Association of serum lipids with coffee, tea, and egg consumption in free-living subjects

The associations of serum lipids with coffee, tea, and egg consumption were examined in a survey of 658 men in Israel. A significant, positive association was found between coffee consumption and serum total cholesterol (TC), mainly reflecting a difference in the low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Among the subjects aged 20-39, the difference in TC between the lowest and highest consumption categories was 13.2 mg/dl, and among those aged 40-69 the difference was 7.4 mg/dl. An even stronger, negative association between tea intake and TC was present; the difference between the lowest and highest consumption categories was 28.7 mg/dl for the younger subjects and 18.4 mg/dl for the older group. On the other hand, serum TC levels were not elevated at higher levels of whole egg consumption. Thus, allowing for the bias inherent in dietary recall, coffee and tea consumption appear to be associated more strongly with serum lipid and lipoprotein levels than egg consumption.