| Title: | The Impact of Consumption of Eggs in the Context of Plant-Based Diets on Endothelial Function, Diet Quality, and Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors in Adults at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes |
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| Status: | Completed |
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| Topic: | Cardiovascular Health / Endothelial Function*;Diabetes / Insulin Resistance;Nutrition / Diet |
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| Funding Source: | Egg Nutrition Center |
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| Funding Period: | 2020-2021 |
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| Study Design: | Randomized, single-blind, controlled, crossover trial |
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| Purpose: | People at risk for diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and hypertension, and to have a higher risk of premature death. To help prevent these conditions, they’re often advised to consume plant-based diets and eat fewer foods from animal sources. However, if they exclude all foods from animal sources, they should plan carefully to get adequate nutrients that are more readily available from animal sources.Eggs provide high-quality protein and are rich in other nutrients that can be low or missing in exclusively plant-based diets. Although eggs are high in dietary cholesterol, recent research has shown that dietary cholesterol may be less likely to raise blood cholesterol levels than previously thought. Therefore, we conducted this study to compare the health effects and diet quality of a plant-based diet versus one combined with eggs. |
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| Further Study Details: | This study assessed the impact of including 2 eggs daily for 6 weeks in an otherwise exclusively plant-based diet, compared with a plant-based diet without eggs, on endothelial function (a measure of cardiovascular health), other cardio-metabolic risk factors, and dietary patterns in 35 adults who were at risk for type 2 diabetes.We enrolled 25 women and 10 men, with an average age of 61 years. With guidance from a dietitian, each person followed two variations of a plant-based diet (plant-based only, and plant-based plus 2 eggs per day) in randomly assigned order for 6 weeks each. |
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| Findings: | In these adults who were at risk for diabetes, adding 2 eggs daily to an otherwise plant-based diet for 6 weeks had no harmful effects on cardiovascular risk measures, fasting blood glucose, or insulin levels. Adding the eggs led to higher intakes of selenium and choline – two nutrients that are known to be depleted in exclusively plant-based diets. It also led to a small average increase in percent body fat, although body weight did not increase.Based on the results of this small study, eggs could potentially enhance the quality of plant-based diets consumed by adults at risk for type 2 diabetes without increasing their blood glucose or their risk for cardiovascular disease. A larger study is needed to confirm our findings. More details on this study and its findings were published in the December 2021 issue of The Journal of Nutrition. |
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| Eligibility: | Men in the age range of 25 to 75 years, and postmenopausal women up to 75 years old who were not on hormone replacement therapy. They were also non-smokers and had an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes based on study criteria. |
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| Evaluation: | At different time points, we measured participants’ endothelial function, serum lipids, body composition, body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting insulin and fasting blood glucose, nutrient intake, and diet quality. |
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