An egg a day may be the best medicine for a woman’s brain

Additionally, while eggs do contain dietary cholesterol, unlike meat, they have relatively low levels of harmful saturated fat. This may allow them to provide cognitive benefits without the potential downsides associated with high-cholesterol foods. The team also notes that eggs are relatively affordable and accessible, making them a cheap way to get important nutrients for brain health.

“The lack of cognitive decline with egg consumption is reassuring and suggests that despite having high levels of dietary cholesterol, eggs do not have a detrimental effect and may even have a role in the maintenance of cognitive function over time,” the study authors conclude.

Of course, this was an observational study, so more research is necessary to confirm a causal relationship. However, the results add to a growing body of evidence challenging the notion that eggs should be strictly limited in the diet, especially for older adults focused on preserving their mental sharpness.

Paper Summary

Methodology

The researchers analyzed data from 890 adults aged 55 and older who were part of the Rancho Bernardo Study, an ongoing long-term health study in California. Participants reported their weekly egg consumption in 1988-1991, and then completed cognitive tests assessing global cognition, executive function, and semantic memory in both 1988-1991 and 1992-1996.

The team looked at how participants’ egg intake related to changes in their test scores over the 4-year period, running separate analyses for men and women to account for potential sex differences. They adjusted the results to control for factors like age, education, lifestyle behaviors, cholesterol levels, and calorie/protein intake.

Key Results

The key finding was that among women, greater egg consumption was associated with less decline in category fluency – a test of verbal abilities and executive function – over the 4 years. Specifically, women who reported eating 5 or more eggs per week had about a half-point less decline in their category fluency scores compared to women who never ate eggs.

This association held up even after accounting for various demographic, health, and dietary factors. In contrast, the researchers did not find any significant links between egg intake and cognitive changes in men.

Study Limitations

While the results are intriguing, this was an observational study, so it cannot prove that eating more eggs directly causes cognitive benefits. The participants were also predominantly white and well-educated, which limits the generalizability of the findings.

Additionally, the 4-year follow-up period was relatively short. Longer-term studies are needed to see if the apparent cognitive advantages of egg consumption persist over time.

Discussion & Takeaways

The researchers propose several plausible mechanisms by which eggs could help preserve cognitive abilities, particularly in women. Eggs are rich in nutrients like choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which have been linked to better brain health in prior research. The high-quality protein in eggs may also help maintain neuronal structure and function.

Importantly, while eggs do contain dietary cholesterol, they have relatively low levels of harmful saturated fat compared to other high-cholesterol foods like red meat. This may allow eggs to provide cognitive benefits without the potential downsides.

The sex differences in the findings are intriguing and warrant further investigation. The researchers note that women in the study had lower rates of diabetes but also less education and exercise than the men – factors that could influence cognitive aging in complex ways.

Funding & Disclosures

This research was funded by an unrestricted grant from the American Egg Board’s Egg Nutrition Center. The original data collection was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Source: Study Finds

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