Dietary Fat & Cholesterol: Research and New Recommendations Tia M. Rains, PhD Executive Director Egg Nutrition Center/American Egg Board
50 Years of Fat Phobia Dietary Goals of 1977 1960s 1970s 1990s-2000s
Timeline of Dietary Cholesterol Reco s 1950s 1961 1968 1970 1993 Several large studies linking dietary fat and cholesterol and incidence of coronary events AHA Guidelines: Reduce intake of total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol AHA Committee on Nutrition sets 300 mg/day cholesterol limit for hypercholesterolemic patients (Debate went between 0 and 600 mg/day) Inter-Society Commission for Heart Disease Resources (contracted by the American Heart Association) extends 300 mg/d to general population FDA establishes Daily Value for cholesterol at 300 mg/day Ingestion of two eggs a day will seriously hamper dietary programs aimed at reducing serum cholesterol. Consequently, the public should be encouraged to avoid egg yolk consumption
Consume less than 300 mg/day of dietary cholesterol 2010 1980 Avoid too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol Consume less than 10% of calories from saturated fatty acids and less than 300 mg/day of cholesterol 2005 DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS 1985 Avoid too much fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderate in total fat 2000 1995 Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol 1990 Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
Previous editions of the Dietary Guidelines relied on the evidence of relationships between individual nutrients, foods, and food groups and health outcomes. Although this evidence base continues to be substantial, foods are not consumed in isolation, but rather in various combinations over time an eating pattern. 1985 2015
What Eggs Don t Do: Increase CVD Risk Fig 2 Dose-response analyses of egg consumption and risk of coronary heart disease Rong et al. BMJ. Jan 7;346:e8539.
Increase in LDL-C (+6.7 mg/dl) with Cholesterol Intake Berger et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102:276
Cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern -2015 Insufficient evidence to determine whether lowering dietary cholesterol reduces LDL-C - 2013 The Key Recommendation from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines to limit consumption of dietary cholesterol to 300 mg per day is not included in the 2015 edition, but this change does not suggest that dietary cholesterol is no longer important to consider when building healthy eating patterns. [ ] Eggs and shellfish can be consumed along with a variety of other choices within and across the subgroup recommendations of the protein foods group.
Science is finally focusing on the benefits of eggs Kim et al. J Nutr. 2016;146:2199 Baum et al. J Nutr. 2015;145:2229 Ylalauri et al. AJCN. 2017;105:476
CACFP: Whole Eggs Allowed for Infants Previously, only egg yolks were allowed in infant meals The new meal pattern allows whole eggs for infants between 6-11 months https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp
Early Introduction of Food Allergens Prevalence of food allergies is difficult to determine Approximately one percent of children in the United States developed an egg allergy Most children outgrow egg allergies by late childhood National Academies: there may be benefits of introducing allergenic foods in the first year of life when a child is developmentally ready, between 4 and 6 months of age Available at www.nationalacademies.org
CACFP: Protein for Breakfast Meat/meat alternates (such as eggs) can substitute for the entire breakfast grain requirement up to 3 times per week https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp
Eggs Help Kids Meet Key Nutrients National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2012 Children 6 to 24 mo of age who consumed eggs vs. no eggs: 8 g/day more protein 118 mg/day more choline 255 mcg/day more lutein + zeaxanthin Children 2 to 28 yrs of age who consumed eggs vs. no eggs: 8 g/day more protein 176 mg/day more choline 324 mcg/day more lutein + zeaxanthin Papanikolaou & Fulgoni. Experimental Biology 2017
Contact me at: Tia M. Rains, Ph.D. P: 224.563.3720 trains@eggnutritioncenter.org Twitter: @RainsTM WEBSITES: AEB.org/Schools IncredibleEgg.org EggNutritionCenter.org