Title: Effects of feeding regular eggs, omega-3 eggs and walnuts on serum lipids

Summary:
Lutein is a xanthophyll found in the chloroplasts of dark green leafy vegetables, chromoplasts of fruits, and egg yolk. Dietary, serum and macular lutein are inversely related to the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Although the lutein from egg is known to be more bioavailable than that from spinach, not much is known about the lutein bioavailabilty from n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs and organic eggs, both of which are increasingly available to consumers. We determined the effects of feeding n-3 fatty acid-enriched eggs and organic eggs on serum lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-carotene in 20 healthy lacto-ovo-vegetarian (LOV) adults using a single-blind, randomized, crossover study design with a 4-week washout between treatments: six organic eggs or six n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs per week or no egg control for 8 weeks each.

Serum lutein was significantly higher in both egg treatments (P<0.009 compared with the control, but was not different between the two egg treatments. Serum beta-carotene was also higher in the egg groups compared with control, but only approached significance (P = 0.139). n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs and organic eggs may both significantly increase serum lutein in healthy LOV consuming a predominately plant-based diet.

Publications:
Burns-Whitmore B, Haddad E, Sabaté J, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Tanzman J, Rajaram S. Effect of n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs and organic eggs on serum lutein in free-living lacto-ovo vegetarians. Eur J of Clin Nutr 2010;64:1332-1337. full text

Presentations:
Burns-Whitmore B, Segovia-Siapco G, Sabaté J, Rajaram S. Comparison of body composition in lacto-ovo vegetarians and omnivores. 5th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition, Loma Linda CA, March 2008. abstract

Burns-Whitmore B, Sapwarobol S, Haddad E, Sabaté J, Rajaram S. N-3 fatty acid enriched egg decreases C-reactive protein in healthy adults. Experimental Biology 2007, Washington, DC, April 2007. [FASEB Journal 2007, 21(6):A740.] abstract

Burns-Whitmore B, Segovia-Siapco G, Rajaram S, Sabaté J. Comparison of Erythrocyte fatty acid composition of lacto-ovo vegetarians to non-vegetarians. Experimental Biology 2006, San Francisco, CA, April 2006. [FASEB Journal 2006, 20(5):A1027] abstract

Burns-Whitmore B, Griffith-Forde L, Tanzman J, Haddad E, Sabaté J, Rajaram S. N-3 fatty acid enriched egg and organic egg intake increases serum lutein levels in healthy adults. Experimental Biology 2006, San Fransisco, CA, April 2006. [FASEB Journal 2006, 20(5):A1058.] abstract

Burns-Whitmore B, Rajaram S, Haddad E, Sabaté J. Effect of n-3 fatty acid enriched eggs vs walnuts on blood lipids in free-living lacto-ovo vegetarians. Experimental Biology 2005, San Diego, CA, April 2005. [FASEB Journal 2005;19(5):A1011.] abstract

Date: 2003

Funded by: The Egg Nutrition Council