Eating Egg Yolks Increases Arterial Plaque, Rivals Smoking

Dr. J. David Spence, professor of neurology at the University of Western Ontario, has returned to the topic of eggs. He and his colleagues had me Rethinking Eggs back in 2010. In his latest study...

Egg Yolk Consumption And Carotid Plaque, Atherosclerosis, August 2012

Here's a press release on the study:
Research Finds Egg Yolks Almost As Bad As Smoking

... Spence and his team looked at total plaque area in 1262 patients attending a vascular prevention clinic.

"Spence found regular consumption of egg yolks is about two-thirds as bad as smoking when it comes to increased build-up of carotid plaque, a risk factor for stroke and heart attack."

So, both smoking and eating eggs was associated with increased plaque. Smoking was worse, but eating three or more eggs a week came close.

People with diabetes who eat eggs have an even greater risk for heart attack than people without diabetes:

"In diabetics, an egg a day increases coronary risk by two to five-fold," said Spence.

In his paper from 2010, Spence said the problem with dietary cholesterol* was three-fold. It:

1. Increases the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation "by 37% in one study and by 39% in another." (Oxidized LDL contributes to the formation of plaque.)
2. Increases postprandial lipemia. (Increases triglycerides and other lipid particles after a meal.)
3. Potentiates the adverse effects of dietary saturated fat. (This is called the "bacon and egg effect" or the "egg and cheese effect." At high cholesterol intake, a high saturated fat diet leads to higher LDL than if you paired the same saturated fat diet to a lower cholesterol intake.)

* Egg yolks are high in cholesterol. Says Spence: "The yolk of a large egg provides more than the 210 mg. of cholesterol in a Hardee's Monster Thickburger, which contains two-thirds of a pound of beef, three slices of cheese and four strips of bacon."

Related: Small Amounts of Dietary Cholesterol Cause Arterial Lesions
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