American Heart Month: Cracking Open Heart He...( 30 Years of Research Shows No Li...),Health

30 Years of Research Shows No Link Between Eggs and Heart Disease

PARK RIDGE, Ill., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- February is American Heart Month, and while cardiovascular disease continues to be the number one killer of Americans, many adults are confused about what foods to eat and what to avoid. A January survey of healthy adults conducted by the Egg Nutrition Center shows that nearly one out of four (24 percent) Americans still avoid eggs for fear of dietary cholesterol, even though 30 years of research has never linked egg consumption to heart disease.(i) As a result of this myth, many Americans are missing out on the beneficial nutrients of the incredible egg.

Science Sets the Record Straight

A 2007 study of 9,500 people reported in Medical Science Monitor showed that eating one or more eggs a day did not increase the risk of heart disease or stroke among healthy adults, and that eating eggs may be associated with a decrease in blood pressure.(ii) Also in 2007, researchers showed that egg consumption contributed less than 1 percent of the risk for heart disease when other risk factors were taken into account. The researchers concluded that broad recommendations to limit egg consumption may be misguided, particularly when eggs' nutritional contributions are considered.(iii)

"People should feel secure with the knowledge that the literature shows regular egg consumption does not have a measurable impact on heart disease risk for healthy adults," says Stephen Kritchevsky, Ph.D., director of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University. "In fact, many countries with high egg consumption are notable for low rates of heart disease."

Not only have decades of research shown no association between egg intake and heart disease risk, but eggs are an excellent source of choline, which plays an important role in breaking down homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood that may be associated with an increased risk of heart d
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