Help prevent depression by eating eggs – FaktualNews.co

JOMBANG, KabarJombang.com-Eating more eggs can significantly boost brain health. More and more research is finding that increasing egg intake can improve memory and protect against depression.

A new study published this month in the journal Nutrients found that participants who ate an egg every day had a lower chance of developing dementia compared to those who ate eggs weekly or every other day. month.

“Eggs are a nutrient-dense food and a good source of choline, folate, vitamin D, iodine, B vitamins, and high-quality protein,” wrote the study’s lead author, Precious Igbinigie, MPH, a health and wellness researcher. at the University of Wolverhampton in England, named from Everyday HealthWednesday (9/10/2024).

“The protective effect of daily egg consumption against depression in older adults can be attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds and several other nutrients such as high-quality protein, unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins,” he said.

The study compared two years of health data on the eating habits of 233 adults with depression and the same number without depression, all from public health clinics and dementia management systems in Guangzhou, China. Participants were on average 74 years old and more than 60 percent were women.

Igbinigie and his research team focused on the Chinese population because the country has the world’s largest number of people with depression, and per capita egg intake is twice the global average.

In comparing the risk of depression, the scientists categorized the participants’ egg eating habits as no eggs, one a month, one a week, one every day, or two a day or more.

The study found that the fewer eggs a person ate, the higher the risk of depression: Compared to those who ate an egg every day, weekly egg eaters were 1.76 times more likely to develop depression, and those who ate one egg a month were more. 4 times more likely to have dementia.

The findings come just months after a study involving more than 1,000 older adults showed that eating more than one egg a week can significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia.

“Given that eggs generally have a good nutritional profile, it is not surprising that the observed association between egg consumption as part of a nutritious diet and a reduction in depression,” said Elizabeth Mills, PhD, assistant director on Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.

He confirmed that participants who regularly ate eggs also tended to eat other nutritious foods such as meat, vegetables and fruit.

Mills explained that there are different nutrients in eggs linked to brain health that are in a form that is easy to absorb and use by the body, which was not involved in this research. This may explain why eggs in particular may reduce the risk of dementia.

“Eggs are a complete protein, which means they contain all nine essential amino acids, amino acids that the body cannot make on its own. Choline is one of the important brain-building nutrients found in large quantities in eggs. “Choline is included in acetylcholine, which is one of the chemical messengers used for communication in the brain, and is very important for learning and memory,” said Mills.

In the past, doctors have warned that eggs may not be good for heart health due to high levels of cholesterol in egg yolks, which are thought to increase the risk of heart disease. That opinion has changed a lot over time, and a large recent study found that the cholesterol in one egg a day is safe for most people.

The current study has several limitations, such as the relatively small number of participants and limited to one geographic area, while the dietary information is based on participants’ memories, which may be unreliable.

In addition, some research results do not support the conclusion that higher egg consumption equates to lower rates of dementia. There was no increased risk of dementia in those who did not eat eggs at all, and there was no lower risk in those who ate two or more eggs a day.

The authors say that these results raise uncertainty that requires further research. Overall, however, Mills encourages people to eat eggs.

“As a complete, nutrient-dense protein, eggs can be part of a complete brain-healthy diet when combined with other brain-healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains,” he concluded.