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Eggs vs. Cigarettes in Atherosclerosis

A similar exponential increase in carotid artery plaque buildup was found for smokers and egg eaters.

March 11, 2013 |
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Supplementary Info

Eggs vs. Cigarettes in Atherosclerosis, 4.8 out of 5 based on 9 ratings

Sources Cited

J. D. Spence, D. J. A. Jenkins, J. Davignon. Egg yolk consumption and carotid plaque. Atherosclerosis 2012 224(2):469 - 473

Acknowledgements

Images thanks to malias, Samuel M. Livingston and Vectorportal

Transcript

As I reported last year, the Harvard Nurses' Health Study found that the daily consumption of the amount of cholesterol found in a single egg appeared to cut a woman's life short as much as smoking 25,000 cigarettes. Following up on that research, a study in the journal Atherosclerosis found that just 3 eggs or more a week was associated with a significant increase in artery-clogging plaque buildup in people's carotid arteries going to their brain, a strong predictor of stroke, heart attack, and death.  In fact you see a similar exponential increase in arterial plaque buildup for smokers and egg-eaters. Those that ate the most eggs had as much as two-thirds the risk of those that smoked the most, the equivalent of a pack-a-day habit for 40 years or more. This did not go over easy with the egg industry. As revealed in a series of internal memos about this group of researchers retrieved through the Freedom of Information Act, the American Egg Board discussed the "wisdom of making industry responses when the public knows there is a vested interest…." So Mitch Kanter, the Executive Director of the Egg Board's "Egg Nutrition Center," proposed they contact "some of our 'friends' in the science community" to have an "objective, external source author the response." "If you do so," Mitch wrote to one of their "friends" at Yale, "we'll certainly compensate you…." But the prominent Yale physician refused to "participate in an overtly antagonistic letter" given his friendship with one of the co-authors of the review. If you can't find someone with credentials to counter the science, why not just make one up? How's this for a bizarre twist: An email was circulated to discredit the researchers by a Dr. Dr.—MD/PHD—and why not throw in an MBA while you're at it, who claimed the prestigious researchers didn't know a thing about nutrition. Only when the principal investigator of the egg study replied to the allegations did we learn that the Dr. Dr. doesn't exist. His email was hacked. The poor guy was like, “I was on vacation I don't know what you're talking about” and apparently the culprit was never found.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Jonathan Hodgson.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

This is the same prestigious research team that wrote the landmark review I based the videos Egg Cholesterol in the Diet and Avoiding Cholesterol Is a No Brainer on.

The 25,000 cigarette study is detailed in What Women Should Eat to Live Longer and it’s the opener to my 2012 year-in-review video Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death, in which I explore the role diet can play in preventing, treating, and reversing our top 15 killers.

More on eggs in Carcinogenic Retrovirus Found in Eggs, Egg Industry Blind Spot, Total Recall, and Chicken, Eggs, and Inflammation.

Lots more Freedom of Information Act internal memo videos on their way—I've got stacks of boxes still to comb through!

If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here.

  • Michael Roth

    A classic eggsample of eggspionage.

  • Carlo

    This recent meta-anlysis of cohort studies on the BMJ does not support the association: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538567/

  • Terri Joseph

    Did they test with authentic free-ranged chicken eggs which are known to contain less cholesterol? My mother has been eating these all her life (many more than 3 per week) and is 83 with no cholesterol or heart problems.

    • MaryMarkat

      My grandmother lived on a farm and ate organic eggs all her life and lived to be 104.

    • JC

      My grandfather RAISED chickens and eat eggs EVERY morning for breakfast and he was 93 when he died, had his hair, his teeth and lived pretty healthy life! It amazes me what these so called ‘experts’ are telling people to be ‘fact’ these days.

      • eggfan

        My grandfarher lived on a farm and ate up to 20 eggs per day and he was 110 when he died!

        • wwww.themedicineproject-sf.org

          Mother’s in China eat 10-20 eggs per day because they know how important they are to brain health and intestinal health throughout life!

    • wwww.themedicineproject-sf.org

      Exactly

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=687926548 Mike Speer

    The hired response? Seems likely given he’s from Yale, says he’s friends with Dr. Jenkins, and specifically responds to the study. How big do you think the check was? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/eggs-health_b_1818209.html?m=false&icid=hp_healthy-living_ftr_desktop

    • Veganrunner

      That’s disappointing about Dr Katz. I really enjoy his blogs on HP.

  • Dan

    The Wikipedia description of atherosclerosis reveals how complex the disease is. Mentioned is the fact that several mummies show it. Why would pre-modern people have it? Possibly because most mummies come from the upper class, with excessive life style habits. Also mentioned is the high rate of atherosclerosis in autopsied, young veterans.

  • Southlander

    I found over the years, that the source of the funding (I always check and ask) for surveys, studies, polls etc. is often times just as important (or even more important) as the results. HIgh cholesterol does not mean atherosclerosis; while atherosclerosis does mean high cholesterol. In any case, I’m cutting back on my egg consumption. :-))

  • Bill

    Dear Dr. Greger: See the first comment for this link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538567/
    which brings us to a recent meta-analysis showing no link between egg
    consumption and heart disease or stroke. Are not the results of a meta-analysis more reliable than any one study alone, since they combine the data taken using different methodologies and across different samples?
    I look forward to your response. Thank you.

    • Mike Quinoa

      Hi Bill,

      The linked study you provided didn’t quite give eggs a clean bill of health if you are diabetic:

      “Subgroup analysis suggested that consumption of up to one egg per day was associated with a significantly elevated risk of coronary heart disease in diabetic populations.”

      I also find the cloak-and-dagger damage control of the egg industry a bit disturbing. If their product is so healthful why would they resort to such machinations?

      • Bill

        Hello Mike,
        The egg industry’s behavior is indeed disturbing. However, I would prefer to be confident that when I pass along Dr. Greger’s summaries, I can count on them not being overstated. Otherwise, we both lose credibility.

        In court, when a party overstates their position, a second chance is rarely given.

        If a mistatement was made, it should be addressed, clarified, or explained away promptly.

        • Mike Quinoa

          Hi Bill,

          I totally agree with what you’re saying about credibility.
          The study Dr. Greger referred to seems to deal solely with egg yolk in relation to carotid artery plaque. This study thus encompasses a fairly narrow focus. Dr. Spence (stroke expert and author of “How To Prevent Your Stroke”) and Dr. Jenkins (one of the inventors of the Glycemic Index) are, to my knowledge, very principled researchers. That their study doesn’t necessarily align with other studies out there doesn’t invalidate it, or Dr. Greger’s credibility in presenting it .
          The design of a study can have a lot to do with the results, which may explain why different researchers come up with disparate conclusions about the same thing.

          • Chris

            “one of the inventors of the Glycemic Index”
            ^ LOL

          • Mike Quinoa

            Sorry, I don’t get your lol.

          • Bill

            The fact that members of the egg industry discussed ways to protect the reputation of their product may seem distasteful to some but is perfectly natural behavior that we all engage in. Such behavior certainly does not prove that their product deserves a bad, or good, reputation. It just proves that they are humans looking to protect their way of earning a living.

          • Gary

            Since it’s a foregone conclusion that the egg industry will tout the healthfulness of its product, we should rightly question the credibility of their statements or any study in which they are involved. It’s distasteful – to put it mildly – when companies put profits over health or honesty, and no, we do not all engage in that behavior (nor should we).

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mark-Strong/810154910 Mark Strong

      They are not “using methodologies”, they are using METHODS

    • http://www.DonForresterMD.com/ Don Forrester MD

      Meta-analysis is a useful tool but not necessarily better. When bringing together several studies you bring in all the limitations of those studies. The reason you are seeing so many of these studies is that they are inexpensive.

  • Dr. Nitram

    There is nothing wrong with eggs per se, especially “real eggs” produced in humane conditions. Factory eggs are loaded with unnatural compounds from the feed and chemicals. Free range eggs are amazing food and should be a part of a well-balanced diet. Just stay away from all that junk food – that is the source of most health problems.

    • Sherri

      I eat organic free range eggs every day also place tumeric spice over them with pepper. I am going to be 64 and my endocrinologist said all of my veins and arteries have no signs of being clogged. My cholesterol and other readings are all normal. If these people ate other items than eggs perhaps this study is tainted. Maybe it ain’t the eggs but all of the junk food and high fructose corn syrup that is really showing up.

      • Dr. Nitram

        You are right on Sherri. Most of the sickness we see is a result of bad diet full of processed foods. Eat good natural food and live without illness. Interestingly, I eat free range eggs every day and I too sprinkle with turmeric and pepper. I am almost 71, haven’t seen a doctor in 10 years or more.

        • Karl Young

          Why do people who view this site still confuse anecdotal evidence with scientific studies ? Sure, eating non-processed food is healthier than eating processed food but that’s irrelevant to the points discussed in the video (with which it’s fair to disagree, but to do so credibly should involve presenting evidence of the same sort as that presented in the video). I’m sure you can find someone who’s grandmother smoked 4 packs a day and lived to be 150, insists that the higher rates of lung cancer found for smokers in various studies must really be due to asbestos, and recommends that people who want to enjoy a long healthy life of smoking simply stay away from old buildings.

          • Dr. Nitram

            My sincere apologies, Karl. This is my first time at this site and I was unaware that it is strictly a forum to exchange data from scientific studies. Other posts led me to believe one could express personal opinions connected to the subject. I consider myself suitably chastised and will restrict my comments to those substantiated by appropriate studies.

          • Veganrunner

            Dr Nitram that isn’t necessary. You can say whatever you want. I find the recipes and insights interesting.

            The videos are amazing aren’t they? If you look under sources cited you can read the actual research or at least an abstract.

          • Bill

            Karl, please remember that scientific studies, with all do respect, are still only marginally more meaningful than ‘anecdotal’ evidence. We have all heard of studies that claim one conclusion, only to be contradicted by studies that claim different conclusions. We are each left to chose which ‘anecdotal’ studies we prefer to side with.

  • cobalamin
  • http://www.facebook.com/daniel.wagle.5 Daniel Wagle

    I found this same study mentioned in Latimes.com. It measured artery thickness. I bet a lot of studies just do blood tests. These don’t always detect atherosclerosis. Some people have normal cholesterol levels and/or pass EKG’s and still have heart disease. You actually have to look at the arteries, and that is what the study did that Michael Greger cited.

  • RandyKreill

    Eggs are nasty chicken “periods”. Nobody needs the cholesterol in them, as we produce what we need. There are far superior and less expensive sources of protein than nasty slimey eggs! Cig. smoke is even nastier of course!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPEU1AyOQQo

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1268850618 Devin Wiesner

    This is a study on the effect of daily egg consumption on endothelial function and cholesterol. According to this study, over a six week period daily consumption of egg substitute resulted in lower LDL and improved endothelial function, as compared to daily egg consumption. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904713/#B49

  • Veggin’ out n Santa Cruz

    Dr. G., I’m a fan and follower of your website and greatly appreciate the science-based evidence you present. I have referred many clients to Nutritionfacts.org–many of whom are not vegan or even vegetarian but who are wanting to make healthier food choices. I am hopeful that as they learn about the many benefits of plant-based diets, they’ll shift in that direction. The photo that accompanied today’s video (a cigarette butt smashed into an egg yolk) is, in my mind, gratuitous and may turn readers away from rather than towards your site. Realize that not all of your readers are vegans but some may become vegans if your approach is respectful. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a vegetarian for the past 30+ years. I eat 1-2 locally raised, humanely produced eggs per week.)

  • Umor

    What about eating egg whites without the yolks? does al
    l of the above apply?

    • Antonio G.

      I would assume that most or all of the cholesterol content is contained in the yolk while most of the protein content is in the white (clear) portion.

      • http://www.facebook.com/chad.eisenhart Chad Eisenhart

        gram for gram, egg yolk has more protein

  • relax people

    why are the negative symptoms of eggs so shocking? this site has promoted nothing but a plant based diet (and maybe a few insects) based on studies. i am sure there are a lot healthier foods (esp. plant foods) than eggs. so accept the data, and keep the flow of new data coming. I doubt you will ever see a study declare that eating 1 egg a day will make you live 5 years longer. some of you need to relax. even though all at lot of research states that fish are bad and toxic, i still have it in moderation, simply because you will never avoid all the unhealthy things in life. what i appreciate about this site most is that it gives reason to people to adapt new ways of eating, try new foods, and improve their health.

    • Toxins

      Considering that fish is the most polluted animal product, next to fish oil, one can eat, I find it hard to accept heavy metals and other carcinogenic pollutants in moderation.

  • AnimalProductsArePoisonus

    Wow, Dr Greger sure hit a nerve with the egg eating folks, eh?

  • Shaun

    Dr. Greger,

    Thank you very much for making us aware of this danger. These monsters in industry deserve to be put on a very short regulatory leash since they don’t respect our right to know what effects their product has on us. Their top officers should also be prosecuted for the medical costs (and deaths) they’ve forced onto us without our knowledge and permission.

  • Joseph

    “this did not go over easy”

    cute

  • Antonio G.

    Another study needs to be done with free range (non corn/crap fed chickens) vs traditional caged crap fed chickens to see if the cholesterol content in eggs produced have any impact on plaque buildup. (Or has a study been done?)

    • Toxins

      Egg cholesterol varies very little between organic vs conventional, and this is simply an excuse people try to use to eat these unhealthy foods. cholesterol is inherent of eggs, and even if there was variability between the 2, it would be insignificant simply because these are all of the same species.

  • http://www.facebook.com/barbara.reed.5895 Barbara Reed

    So, eating non-cholesterol eggs such as Egg Beaters would be okay?

    • Toxins

      I would disagree, as we still have the issue of elevated IGf-1 to deal with when it comes to egg whites.

  • http://www.facebook.com/michel.voss1 Michel Voss

    Thai women ( mean age 62, BMI 25) who ate THREE ADDITIONAL eggs DAILY, decreased LDL/ HDL-cholesterol ratio by 10 %, but BMI increased. It is not discussed why they took Atorvastatin etc. although they hat not even one other risk factor: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jl/2012/672720/ ( open access, published five months prior the Jenkins study) No conflict of interests – I do not eat eggs since 1982.

  • Trevor

    These and so many other “research” articals are junk. Unless all the individuals in this study ate all the same thing and madew the same movement etc then there is no way to tell what they have ingested that caused the issues or their lack of movement. These are becoming tiresome-just like the report you found on the Gerson therapy. Why would I trust any MD with any study?

    • Trevor

      Allow me to confirm that when I mention Not trusting an MD I am not referring to you-mostly:0)

  • http://www.facebook.com/denholm.aspy Denholm Aspy

    The
    general argument about eggs being bad depends on the interpretation of
    two research papers (shown in the video).

    Regarding
    the first paper, the video’s author makes a claim comparing egg
    consumption to smoking 25,000 cigarettes over some number of years.
    However, this study had nothing to do with egg consumption at all – if
    you search the article, the word “egg” isn’t used even once. The
    cholesterol-intake measure used by these researchers was for ANY dietary
    source of cholesterol, and not eggs specifically.

    Regarding
    the second article, the way these researchers defined cigarette
    consumption and egg consumption was complex and not readily
    interpretable. Further, the graphs showed in the video require further
    explanation, and do not represent what most people will probably think.
    Basically, what these researchers found was that eating two eggs per
    week was nearly as bad as smoking a whole packet of cigarettes per week
    (which is very alarming!). However, it should be noted that the
    participants in this study were patients who’d been referred to a heart
    disease prevention clinic. In other words, they were a sample of people
    who were vulnerable to heart problems, and NOT a representative sample
    of the general population. Furthermore, the sample was overweight
    (average BMI = 27.4) and 13.3% were diabetic (higher than in the general
    population). An even more serious problem is that it’s very plausible
    that the people in this study who ate more eggs also ate greater amounts
    of other high-cholesterol foods like burgers, steak, etc. If this is
    true, then the supposed negative effects of eggs would be inflated by
    these confounding variables – perhaps dramatically so. Another way of
    putting this, is that the measure of egg intake might *actually* be
    measuring the intake of a whole bunch of other foods as well. Since the
    study did NOT measure the intake of any other kind of food except eggs,
    there is no way of exploring this issue within this study. Thus, no firm
    conclusions can be made from this study about how bad eggs are for you,
    nor can any firm comparisons be made against cigarette consumption.
    Even if you *could* make these conclusions, they would not necessarily
    be generalizable to the general population.

  • Guest

    Don’t cut back on eggs and dietary cholesterol:

    Fred A. Kummerow. Interaction between sphingomyelin and oxysterols contributes to atherosclerosis and sudden death. American Journal of Cardiovascular Disease, 2013; 3 (1): 17-26

    • Dimos

      respect,man!!

  • Proprotein

    You are sad. I would really like to know what you eat and how healthy you are? Judging by the picture not so much.put your brains to something useful.

  • Eggs arent bad

    My family eats eggs every day, we grew up on them just like my dad and his whole family did, guess what here is a shocker for you the average age of death (Natural causes not accident or some other freak thing) 78 OMG Eggs are a killer

    • Eggs arent bad

      Lets just be clear that heart health issues are not something my family deals with at all

  • John

    It depends how you cook them, obviously eating shit loads of fried eggs won’t do you much good, but there’s nothing wrong with eating eggs, and as a talented athlete my S&C coach encourages it as a meal, if I have a six egg breakfast I don’t need to eat again until 7/8pm, get real people

  • Andrew

    A Michigan State University analysis, reported a year later, analyzed the diets and blood-cholesterol data for more than 27,000 people—a representative cross-section of the U.S. population. It found that cholesterol was lower in people who ate more than four eggs per week than among people who eschewed eggs.

  • Christo Okulian

    hi doctor,

    does the “cholesterol increase” effect can be happened if I eat the free-ranch egg. coz i prepare 6 free-ranch eggs a week for emergency meal if I dont have much time to cook any healthy vegan’s food. =)

  • http://www.facebook.com/rusti.hauge Rusti T Hauge

    I’m new to this site and I have to say, I’m impressed and a bit overwhelmed. I have an egg/cholesterol question, but please bear with me as I go into a bit of exposition about my story.

    I’m a physician (psychiatrist) which means I received virtually no formal nutrition education. I have been a strong proponent of exercise for some time after I realized that I had gained 50# and my BMI exceeded 30 at age 29 in residency. Over the years I brought my BMI to just below 24 primarily by exercising moderately to intensely for an hour 6 times a week. My diet had not been bad by American standards. I would have a modest meat serving a day or so, eat 4-5 serving s of fruits/vegetables most days, eat breads/pastas/rice/cereals fairly frequently, eat fish a couple times a week. I have been addicted to diet cola since age 15 seeing the transition from saccharine to NutraSweet.

    I finally decided 3 weeks ago to stop diet colas and switched to a cup of morning coffee. This (and concerns about my parents’ health) led me to realizing I was clueless about health and diet and sent me searching for continuing education. I ran into http://www.nutritioncme.org and subsequently Dr. Greger’s lectures. At first, I was a bit annoyed thinking he was just proselytizing vegan. I even gave a rating of “somewhat biased” on the CME feedback. I found this sit though and have just been wowed.

    I’ve changed my diet to include daily greens/beans/nuts/berries. I’ve added regular citrus, apples and prunes and an evening glass of green/white tea (tonight with a bit of honey, cinnamon, cloves and lemon…not bad!) I still tend to have a serving of cottage cheese during lunch and sardines a couple times a week and boiled eggs a couple times a week.

    Here is my question. Is an entirely vegan diet necessary for optimal health if my labs physical health seem to be good?

    I had my yearly physical right before making any dietary changes. My cholesterol levels were as follows:

    LDL 79
    HDL 95
    VLDL 18

    This has been consistent over the last 6 years at least. This is not because of “good genes” as obesity runs on both sides of the family and heart disease strongly on my fathers. I’m a bit reluctant to abandon eggs and fish altogether if my labs are looking good and I’m in good health. I am willing to try reducing animal product consumption to under 20% of caloric intake as a start. I have noticed a 3-4 pound weight loss over the week of dietary changes (which I assume is due to water or fecal loss.)

    Anyways, this is an overly long monologue, but I’m not convinced that eating free range organic eggs is poison. I guess cognitive dissonance dies slowly. I would welcome feedback from anyone. Thanks.

  • wwww.themedicineproject-sf.org

    Pasture eggs are totally different…and cholesterol is our main hormone producing substance and is an antioxidant…so this seems to be very misleading and a poorly facilitated study

  • Anthony

    Does it come from the yolk or the entire egg. Ive noticed lots of vegetarian foods like veggie burgers have egg whites in them. Whats the deal?

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