Impact of whole egg intake on blood pressure, lipids and lipoproteins in middle-aged and older population: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
BACKGROUND AND AIM
Effects of whole egg consumption on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk in the middle-aged and older population remain unclear due to inconsistent findings from observational and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This meta-analysis aimed to assess the impacts of whole egg and egg category (whole eggs versus egg substitutes) intake quantity on CVD risk factors from systematically searched RCTs. Egg substitutes were hypothesized to have minimal effects of the blood lipid and lipoprotein profile as they are void of dietary cholesterol.


METHODS AND RESULTS
As many as 434 studies identified from PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and Medline (Ovid) databases were screened and data were extracted from 8 selected RCTs. Quality of the selected studies were assessed and the overall effect sizes of weighted mean differences (WMD) were calculated using a random effects model. Non-differential effects in blood pressures, lipids and lipoproteins were observed when >4 whole eggs/week compared to ≤4 whole eggs/week were consumed. Intake of >4 whole eggs/week compared to equivalent amounts of egg substitutes caused greater elevations in blood total cholesterol (WMD: 0.198 mmol/L; 95% CIs: 0.056, 0.339), HDL cholesterol (WMD: 0.068 mmol/L; 95% CIs: 0.006, 0.130) and LDL cholesterol (WMD: 0.171 mmol/L; 95% CIs: 0.028, 0.315) but did not differentially affect triglycerides concentration.


CONCLUSION
Overall, the results support the notion that quantity of whole egg intake does not affect CVD risk factors and consuming egg substitutes may also be beneficial compared to whole eggs on lowering CVD risk in the middle-aged and older population.
['Wang|M X|MX|', 'Wong|C H|CH|', 'Kim|J E|JE|']
D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D015415:Biomarkers D001794:Blood Pressure D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary D004531:Eggs D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008055:Lipids D008074:Lipoproteins D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009753:Nutritive Value D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic D064167:Recommended Dietary Allowances D018570:Risk Assessment D012307:Risk Factors
Whole eggs Blood pressure Cardiovascular disease Egg category Blood lipids and lipoproteins Dietary cholesterol Middle-aged and older adults