Diabetic? Go easy on the eggs

It seems like no other food is as simultaneously much-maligned and much-revered as the good old incredible, edible egg. This article from popular humor site The Onion pretty accurately sums up most people’s feelings on eggs and their supposed health benefits. One day, you’re happily noshing on omelettes, the next day you’re throwing out entire cartons of free-range organic eggs because the word is that eggs should be eschewed if you want to keep your cholesterol in check.

Whether you are currently embracing or avoiding eggs, a 20-year study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition elicited some results you should be aware of. Particularly, that men who ate 7 or more eggs a week had a higher (about 23% higher) risk of early death. Men with diabetes were particularly at risk, with their death rate increasing if they ate any eggs at all.

You don’t need to toss the eggs entirely if you’re not diabetic--men who didn’t have diabetes seemed to be able to eat up to 6 eggs a week with no ill effect.

Interestingly, it seemed that men in the study who ate more eggs also tended to have other unhealthy habits—they were more likely to drink alcohol and smoke and were generally older and fatter. So which came first in this case, the proverbial chicken or the egg? It’s impossible to know.

However, we do know that since people with diabetes are over 2.4 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, it’s crucial that they keep their cholesterol levels down. One egg has 213 milligrams of cholesterol—all in the yolk! People who are healthy should limit their daily cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams, and those who are “watching” their cholesterol should keep their intake at 200. One egg can completely blow that!

If you have diabetes, talk with your physician or certified diabetes educator about whether or not eggs should be a part of your diet. If nothing else, you might be able to enjoy egg whites. Here’s a helpful link from the American Diabetes Association about diabetes and heart disease.

Want to learn more about eggs? Check out this article from Dr. Sears.

But remember, men with diabetes who ate eggs were twice as likely to die in that 20-year study period. That’s some very sobering data.