Association of Egg Consumption Frequency and Quantity with Dyslipidemia in Chinese Rural Adults

The aim was to estimate the association of egg consumption with dyslipidemia and its subtypes in Chinese adults.

The cross-sectional health survey was conducted in Hanzhong city of Shaanxi province in 2010.Consumption of eggs (alone and mixed in foods) and nutrients were assessed using a semi-quantitative 81-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Serum lipids and other physical measurements were measured by trained medical staff. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated from multivariable logistic regressions. Restricted cubic spline was used to visualize the possible non-linear association.

A total of 2241 participants (mean age, 48.0 years; 34.5% men) were included. The age- and gender- standardization dyslipidemia prevalence was 21.1% in men and 18.4% in women, respectively. Approximately 42.1% of individuals never or rarely consumed egg, while 9.4% consumed ≥2 times/week. The mean egg intake was 21.5 g/d in men and 17.4 in women. In women, after adjustment for demographics and lifestyle factors, the ORs (95%CI) for dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia were 0.57(0.32-1.05) and 0.38 (0.17-0.85) for individuals consuming egg ≥2 times/week, compared with never or rarely consumers. When further adjustment of BMI and dietary factors, the inverse relation persisted for hypertriglyceridemia but attenuated to margin of significance for dyslipidemia (P-trend = 0.050). Increment of 25 g/d was associated with 15% (OR: 0.85, (0.71-1.00)) lower risk of dyslipidemia. Results from restricted cubic splines showed a substantial reduction of the risk within lower range of consumption, which reached the minimum risk around 20-50 g/d (P-nonlinearity = 0.069). No associations were observed in men.

Egg consumption was associated with decreased risk of dyslipidemia among Chinese women but not men. Additionally, the beneficial effect tended to be stronger at 20-50 g egg per day. Further study is warranted to validate these findings and clarify the causality.