Eggs

[Sherrie]

Post articles on eggs here:


Eggs can help you lose weight and stabilize glucose levels


01 Dec 2004
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=17154



A scientific review article published in today's Journal of the American College of Nutrition supplement reports that leucine, an essential amino acid found in high quality protein like eggs, potentially provides a weight loss advantage during dieting by helping to reduce loss of lean tissue, promote loss of body fat, and stabilize blood glucose levels.

In another paper published in the JACN supplement, research shows that two antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, may significantly reduce the risk of cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

In the research, eggs are cited as an important dietary source of leucine as well as lutein and zeaxanthin and, in the case of the latter two, research shows lutein and zeaxanthin in eggs to be more bioavailable than from other food sources.

High Quality Protein Promotes Weight Loss

"We found that increasing high-quality protein in the diet, like that found in eggs, dairy products and meats, provides a metabolic advantage due to a high content of the branched chain amino acid (BCAA) leucine," says article author Donald K. Layman, Ph.D., Professor of Nutrition, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. According to Layman, both the amount of high quality protein consumed, as well as the time of day it is consumed, may play an important role in weight loss.

Layman found that unlike other essential amino acids, leucine plays several key roles in metabolism. "Leucine is key to the metabolic advantage of a higher protein diet because of its unique roles in regulation of muscle protein synthesis and insulin signaling," says Layman.

According to his research, eating more protein rich foods like eggs and limiting carbohydrates helps burn body fat and control hunger and cravings, leading to weight loss.

When limiting calories, Layman recommends daily intake of protein above 1.5 g/kg of body weight (or above 102 grams of protein daily for a 150-pound person); whereas the current Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for protein is about half that, set at 0.8 g/kg of body weight (or 55 grams of protein daily for a 150-pound person).

Layman's research also suggests that increased use of high quality protein at breakfast, in particular, maybe important for the weight loss advantage of a higher protein diet. In a 10-week study, Layman showed that eating a high quality protein breakfast while losing weight helps maintain lean muscle mass, which is critical to long-term weight loss and maintenance.

The study, which investigated the efficacy of two 1,700-calorie weight loss diets among women aged 45 to 57 years, found that women who ate the higher protein breakfast foods including eggs, low fat dairy and lean meats (containing 10 grams leucine daily) lost slightly more weight, but of the weight lost, nearly twice as much was fat compared to those eating a carbohydrate rich breakfast (containing 5 grams leucine daily).

According to Layman, the findings may provide hope to those battling obesity, which has been linked to increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

Eggs Promote Eye Health

Also published in today's JACN supplement is a review paper discussing two antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, and the protective role they play in reducing the risk of cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

"Lutein and zeaxanthin, are concentrated in the macular region of the retina and the eye lens, where they protect the eye from harmful ultraviolet light," says article author Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., Professor of Nutrition and Senior Scientist at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Blumberg says studies have shown that diets rich in lutein may cut the risk of cataracts by up to 20 percent and age-related macular degeneration by up to 40 percent. Although broccoli, kale and other dark green leafy vegetables are good sources of lutein, one egg yolk provides approximately 200 micrograms of lutein, and studies have shown that lutein from eggs is 200 to 300 percent more bioavailable than lutein from vegetable sources.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world and affect more than 20 million Americans age 65 and older. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause among seniors of irreversible blindness in the United States.

In addition, a number of preliminary studies have found that lutein is available in both breast milk and the umbilical cord plasma. This suggests that mothers transfer lutein to their fetuses and newborns, providing them with this beneficial antioxidant. Future studies should continue investigating the potential beneficial role of lutein and maternal nutrition.

The December 2004 JACN Supplement contains proceedings from the First International Scientific Symposium on Eggs and Human Health: Transition from Restrictions to Recommendations, sponsored by the Egg Nutrition Center.

SOURCE Egg Nutrition Center

[PP]

L2bs and I tried an egg diet about 16 years ago, it was given to a friend of mine by her doctor to lose weight.
We all lost weight, may not have been able to look at an egg without gagging for a while but we did momentarily lose weight.

Do you remember L2bs?????:eek:

[luv2bslim]

Do you remember L2bs????? LOL, just, wasn't it Margies diet?? Eewww..don't think it was a good one anyway!!

[Sherrie]

Another Reason Why Eggs Actually Lower the Risk of Heart Disease


Little known nutrient Betaine shows benefit.

Although folic acid and to a lesser extent vitamins B-6 and B-12, are known to be able to reduce levels of homocysteine, researchers from the Netherlands report of another nutrient-betaine, found mostly in eggs and liver also has this capability.

They note that elevated plasma total homocysteine concentrations are considered a risk factor for giving birth to a child with neural tube defects and for cardiovascular disease.

Just like folic acid, betaine facilitates the remethylation of homocysteine into methionine. However, the researchers note that " ... the folate-dependent remethylation takes place in all cells, whereas the betaine-dependent remethylation reaction is mainly confined to the liver."

According to the authors, eggs and liver are the best food sources of betaine.

Additionally, they note that betaine has been shown to substantially decrease homocysteine levels in patients with a condition known as homocystinuria, and they therefore theorized that it could have the same benefit in healthy patients as well.

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Researchers looked at 15 healthy patients aged 18 to 35 years, who were given six grams of betaine daily (two times per day at three grams) for three weeks.
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Blood samples were collected after an overnight fast at the start, after two weeks, and at the end of the study at three weeks.
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At the study's start, the mean total plasma homocysteine level was 10.9 µmol/L.
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The six grams of betaine decreased this level at two weeks by 0.9 µmol/L or slightly greater than 8 percent, although after three weeks by 0.6 µmol/L or 5.5 percent.

The authors conclude that "Betaine supplementation decreases plasma total homocysteine concentrations in healthy volunteers." However, the extent of the decrease is much smaller in healthy volunteers than in patients with homocystinuria. In such patients, with plasma total homocysteine concentrations above 50 µmol/L, betaine supplementation significantly lowered plasma total homocysteine concentrations, by up to 75 percent."

However, they note that "The homocysteine-lowering effect seems smaller than that established by interventions with folic acid."

Betaine, also known as trimethylglycine, is produced by the body from choline and also from the amino acid glycine.

Archives of Internal Medicine September 11, 2000;160

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

It is surprising that betaine also shows improvement in homocysteine. I use it quite frequently as an aid to digestion when it shows up clinically on people.

There is a hydrochloric acid reflex present on the lowest rib approximately one inch lateral to the midline. If this area on the rib is tender to palpation there is a strong likelihood the person is deficient in hydrochloric acid and would benefit from supplementation.

This is especially common in individuals over 50 years old, and also in individuals with food allergies.


From Mercola's website: http://www.mercola.com/2000/oct/1/eggs_homocysteine.htm


©Copyright 2005 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Dr. Mercola is required.

[Sherrie]

http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/3/1/6

Some quotes from the PDF:

Background

Dietary requirements for the elderly must take into account the physiologic changes that occur with aging as these needs differ from those of younger adults. Nutritional support in the elderly is often a primary therapy and it has been shown that those that have an adequate intake of fatty acids and cholesterol as well as a greater intake of vitamins demonstrate higher intellectual function than those who have a deficient diet [1-3].

The habitual consumption of eggs has been shown to provide many nutritional benefits such as higher daily intakes of vitamins C, E and B12, in addition to folate [4].
Deficiencies in these vitamins have been associated with increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease [5-7]. Therefore, the addition of eggs to the diet could actually prevent disease development, particularly in this age demographic who are at elevated risks for the onset of chronic diseases.

Additionally, current research has shown that eggs supply a significant amount of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which have been linked to the prevention of age-related macular degeneration [8-11], the most common cause of blindness in those over the age of 60.
On average, each egg yolk contains 292 μg of lutein and 213 μg of eaxanthin, along with 0.7 mg vitamin E, 0.5 mcg vitamin B12, and 23.5 mcg folate, all in a highly bioavailable food matrix [12, 13].
Because of the nutrient density of eggs, they are valuable contributors to overall nutritional balance, but they are also a source of dietary cholesterol. Currently, the relationship between plasma cholesterol and dietary cholesterol remains unclear. High serum cholesterol levels have been linked to increased coronary heart disease (CHD)[14, 15] yet the risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women does not increase with increasing egg consumption [16-18] despite their high cholesterol content.

Conclusions

Taken together these findings suggest that (1) LDL particle numbers do not significantly increase despite an increase in LDL-C with egg consumption; and (2) lipoprotein size is positively altered by the consumption of three eggs per day in elderly subjects. The data shown here displays a significant increase in the larger LDL and HDL particles for hyperresponders, which suggests an antiatherogenic profile. In addition, the increase in plasma lutein and zeaxanthin following egg consumption may provide a valuable source of functional carotenoids in the diet for the population. Within the nutritional community there is a developing appreciation that health derives, not from avoidance of particular foods, but from an overall pattern of diet, and it has been suggested that dietary recommendations should shift from one of avoidance to promotion.

This study suggests that egg consumption may be permitted, and perhaps promoted, in a healthy elderly population to supplement carotenoid intake with minimal reservations concerning coronary heart disease risk.

(Note: was funded by american egg industry)