Can Eggs Prevent Type 2 Diabetes?

While eggs have gained a bad reputation for being high in cholesterol, they could help to decrease risk for type 2 diabetes.

A study from researchers in Finland found that men who ate approximately four eggs per week had a 37 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than men who consumed roughly one egg per week.

The study authors noted that in some research, diets high in cholesterol are linked to a higher incidence of diabetes. However, no studies to date have focused exclusively on how egg consumption affects total diabetes risk, not just cholesterol levels.

Eggs full of beneficial nutrients

The current study included 2,332 men between the ages of 42 and 60, with a follow-up period of 19.3 years.

The link between egg consumption and lowered diabetes risk remained intact even after researchers accounted for other factors like body mass index, physical activity levels, smoking and diet.

"In addition to cholesterol, eggs contain many beneficial nutrients that can have an effect on, for example, glucose metabolism and low-grade inflammation, and thus lower the risk of type 2 diabetes," a news release on the study stated.

According to the Mayo Clinic, diabetics should limit daily cholesterol intake to no more than 200 mg per day (one large egg has about 186 mg of cholesterol).

Findings from the study also highlight that nutrition research is becoming more holistically focused, looking not just at how specific components of foods (like cholesterol) may affect health, but also how the whole food may be either beneficial or detrimental to disease risk.

The research is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source: Mayo Clinic, University of Finland