Egg and saturated fat containing breakfasts have no acute effect on acute glycemic control in healthy adults: a randomized partial crossover trial

Abstract

Background/Objectives

High egg consumption is associated with poor glycemic control. Considering the widespread consumption of eggs, it is crucial to determine causality in this association. We tested if egg consumption acutely alters glucose disposal in the absence or presence of saturated fat, which is frequently consumed with eggs.

Subjects/Methods

In a randomized partial crossover clinical trial, 48 subjects (consuming ≥ 1 egg/week) received two of four isocaloric, macronutrient-matched breakfasts. The groups were defined based on the main ingredient of the breakfasts offered: eggs (EB); saturated fat (SB); eggs and saturated fat (ES); and control, which included a cereal based breakfast (CB). The breakfasts were offered in two testing sessions spaced seven days apart. Six blood samples (pre breakfast (fasting); 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes post breakfast) were collected to measure glucose and insulin levels. Area under the curves (AUC) were analyzed controlling for the baseline concentrations using mixed-effects models accounting for within-subject dependencies to compare these across breakfast assignments.

Results

Forty-eight patients (46% males, age 25.8 ± 7.7 years, BMI 25.7 ± 4.6 kg/m²) were included. Neither EB, SB nor ES was associated with a significant difference in AUC of glucose or insulin compared to CB (p > 0.1).

Conclusions

Acutely, consumption of egg breakfast with or without accompanying saturated fat does not adversely affect glucose disposal in healthy adults. While this is reassuring for continued egg consumption, a long-term evaluation of egg intake with or without saturated fat would be the next step.