Egg Consumption Poses Risks for Diabetic Men: Study

To explain the finding on diabetic men, the researchers theorized that diabetics might somehow convert dietary cholesterol more readily into blood cholesterol than people without diabetes.

"We need additional data to confirm these findings, so it's kind of premature to advise against egg consumption until we have more information," Djousse said.

Donald McNamara, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Egg Nutrition Center, said that while diabetics need to carefully assess all aspects of their diet, "no one food exists in isolation."

"And when we look at all the other studies that have been published, they show that easily an egg a day can fit into a healthy diet with no change in heart-disease risk for the average person and those with diabetes," McNamara added. "Eggs also provide some very important nutrients in terms of high quality protein and choline, which we know is insufficient in the diet today. So, you have to balance out the nutritional contribution of eggs in the diet relative to this kind of a study, which presents a very unique finding which has not been presented anywhere else, and has a lot of variables included that we don't know enough about."

In an accompanying editorial published in the journal, Dr. Robert H. Eckel, a professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Colorado and co-chair of both the Cardiometabolic Health Congress and the Committee on Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, echoed some of McNamara's comments and called for more research to validate the study findings.

"Eggs are like all other foods -- they are neither 'good' nor 'bad', and they can be part of an overall heart-healthy diet," Eckel said. But he suggested that those wary of the high cholesterol content in whole eggs might want to skip yolks in favor of egg whites, which are ripe with protein, riboflavin and selenium.

And Lona Sandon, a registered dietician and assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, said that "the white part of the egg is the gold standard for protein."

"It contains all the essential immunoacids that your muscle needs for building," she said. "It's better than beef even. And it's one of the cheapest sources of protein as well. There are some good things in the yolk as well. But for someone who has had their cholesterol measured and found to have high LDL, the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association say watch your egg consumption, and try not to consume more than two yolks per week."

More information

For additional information on nutrition and diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association.

SOURCES: Luc Djousse, M.D, associate epidemiologist, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and assistant professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Donald McNamara, executive director, Egg Nutrition Center, Washington, D.C.; Lona Sandon, R.D., assistant professor of clinical nutrition, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas; April 2008,The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition