Egg eating and dementia in Chinese older adults
What it found
In a study of 466 older adults in China, those who ate eggs daily were less likely to have dementia than those who ate them weekly or monthly.
The study cannot prove that eggs caused this difference.
What they found
Studies in people
Daily egg eating
People who ate eggs daily were less likely to have dementia than those who ate them weekly or monthly. This held after adjusting for many factors like age, education, smoking and other foods.
Weekly and monthly eating
Compared with daily egg eaters, those who ate eggs weekly or monthly had higher odds of dementia. The link was stronger for monthly than weekly.
Very high egg intake
People who ate eggs twice a day or more had higher odds of dementia than those who ate them less than monthly or daily, but this was not statistically significant, possibly due to the small number of people in this group.
Non-consumers
People who ate eggs less than monthly did not show a significant increase or decrease in dementia odds compared with daily eaters.
Trend across levels
Among those who ate eggs monthly, weekly or daily, each step up in egg eating was linked to lower odds of dementia.
What the authors conclude
“This study suggests that Daily egg consumption could help reduce the risk of dementia, while uncertainties regarding the association of non-consuming/<monthly or ≥Twice a day consumption with dementia warrant further research.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that daily egg consumption could help reduce the risk of dementia.
- They say that the impact of eating eggs twice a day or more, or less than monthly, on dementia risk remains unclear and needs more research.
- They suggest promoting egg consumption among older adults to help reduce the burden of dementia.
How it was done
The authors wanted to find out whether eating eggs is linked to dementia, since this had not been studied in China, which has the most people with dementia and the highest egg consumption in the world.
They recruited 233 people with dementia and 233 without dementia, all over age 50, from clinics and a dementia management system in Guangzhou, China. They asked about egg eating over the past two years and compared the groups.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a case-control study, so it can show a link between egg eating and dementia but cannot prove that eating eggs causes or prevents dementia.
- The study asked people to recall their egg eating over the past two years, which may not be perfectly accurate.
- The study did not measure how many eggs people ate at each frequency, only how often they ate them.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Wolverhampton, UK; Guangzhou Medical University, China; Institute of Psychiatry, UK
The paper
- Title
- Association between Egg Consumption and Dementia in Chinese Adults
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Igbinigie PO, Chen R, Tang J, et al (2024). Association between Egg Consumption and Dementia in Chinese Adults. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu16193340Free full textPubMed 39408307DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error