they also showed how it raised good cholesterol and lowered the bad. everyone dies one day so as for me i'll take 'em sunny side up
EVERYTHING is bad for you. You might as well enjoy yourself.
I agree Grey! I'm really tired of conflicting studies. I believe there was a study earlier in the year that said eggs were good for you.
we also live in an extremely polluted world, if you live near a city forget about it, you're inhaling cancer everyday
WHAT TOTAL NONSENSE!!! Why is it that just about every farmer I have ever seen who packs the eggs away lives to a ripe old age? No, you probably don't want to eat 20 eggs a day. But 2-3? Eat away! Get your exercise, drink some water, adn you'll be fine! The "Anti-Cholesterol" movement is a SCAM to sell DRUGS! Period!
I dont know about anyone else but I am sick and tired of hearing what is good for you then no its not.
And to think that these people making these ridiculous assumptions get paid huge salaries to tell us a load of crap!!!
Also funded by drug companies to sell their so called "remedy" in a bottle at "buy1 and get 1 free"..postage include.
they did this study back in the 80's and went all " eggs are bad for you" for about 10 years, then they re-did the study and you got the " the incredible, edible egg" commercials that drove me insane for years; so now eggs are bad for you again...................good i'm still eating my eggs and enjoying them. i have one life and i'll be damned if eating one food that is "bad" for me is going to stop me when i'm more likely to die of being run over or shot than i am dying of a heart attack.
The study group is small so the results have very questionable statistical significance. In addition, Carotid Plaque is a poor predictor of Coronary Plaque. Also, there was no correlation of these results to symptoms, morbidity or mortality. Extrapolating this data to make broad statements about diet is at best misleading and at worst wrong. It's been known for years that patients with cardiovascular disease should modify their diet, exercise and quit smoking. Making a recommendation about egg consumption for the population in general based on this study is absurd.
Having had my transplant at Stanford, I change my vote and go with the Northern California Cardiologist. The study is absurd!
I think this study is flawed because of too many variables, as previous e-mailers pointed out. The participants already had a history of high blood pressure, hypertension or a family history of cardiovascular disease, and the study was done on old men [where were the women?]. If eating whole eggs are so bad for you, how ever did my relatives ever live to be 101 years old? I had three [2 aunts + 1 uncle} who all achieved this age and they ALL ATE EGGS! My closest uncle [whom I shared a house with in my youth] lived to be 97 yrs old, and my mother lived to be 92 yrs old. They both ate eggs. If this study was funded by a pharmaceutical company, they were hoping to skew the results to scare people into taking their expensive cholesterol-lowering pills instead of living a healthy life style. As a few previous e-mailers pointed out, everything in moderation, plus healthy exercise, and maintaining good relationships with family + friends is the best recipe for a long happy life!
Exactly. The author is extrapolating results to the general public, which isn't applicable- we are talking about a high risk population where discouraging eating of eggs is already common practice. Presumably these patients are disregarding that advice, so I think it would be fair to say they are disregarding other advice. It isn't the same as smoking because smoking s addictive whereas eggs are a lifestyle choice.
This is junk science. Correlation does not prove causation, and the methodology here is seriously flawed. Add to that the fact that two of the three primary researchers involved in the study have financial ties to producers of statins.
There is simply no significant evidence which indicates that saturated fat and cholesterol consumption contributes to coronary disease. In fact the entire "lipid hypothesis" is mythological, yet remains prominent in relation to nutritional models and recommendations from authoritative sources. Despite the inherent fallacy it remains an effective tool for creating a market for statins and drugs.
'Is eating egg yolks as bad as smoking?" No. No one has ever complained about second hand yolks.
that was a good yoke.
2 Sunny sides fried on bacon fat and butter on top of a medium rareT-Bone stake, a heaping helping of fries, or baked potatoe topped with butter and whipped cream, 12 sticks of asparagus, midium cooked, a carafe of Kopi Luwak, a cuban cigar, a bottle of Dom Perignon, a couple of sweet a&&, overlooking Las Vegas strip at night in your Penthouse suite....now do you research on that. (pinch me, i'm dreaming again)
I was wondering when the next egg report would come out. First their good, the years later they are bad, five years after that they are good again, that same year they are bad again, and on and on...
I don't eat eggs often, so it doesn't really matter, but this study is riddled with holes.
This is just food industry propaganda to get you to eat their processed carb fake food, the stuff that actually makes you a whale along with a plethora of hell problems. Eggs are fine.
One thing is not noted that eggs have not anymore the quality they had before.
Egg yollks have much less omega-3 fats, because the chiken don't eat green grass which is neccessary for the omega -3 fats in egg yolks but also in any animal fat.
Omega-3 fats prevent the plaque building.
Ditto to miscreant: It's not the egg yolks but all the crap food people eat. Yes, if you eat whole eggs along with all the sugar, transfats, and other unpronounceable ingredients in processed food, your cholesterol will be affected. Eating whole eggs with a diet based on whole foods and natural fats will keep cholesterol in check and probably lower it. These studies/articles are bogus because they don't take into account the many other lifestyle and genetic factors that can cause high cholesterol and other related metabolic conditions. Talk about piecing two things (smoking and eggs) together for the sole purpose of selling a story...
CNN, when someone posts or releases a new study, please give information regarding past studies that conflict with the new finding, so that the public is more informed AND can make their own assumptions until confirming studies are performed.
FYI: There are numerous studies that show that eating egg yolks do not increase the bodies Total Cholesterol nor disease risk. Until this study does more than just survey what folks eat, this is NOT a valid study.
My grandfather ate 2 eggs every day (not counting sausages and burgers) until the day he died at the age of 98. I'm sick and tired of these studies professors do to stay tenured, and showing that they are doing real good work.
Sounds like I should take up smoking and stop worrying about all the downsides of being alive.