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

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). Six blood samples (fasting; 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 minutes post breakfast) were collected to measure glucose and insulin. Area under the curves (AUC) were analyzed controlling for baseline concentrations using mixed-effects models accounting for within-subject dependencies. RESULTS: Forty-eight participants (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.

Chathurika S. Dhanasekara, John A. Dawson, Martin Binks, Allison Childress, Nikhil V. Dhurandhar