From Yahoo News:
Seven or more eggs a week raises risk of death
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Middle-aged men who ate seven or more eggs a week had a higher risk of earlier death, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Men with diabetes who ate any eggs at all raised their risk of death during a 20-year period studied, according to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study adds to an ever-growing body of evidence, much of it contradictory, about how safe eggs are to eat. It did not examine what about the eggs might affect the risk of death. [So this study only discovered a correlation between egg consumption and mortality, and as we all know, correlation does NOT imply causation. Of course that never stops the media from reporting on these "studies" as if they do.]
Men without diabetes could eat up to six eggs a week with no extra risk of death, Dr. Luc Djousse and Dr. J. Michael Gaziano of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School found.
"Whereas egg consumption of up to six eggs a week was not associated with the risk of all-cause mortality, consumption of (seven or more) eggs a week was associated with a 23 percent greater risk of death," they wrote. [That one extra egg was the tipping point, I guess?]
"However, among male physicians with diabetes, any egg consumption is associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, and there was suggestive evidence for a greater risk of MI (heart attack) and stroke." [Of course, eggs were the only thing that these diabetic physicians were eating. Right? Because if they'd been eating anything else, we'd have seen other correlations pop up. Right?]
They urged more study in the general population. [I urge a real study, one that controls for other dietary variables and actually looks beyond correlations.]
Eggs are rich in cholesterol, which in high amounts can clog arteries and raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. [Despite the growing mountain of evidence to the contrary.]
One expert on nutrition and heart disease said the study suggests middle-aged men, at least, should watch how many eggs they eat.
"More egg on our faces? It's really hard to say at this point, but it still seems, if you're a middle-aged male physician and enjoy eggs more than once a day, that having some of the egg left on your face may be better than having it go down your gullet," said Dr. Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado and a former president of the American Heart Association. [I suggest that all middle-aged male physicians grow beards, in order to assist in the capture and storage of said eggs whilst they are en route to said gullets.]
"But, remember: eggs are like all other foods -- they are neither 'good' nor 'bad,' and they can be part of an overall heart-healthy diet," Eckel wrote in a commentary. [Remember: there are NO BAD FOODS. Chips, cheezies, and Pop Tarts can be part of an overall heart-healthy diet. Just keep your calories under 600 and never, ever eat more than a 1/4 teaspoon of polyunsaturated fat a month. And make sure you throw away the yolks.]
The Harvard team studied 21,327 men taking part in the much larger Physicians' Health Study, which has been watching doctors since 1981 who have agreed to report regularly on their health and lifestyle habits. [So was this a study of a study?]
Over 20 years, 1,550 of the men had heart attacks, 1,342 had strokes, and more than 5,000 died. [Must have been the eggs, then.]
"Egg consumption was not associated with (heart attack) or stroke," the researchers wrote. [Scratch that - the people who have been actually conducting this study for the last 17 years didn't find any association at all. So why is this news?]
But the men who ate seven eggs a week or more were 23 percent more likely to have died during the 20-year period. [Harvard: "Yeah but, they, like, ate EGGS. And eggs are, like, BAD. And they, like DIED. And like, we're from Harvard, so, like, we know stuff."]
Diabetic men who ate any eggs at all were twice as likely to die in the 20 years. [Harvard: "See?"]
Men who ate the most eggs also were older, fatter, ate more vegetables but less breakfast cereal, and were more likely to drink alcohol, smoke and less likely to exercise -- all factors that can affect the risk of heart attack and death.
(Reporting by Maggie Fox)
Based on the last paragraph, I hereby present alternative headlines for this breaking news story:Being Old Raises Risk of Death
Fat Diabetic Physicians Die
Vegetables Will Kill You
Want to Outlive Your Colleagues? Eat Breakfast Cereal.
Drinking, Smoking and Lack of Exercise: A Prescription For Death
This is a shining example of why one should NOT base their diet or overall health strategies on what they read in the news. Maggie Fox, don't put this one in your portfolio.
6 comments:
My first thoughts were that diabetic physicians might also be more likely to follow the ADA/AACE and diabetes recommendations, that is, a low fat, high carbohydrate diet. The ADA and AACE blood glucose target guidelines are so lax that complications, including heart disease, are nearly guaranteed.
Doctors who might be contrary-minded, and not follow ADA/AACE guidelines, might also be contrary in other ways and not exercise, not eat well, and smoke.
Excellent post. I avoid the "health" section of the newspaper these days because I can't stand the news wire reports on these epidemiological studies that show correlation, but not cause (& they often leave out critical details). Sometimes these "news-worthy" studies aren't even peer-reviewed studies, but some graduate student's or post-doc's poster presentation, which isn't published or peer reviewed.
Back to cooking three eggs over easy in copious amounts of butter for my middle aged husband ...
Good point Anna - they may be more likely to follow the standard recommendations, and therefore blame fatty foods like eggs rather than...oh, I dunno...the insane amounts of glucose they take in from fruit and grains :)
After seeing how unreliable mainstream health reporting tends to be, I've been avoiding all news - or at least following up on items of interest on my own. Like Mark Twain said: "If you don't read the newspapers you are uninformed - if you do read the newspapers you are misinformed."
I haven't had cereal, dairy beverage, bread, or fruit since 1/2/08. Almost without exception, my daily morning meal consists of two eggs and meat or a frozen three egg omelet with meat and/or cheese. After finding out first hand what grains did for my blood sugar (I once had a urinalysis right after eating two bagels and my doctor was ready to pronounce me a diabetic), I believe I'll take my chances with the eggs.
Hmm I probably have 5 eggs a week...
I reckon I don't need to worry though - correlation certainly is not causation and those men were probably eating the eggs fried, with 2 sausages and thick buttery toast!
Megamas - how do you eat the omlette if it's frozen? ;)
lady g - I'll take everything on that plate except the toast!
My breakfasts (when I used to eat in the mornings, that is) used to consist of a super-high fibre cereal doused in low fat vanilla soy milk and maybe an egg white omlette. Could never understand why I felt so unwell, and looked so fat! Now I know - grains, soy and sugar.
There is simply too little info about the test subjects and size of the study to know if the findings have any validity. Also, I seriously doubt that anybody had zero eggs. They're used as binders in so many dishes. I'd bet that most Americans who don't eat eggs for breakfast consume at least 2 or 3 a week....
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