Open Collections

Crampton, Kara

University of British Columbia

Background: Persons living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) may experience accelerated cognitive decline. Increased dietary intake of the carotenoids lutein or zeaxanthin may have positive effects on cognitive function. Eggs are one of the most bioavailable sources of lutein and zeaxanthin in the human diet. Purpose: To determine if increased egg consumption can increase blood lutein and zeaxanthin levels in people with T2D. A secondary aim was to explore if increased egg consumption influences cognitive function. Methods: We conducted a remote, parallel arm randomized controlled trial in people living with T2D. We tested the hypothesis that instructions to consume ~3 eggs per day via a low-carbohydrate breakfast intervention for three months would increase levels of blood lutein and zeaxanthin compared to eating a dietary guidelines-based low-fat breakfast that contained no eggs. We also examined whether the egg-based breakfast intervention could improve cognitive performance compared to the no eggs breakfast. Participants (N=57) were randomized to one of the breakfast diet interventions, with fingertip capillary blood samples collected at baseline and three months using a lancet and dried blood spot cards for analyses of blood lutein and zeaxanthin. Computerized cognitive assessments were completed at the participant’s home at the beginning, middle, and end of the trial. Results: The low-carbohydrate, egg-based breakfast intervention was successful at increasing egg intake to 1.7 (0.9) eggs per day [mean (SD)], which was significantly greater than daily egg intake [0.3 (0.3)] in the no egg dietary guidelines breakfast group (P > 0.05). There was no significant change in blood lutein or zeaxanthin in either breakfast group (P > 0.05) and all measures of cognitive performance were not significantly altered by the breakfast interventions (all P > 0.05). Conclusion: Three months of consuming ~2 eggs per day did not change blood lutein and zeaxanthin levels, or impact cognitive performance, in participants with T2D. Following a relatively straightforward dietary strategy that manipulates one meal during the day may be a feasible intervention to increase egg intake for people with T2D, but more research is required to determine if this impacts carotenoids and cognitive function.

Text

2023-06-13

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81801

Health and Exercise Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/