Unlike earlier studies, Eating 🥚eggs may lower cholesterol and improve brain health

A new study has found that eating eggs may have a positive effect on cognitive health, despite their high cholesterol content.

Prevailing advice to avoid cholesterol-rich animal products, such as eggs and butter, has been widespread, due to the belief that these products raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease.

However, recent evidence suggests that saturated fat, sugar and sodium are the main factors responsible for the buildup of plaques in the arteries, not dietary cholesterol.

In fact, eggs are a low-fat food that is rich in protein and nutrients that may help lower cholesterol levels in the body. These effects may help protect the brain from age-related cognitive decline.

In the study, the research team from the University of California, San Diego, analyzed health data from 890 men and women "based on the 'Healthy Aging' study that began in 1988," which focused on examining three aspects of cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults over a period of four years.

The study showed that eating two to four eggs per week may be associated with lower blood cholesterol levels.

The results showed that women who ate more eggs showed less decline in short- and long-term memory. In men, the same effect was not seen, but when using a different data set using the same basic database, the researchers found that men who ate more eggs scored better on cognitive tests, while women showed no effect.

This suggests that other factors may be at play, and further research is needed to better understand this relationship.

“Despite the high cholesterol levels in eggs, our study suggests that eating eggs is not harmful to health and may even help maintain cognitive function over time,” said public health researchers Donna Kritz Silverstein and Ricky Bettencourt, both of the University of California, San Diego.

Eggs contain many beneficial nutrients, such as protein, amino acids, and cholesterol, which may help maintain healthy nerve cells and brain function. Eggs also contain carotenoids and choline, two substances linked to improved cognitive performance.

Previous studies have shown that people who eat more choline perform better on cognitive function tests.

While there are still many unanswered questions about the nutritional benefits of eggs, these new findings provide further evidence that dietary cholesterol may not always be bad for the body or brain.

The study was published in the journal Nutrients.

Source: Science Alert - Published on 15-11-2024 https://ar.rt.com/ypoa