title: Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet.
abstract: Carbohydrate-restricted diets (CRD) significantly decrease body weight and independently improve plasma triglycerides (TG) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C). Increasing intake of dietary cholesterol from eggs in the context of a low-fat diet maintains the LDL cholesterol (LDL-C)/HDL-C for both hyper- and hypo-responders to dietary cholesterol. In this study, 28 overweight/obese male subjects (BMI = 25-37 kg/m2) aged 40-70 y were recruited to evaluate the contribution of dietary cholesterol from eggs in a CRD. Subjects were counseled to consume a CRD (10-15% energy from carbohydrate) and they were randomly allocated to the EGG group [intake of 3 eggs per day (640 mg/d additional dietary cholesterol)] or SUB group [equivalent amount of egg substitute (0 dietary cholesterol) per day]. Energy intake decreased in both groups from 10,243 +/- 4040 to 7968 +/- 2401 kJ (P < 0.05) compared with baseline. All subjects irrespective of their assigned group had reduced body weight and waist circumference (P < 0.0001). Similarly, the plasma TG concentration was reduced from 1.34 +/- 0.66 to 0.83 +/- 0.30 mmol/L after 12 wk (P < 0.001) in all subjects. The plasma LDL-C concentration, as well as the LDL-C:HDL-C ratio, did not change during the intervention. In contrast, plasma HDL-C concentration increased in the EGG group from 1.23 +/- 0.39 to 1.47 +/- 0.38 mmol/L (P < 0.01), whereas HDL-C did not change in the SUB group. Plasma glucose concentrations in fasting subjects did not change. Eighteen subjects were classified as having the metabolic syndrome (MetS) at the beginning of the study, whereas 3 subjects had that classification at the end. These results suggest that including eggs in a CRD results in increased HDL-C while decreasing the risk factors associated with MetS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Gisella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mutungi
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ratliff
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Puglisi
authors.forename: Moises
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torres-Gonzalez
authors.forename: Ushma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Vaishnav
authors.forename: Jose O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quann
authors.forename: Jeff S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Volek
authors.forename: Maria Luz
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fernandez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D050528:Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted; D004531:Eggs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL