There is concern that egg intake may increase blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, we have previously shown that eggs reduce inflammation in patients at risk for T2DM, including obese subjects and those with metabolic syndrome. Thus, we hypothesized that egg intake would not alter plasma glucose in T2DM patients when compared to oatmeal intake. Our primary endpoints for this clinical intervention were plasma glucose and the inflammatory markers tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin 6 (IL-6). As secondary endpoints, we evaluated additional parameters of glucose metabolism, dyslipidemias, oxidative stress and inflammation. Twenty-nine subjects, 35–65 years with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) values <9% were recruited and randomly allocated to consume isocaloric breakfasts containing either one egg/day or 40 g of oatmeal with 472 mL of lactose-free milk/day for five weeks. Following a three-week washout period, subjects were assigned to the alternate breakfast. At the end of each period, we measured all primary and secondary endpoints. Subjects completed four-day dietary recalls and one exercise questionnaire for each breakfast period. There were no significant differences in plasma glucose, our primary endpoint, plasma lipids, lipoprotein size or subfraction concentrations, insulin, HbA1c, apolipoprotein B, oxidized LDL or C-reactive protein. However, after adjusting for gender, age and body mass index, aspartate amino-transferase (AST) (p < 0.05) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (p < 0.01), one of our primary endpoints were significantly reduced during the egg period. These results suggest that compared to an oatmeal-based breakfast, eggs do not have any detrimental effects on lipoprotein or glucose metabolism in T2DM. In contrast, eggs reduce AST and TNF-α in this population characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation.

Intake of 2 eggs/d results in the maintenance of LDL:HDL and in the generation of a less atherogenic LDL in this population of Mexican children.

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This study provides evidence in free living men that there is an association between dietary fiber intake and favorable lipid status and that lifestyle defined by socioeconomic status, physical activity and the quality of the dietary fat intake can play an important role. Public health nutrition advice and policy should continue to emphasize the importance of these factors.

To investigate whether the high prevalence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and type II diabetes prevalent in Northern Mexico could be related to the presence at a young age of biomarkers for chronic disease, 25 boys and 29 girls (8-12 y old) from a low socioeconomic group were recruited. Plasma lipids, LDL phenotype, apolipoproteins (apos), glucose, and insulin were evaluated. Analysis of 3-d dietary records indicated the typical intake of this region to be high in total fat (37-43% energy) and saturated fat (11-13% energy). Boys and girls had an average of 6623 +/- 2892 and 6112 +/- 2793 steps/d, respectively, as measured by a pedometer, suggesting a low level of activity. Plasma total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) were within the 50th percentile. In contrast, the study population was characterized by having high triglycerides (TG) (95th percentile, 1.25 +/- 0.37 mmol/L in boys and 1.19 +/- 0.38 mmol/L in girls). HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were low (25th percentile), 1.22 +/- 0.20 mmol/L in girls and 1.29 +/- 0.20 mmol/L in boys. There was also a high prevalence of the small dense LDL phenotype B (69%), which is associated with increased risk for CHD. These results suggest that the population of children studied may have 2 different components of risk, one being the high-fat diet, which could be associated with the elevated levels of plasma LDL-C present in the adult population. A second component, related to the insulin resistance syndrome, may be principally genetic and associated with the high TG, low HDL, and LDL phenotype B observed in these Mexican children.