Finland—One egg every day may associate with a blood metabolite profile related to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by the University of Eastern Finland, asreported on in Science Daily.

The researchers in question had previously shown that eating one egg per day was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes among middle-aged men in eastern Finland, the article said. Stefania Noerman, lead author of the study, was quoted as saying, “The purpose of the current study was to explore potential compounds that could explain this association using non-targeted metabolomics, a technique that enables a broad profiling of chemicals in a sample.”

The finding: Blood samples of men who ate more eggs included certain lipid molecules that positively correlated with the blood profile of men who remained free of type 2 diabetes. Several biochemical compounds in blood predicted a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the article, including the amino acid tyrosine.

Science Daily further quoted Noerman as saying, “Although it is too early to draw any causal conclusions, we now have some hints about certain egg-related compounds that may have a role in type 2 diabetes development. Further detailed investigations are necessary.”