Egg consumption is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and older men.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This prospective study examined gender-specific associations between egg intake and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes using data from a large-scale cohort study.

SUBJECTS/METHODS: A total of 7,002 Korean adults (40-69 years) without type 2 diabetes at baseline were analyzed. Dietary intake was evaluated by a food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline (2001-2002) and the second follow-up examination (2005-2006). Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed as a fasting glucose concentration ≥ 126 mg/dL or current use of glucose-lowering medications or insulin injection. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for incident type 2 diabetes according to egg consumption or cholesterol intake.

RESULTS: During a 14-year follow up period, 857 subjects developed type 2 diabetes. In men, frequent egg intake (2- < 4 servings/week) was associated with a 40% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than infrequent egg intake (0- < 1 serving/week) (HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.37-0.97), whereas no association between egg intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes was observed in women (HR = 0.61, 95% CI: 0.27-1.37). There was no association between cholesterol intake and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in either men or women.

CONCLUSIONS: Egg consumption was inversely related to the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in men, but not in women, suggesting gender differences in the relationship between diet and disease risk.