While some overseas studies have reported that excessive egg consumption increases the risk of developing diabetes, a large-scale study of Koreans found that eggs were unrelated to diabetes risk.

A research team led by Professors Jung Joo-Young and Park Sung-Geun at the Seoul Health Screening Center of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, and Professor Jung Yeon-Gu of Neurosurgery, analyzed the relationship between egg intake among Korean adults and the risk of developing diabetes, and on the 8th announced that they published the findings in the Yonsei Medical Journal (Yonsei Medical Journal). The researchers conducted follow-up tracking of 91,005 people who underwent health checkups in 2011~2012 for an average of 6.9 years.

Many studies have debated whether egg consumption increases diabetes risk. A study conducted in the United States once reported that very high egg intake was associated with an increased risk of diabetes, but outside the United States, few studies have confirmed such an association. The researchers undertook this work because there had not yet been a large-scale analysis focusing on Koreans.

When participants were classified into six groups by egg intake, from less than one per week to three or more per day, the group that ate three or more eggs per day did not have a significantly higher risk of developing diabetes than the group that rarely ate eggs. This pattern was observed consistently across all groups, including men and women, younger adults under 45, and middle-aged and older adults 45 and above.

Professor Jung Joo-Young explained, “Americans tend to cook and eat eggs together with high-calorie, high-fat processed foods such as butter, bacon, and sausage, which may have led to a higher observed diabetes risk,” and added, “In contrast, Koreans typically consume eggs with mostly plant-based side dishes or within Korean meals, so we suspect that eggs themselves do not independently increase diabetes risk.”

Professor Park Sung-Geun said, “This large, long-term follow-up study confirms that egg consumption does not increase the risk of developing diabetes among Korean adults,” and noted, “The findings are also consistent with the guidelines of major global nutrition organizations that have declared egg consumption is not harmful to the health of the general population.”