Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the main causes of cognitive decline and death among the elderly population. The prevalence of AD is increasing, with a rise in the aging population. It is caused by an imbalance between the production and clearance of amyloid-β peptides in the brain.

Effective dietary interventions can decrease the burden of AD and benefit healthcare as well as quality of life. Eggs provide many nutrients essential for cognitive health, including choline, omega-3 fatty acids, and lutein. Moreover, they are a practical dietary intervention for older adults, given their increased palatability compared with other animal food sources. Frequent consumption of eggs is suggested to improve cognitive performance on verbal tests by emerging evidence, but whether it influences the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia and AD remains unknown.

A study by Pan Y et al., published in “The Journal of Nutrition”, included 1,024 older adults without apparent dementia and 578 deceased ones with brain autopsies from the Rush Memory and Aging Project cohort. It assessed the association of egg consumption with risk of Alzheimer’s dementia and investigated pathological AD findings from brain autopsies of the deceased participants. Eating at least one egg per week was linked to a 47% lower risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. Participants who consumed eggs more frequently also showed less AD-related pathology in their brain autopsies. About 39% of the protective effect of egg intake on Alzheimer’s dementia was mediated by dietary choline (see Graphic).