Nutrition

"The brain, like most other internal organs, or offal, can serve as nourishment. Brains used for nourishment include those of pigs, squirrels, horses, cattle, monkeys, chickens and goats. In many cultures, different types of brain are considered a delicacy. In the Southern United States, canned pork brain in gravy can be purchased for consumption as food. This form of brain is often fried with scrambled eggs to produce "Eggs n' Brains".[1] They are part of the menu in many family owned restaurants throughout the region. The brain of animals also features in French cuisine, in dishes such as cervelle de veau and tête de veau."

Omega-3 fatty acids in major depressive disorder. A preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Su KP, Huang SY, Chiu CC, Shen WW. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2003 Aug;13(4):267-71. Erratum in: Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2004 Mar;14(2):173. PMID: 12888186 From the preliminary findings in this study, omega-3 PUFAs could improve the short-term course of illness and were well tolerated in patients in major depressive disorder.

Dietary and genetic control of glucose transporter 2 glycosylation promotes insulin secretion in suppressing diabetes. Ohtsubo K, Takamatsu S, Minowa MT, Yoshida A, Takeuchi M, Marth JD. Cell. 2005 Dec 29;123(7):1307-21. PMID: 16377570

"This page contains abstracts and articles in PDF format by Dr. Loren Cordain and his colleagues."

Prevention of skeletal muscle insulin resistance by dietary cod protein in high fat-fed rats. Lavigne C, Tremblay F, Asselin G, Jacques H, Marette A. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Jul;281(1):E62-71. PMID: 11404223 These data demonstrate that feeding cod protein prevents obesity-induced muscle insulin resistance in high fat-fed obese rats at least in part through a direct action of amino acids on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle cells.

Dietary cod protein improves insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant men and women: a randomized controlled trial. Ouellet V, Marois J, Weisnagel SJ, Jacques H. Diabetes Care. 2007 Nov;30(11):2816-21. Epub 2007 Aug 6. PMID: 17682120 CONCLUSIONS - Dietary cod protein improves insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant individuals and thus could contribute to prevention of type 2 diabetes by reducing the metabolic complications related to insulin resistance.

Dietary cod protein reduces plasma C-reactive protein in insulin-resistant men and women. Ouellet V, Weisnagel SJ, Marois J, Bergeron J, Julien P, Gougeon R, Tchernof A, Holub BJ, Jacques H. J Nutr. 2008 Dec;138(12):2386-91. PMID: 19022962 Therefore, these results show that CP can lower hsCRP, a marker of inflammation associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Association between type of dietary fish and seafood intake and the risk of incident type 2 diabetes: the European prospective investigation of cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort study. Patel PS, Sharp SJ, Luben RN, Khaw KT, Bingham SA, Wareham NJ, Forouhi NG. Diabetes Care. 2009 Oct;32(10):1857-63. Epub 2009 Jul 10. PMID: 19592633 doi: 10.2337/dc09-0116 CONCLUSIONS Total, white, and oily fish consumption may be beneficial for reducing risk of diabetes, reinforcing the public health message to consume fish regularly. Greater shellfish intake seems to be associated with an increased risk of diabetes, warranting further investigation into cooking methods and mechanisms. In summary, we report that specific types of fish intake are differentially associated with the risk of diabetes. Total intake of both white fish and oily fish was associated with a lower risk of diabetes, reinforcing the public health message to consume fish regularly. Shellfish intake was associated with an increased risk of diabetes, which highlights the potential importance of seafood preparation and cooking methods. The increased risk of diabetes with shellfish intake requires further study.

A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Rimm EB, Manson JE, Ascherio A, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Spiegelman D, Speizer FE, Sacks FM, Hennekens CH, Willett WC. JAMA. 1999 Apr 21;281(15):1387-94. PMID: 10217054 Results We documented 866 incident cases of CHD and 258 incident cases of stroke in men during 8 years of follow-up and 939 incident cases of CHD and 563 incident cases of stroke in women during 14 years of follow-up. After adjustment for age, smoking, and other potential CHD risk factors, we found no evidence of an overall significant association between egg consumption and risk of CHD or stroke in either men or women. The relative risks (RRs) of CHD across categories of intake were less than 1 per week (1.0), 1 per week (1.06), 2 to 4 per week (1.12), 5 to 6 per week (0.90), and >=1 per day (1.08) (P for trend=.75) for men; and less than 1 per week (1.0), 1 per week (0.82), 2 to 4 per week (0.99), 5 to 6 per week (0.95), and >=1 per day (0.82) (P for trend=.95) for women. In subgroup analyses, higher egg consumption appeared to be associated with increased risk of CHD only among diabetic subjects (RR of CHD comparing more than 1 egg per day with less than 1 egg per week among diabetic men, 2.02 [95% confidence interval, 1.05-3.87; P for trend=.04], and among diabetic women, 1.49 [0.88-2.52; P for trend=.008]). Conclusions These findings suggest that consumption of up to 1 egg per day is unlikely to have substantial overall impact on the risk of CHD or stroke among healthy men and women. The apparent increased risk of CHD associated with higher egg consumption among diabetic participants warrants further research.

Egg consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Djoussé L, Gaziano JM, Buring JE, Lee IM. Diabetes Care. 2009 Feb;32(2):295-300. Epub 2008 Nov 18. PMID: 1901777 doi: 10.2337/dc08-1271 RESULTS-During mean follow-up of 20.0 years in men and 11.7 years in women, 1,921 men and 2,112 women developed type 2 diabetes. Compared with no egg consumption, multivariable adjusted hazard ratios for type 2 diabetes were 1.09 (95% CI 0.87-1.37), 1.09 (0.88-1.34), 1.18 (0.95-1.45), 1.46 (1.14-1.86), and 1.58 (1.25-2.01) for consumption of <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS-These data suggest that high levels of egg consumption (daily) are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Confirmation of these findings in other populations is warranted.

Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the story gets more complex. Eckel RH. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):799-800. PMID: 1840069

Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Physicians' Health Study. Djoussé L, Gaziano JM. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):964-9. PMID: 18400720 Results: In an average follow-up of 20 y, 1550 new myocardial infarctions (MIs), 1342 incident strokes, and 5169 deaths occurred. Egg consumption was not associated with incident MI or stroke in a multivariate Cox regression. In contrast, adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for mortality were 1.0 (reference), 0.94 (0.87, 1.02), 1.03 (0.95, 1.11), 1.05 (0.93, 1.19), and 1.23 (1.11, 1.36) for the consumption of < 0.0001). This association was stronger among diabetic subjects, in whom the risk of death in a comparison of the highest with the lowest category of egg consumption was twofold (hazard ratio: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.26, 3.20; P for interaction = 0.09). Conclusions: Infrequent egg consumption does not seem to influence the risk of CVD in male physicians. In addition, egg consumption was positively related to mortality, more strongly so in diabetic subjects, in the study population.

Egg consumption, serum cholesterol, and cause-specific and all-cause mortality: the National Integrated Project for Prospective Observation of Non-communicable Disease and Its Trends in the Aged, 1980 (NIPPON DATA80). Nakamura Y, Okamura T, Tamaki S, Kadowaki T, Hayakawa T, Kita Y, Okayama A, Ueshima H; NIPPON DATA80 Research Group. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jul;80(1):58-63. PMID: 15213028 Results: The subjects were categorized into 5 egg consumption groups on the basis of their responses to a questionnaire (≥2/d, 1/d, 1/2 d, 1-2/wk, and seldom). There were 69, 1396, 1667, 1742, and 315 women in each of the 5 groups, respectively. Age-adjusted total cholesterol (5.21, 5.04, 4.95, 4.91, and 4.92 mmol/L in the 5 egg consumption categories, respectively) was related to egg consumption (P < 0.0001, analysis of covariance). In women, unadjusted IHD mortality and all-cause mortality differed significantly between the groups [IHD mortality: 1.1, 0.5, 0.4, 0.5, and 2.0 per 1000 person-years, respectively (P = 0.008, chi-square test); all-cause mortality: 14.8, 8.0, 7.5, 7.5, and 14.5 per 1000 person-years, respectively (P < 0.0001, chi-square test)]. In men, egg consumption was not related to age-adjusted total cholesterol. Cox analysis found that, in women, all-cause mortality in the 1-2-eggs/wk group was significantly lower than that in the 1-egg/d group, whereas no such relations were noted in men. Conclusion: Limiting egg consumption may have some health benefits, at least in women in geographic areas where egg consumption makes a relatively large contribution to total dietary cholesterol intake.

Consumption of 2 and 4 egg yolks/d for 5 wk increases macular pigment concentrations in older adults with low macular pigment taking cholesterol-lowering statins. Vishwanathan R, Goodrow-Kotyla EF, Wooten BR, Wilson TA, Nicolosi RJ. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Nov;90(5):1272-9. Epub 2009 Sep 16. PMID: 19759170 Conclusions: Consumption of 4 egg yolks/d, and possibly of 2 egg yolks/d, for 5 wk benefited macular health in older adults with low MPOD. Serum HDL cholesterol increased without an increase in LDL cholesterol in this study population, most of whom were taking cholesterol-lowering statins.

Dietary cholesterol and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients: a review of the Harvard Egg Study and other data. Jones PJ. Int J Clin Pract Suppl. 2009 Oct;(163):1-8, 28-36. English, French. PMID: 19751443 For many years, both the medical community and the general public have incorrectly associated eggs with high serum cholesterol and being deleterious to health, even though cholesterol is an essential component of cells and organisms. It is now acknowledged that the original studies purporting to show a linear relation between cholesterol intake and coronary heart disease (CHD) may have contained fundamental study design flaws, including conflated cholesterol and saturated fat consumption rates and inaccurately assessed actual dietary intake of fats by study subjects. Newer and more accurate trials, such as that conducted by Frank B. Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health (1999), have shown that consumption of up to seven eggs per week is harmonious with a healthful diet, except in male patients with diabetes for whom an association in higher egg intake and CHD was shown. The degree to which serum cholesterol is increased by dietary cholesterol depends upon whether the individual's cholesterol synthesis is stimulated or down-regulated by such increased intake, and the extent to which each of these phenomena occurs varies from person to person. Several recent studies have shed additional light on the specific interplay between dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular health risk. It is evident that the dynamics of cholesterol homeostasis, and of development of CHD, are extremely complex and multifactorial. In summary, the earlier purported adverse relationship between dietary cholesterol and heart disease risk was likely largely over-exaggerated.

Meat and egg consumption and risk of breast cancer among Chinese women. Zhang CX, Ho SC, Chen YM, Lin FY, Fu JH, Cheng SZ. Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Jun 17. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19533390 Conclusions This study suggested that processed meat intake was associated with a possible increased risk of breast cancer. There was no significant association between consumption of total and red meat, poultry, fish, or egg with breast cancer risk

Meat, eggs, dairy products, and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Pala V, Krogh V, Berrino F, Sieri S, Grioni S, Tjønneland A, Olsen A, Jakobsen MU, Overvad K, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Romieu I, Linseisen J, Rohrmann S, Boeing H, Steffen A, Trichopoulou A, Benetou V, Naska A, Vineis P, Tumino R, Panico S, Masala G, Agnoli C, Engeset D, Skeie G, Lund E, Ardanaz E, Navarro C, Sánchez MJ, Amiano P, Svatetz CA, Rodriguez L, Wirfält E, Manjer J, Lenner P, Hallmans G, Peeters PH, van Gils CH, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, van Duijnhoven FJ, Key TJ, Spencer E, Bingham S, Khaw KT, Ferrari P, Byrnes G, Rinaldi S, Norat T, Michaud DS, Riboli E. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep;90(3):602-12. Epub 2009 Jun 2. PMID: 19491385 doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27173 Conclusions: We have not consistently identified intakes of meat, eggs, or dairy products as risk factors for breast cancer. Future studies should investigate the possible role of high-temperature cooking in the relation of red meat intake with breast cancer risk.

Eggs distinctly modulate plasma carotenoid and lipoprotein subclasses in adult men following a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Mutungi G, Waters D, Ratliff J, Puglisi M, Clark RM, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. J Nutr Biochem. 2009 Apr 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19369056 We previously reported that carbohydrate restriction (CR) (10-15% en) during a weight loss intervention lowered plasma triglycerides (TG) by 45% in male subjects (P<.05). However, only those subjects from the EGG group presented higher concentrations of these two carotenoids in plasma, which were correlated with the higher concentra

Single food focus dietary guidance: lessons learned from an economic analysis of egg consumption. Schmier JK, Barraj LM, Tran NL. Cost Eff Resour Alloc. 2009 Apr 14;7:7. PMID: 19366457 Methods A risk apportionment model estimated the increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) attributable to egg cholesterol content, the decreased risk for other conditions (age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, neural tube defects, and sarcopenia) associated with egg consumption, and a literature search identified the cost of illness of each condition. The base 795 case scenario calculated the costs or savings of each condition attributable to egg cholesterol or nutrient content. Results Given the costs associated with CHD and the benefits associated with the other conditions, the most likely scenario associated with eating an egg a day is savings of $2.82 billion annually with uncertainty ranging from a net cost of $756 million to net savings up to $8.50 billion. Conclusion This study evaluating the economic impact of egg consumption suggests that public health campaigns promoting limiting egg consumption as a means to reduce CHD risk would not be cost-effective from a societal perspective when other benefits are considered. Public health intervention that focuses on a single dietary constituent, and foods that are high in that constituent, may lead to unintended consequences of removing other beneficial constituents and the net effect may not be in its totality a desirable public health outcome. As newer data become available, the model should be updated.

Egg yolk proteins suppress azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci formation and cell proliferation in the colon of rats. Ishikawa S, Asano T, Takenoshita S, Nozawa Y, Arihara K, Itoh M. Nutr Res. 2009 Jan;29(1):64-9. PMID: 19185779 These results indicate that dietary egg yolk proteins have a preventive effect on AOM-induced large bowel carcinogenesis in rats; it exerts this effect by altering cell proliferation through SCFA production. This study suggests that the consumption of egg yolk proteins might be protective against colon carcinogenesis.