Search results
People also ask
What happens if you eat eggs a day?
Are eggs good or bad for You?
Should you eat eggs if you're overweight?
Are eggs good for mental health?
While researchers are a long way from understanding why eggs affect us differently, the vast majority of recent research suggests they pose no risk to our health, and are much more likely...
- Overview
- 1. Whole Eggs Are Among the Most Nutritious Foods on Earth
- 2. Eggs Improve Your Cholesterol Profile and do NOT Raise Your Risk of Heart Disease
- 3. Eggs Are Loaded With Choline, an Important Nutrient for the Brain
- 4. Eggs Contain High-Quality Proteins With a Perfect Amino Acid Profile
- 5. Eggs Are Loaded With Lutein and Zeaxanthin, Which Protect the Eyes
- 6. Eggs for Breakfast Can Help You Lose Body Fat
- Not All Eggs Are the Same
- The Bottom Line
Eggs are so healthy they are called “nature’s multivitamin” and top many lists of superfoods. Here are 6 healthy facts you may not know about eggs.
One whole egg contains an amazing range of nutrients.
In fact, the nutrients in there are enough to turn a single fertilized cell into an entire baby chicken.
Eggs are loaded with vitamins, minerals, high-quality protein, good fats and various other lesser-known nutrients.
One large egg contains (1):
•Vitamin B12 (cobalamin): 9% of the RDA
•Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 15% of the RDA
The main reason people have been warned about eggs is that they’re loaded with cholesterol.
One large egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol, which is a lot compared to most other foods.
However, dietary sources of cholesterol have a minimal effect on cholesterol levels in the blood (2).
Your liver actually produces cholesterol, every single day. The amount produced depends on how much you eat.
If you get a lot of cholesterol from food, your liver produces less. If you don’t eat cholesterol, your liver produces more of it.
The thing is, many studies show that eggs actually improve your cholesterol profile.
Choline is a lesser-known nutrient that is often grouped with the B-complex vitamins.
Choline is an essential nutrient for human health and is needed for various processes in the body.
It is required to synthesize the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and is also a component of cell membranes.
A low choline intake has been implicated in liver diseases, heart disease and neurological disorders (13).
This nutrient may be especially important for pregnant women. Studies show that a low choline intake can raise the risk of neural tube defects and lead to decreased cognitive function in the baby (14).
Many people do not get enough choline. As an example, one study in pregnant, Canadian women found that only 23% reached the adequate intake of choline (15).
Proteins are the main building blocks of the body and serve both structural and functional purposes.
They consist of amino acids that are linked together, kind of like beads on a string, and then folded into complex shapes.
There are about 21 amino acids that your body uses to build its proteins.
Nine of these cannot be produced by the body and have to be obtained from the diet. They are known as essential amino acids.
The quality of a protein source is determined by its relative amounts of these essential amino acids. A protein source that contains all of them in the right ratios is a high-quality source of protein.
Eggs are among the best sources of protein in the diet. In fact, the biological value (a measure of protein quality) is often evaluated by comparing it to eggs, which are given the perfect score of 100 (16).
There are two antioxidants in eggs that can have powerful protective effects on the eyes.
They are called lutein and zeaxanthin, both found in the yolk.
Lutein and zeaxanthin tend to accumulate in the retina, the sensory part of the eye, where they protect the eyes from harmful sunlight (17).
These antioxidants significantly reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts, which are among the leading causes of vision impairment and blindness in the elderly (18, 19, 20).
In one study, eating 1.3 egg yolks per day for 4.5 weeks increased blood levels of zeaxanthin by 114–142% and lutein by 28–50% (21).
Summary
Eggs contain only trace amounts of carbohydrates, but plenty of protein and fat.
They score very high on a scale called the satiety index, which is a measure of how much foods contribute to satiety (8).
For this reason, it is not surprising to see studies showing that eating eggs for breakfast may lead to fat loss.
In one study, 30 overweight or obese women consumed a breakfast of either eggs or bagels. Both breakfasts had the same amount of calories.
The women in the egg group felt more full and ate fewer calories for the rest of the day and for the next 36 hours (22).
In another study that went on for 8 weeks, eating eggs for breakfast led to significant weight loss compared to the same amount of calories from bagels. The egg group (23):
It’s important to keep in mind that not all eggs are created equal.
Hens are often raised in factories, caged and fed grain-based feed that alters the final nutrient composition of their eggs. It is best to buy omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs, which are more nutritious and healthier.
However, conventional supermarket eggs are still a good choice if you can’t afford or access the others.
Summary
Eggs are among the most nutritious foods you can find, providing virtually all the vitamins and minerals you need.
To top things off, eggs are cheap, taste awesome and go with almost any food.
- Incredibly nutritious. Share on Pinterest. Creator: CatLane | Copyright: Catherine Lane. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. A whole egg contains all the nutrients required to turn a single cell into a baby chicken.
- High in cholesterol, but don’t adversely affect blood cholesterol. It is true that eggs are high in cholesterol. In fact, a single egg contains 186 mg (1).
- Raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein. It is often known as the “good” cholesterol (9). People who have higher levels of HDL usually have a lower risk of heart disease, stroke and other health problems (10, 11, 12).
- Contain choline — an important nutrient that most people don’t get enough of. Choline is a nutrient that most people don’t even know exists, yet it is an incredibly important substance and is often grouped with the B vitamins.
- Eggs Are Nutrient Rich. Let’s start with the fact that eggs are jam-packed with a range of essential vitamins and minerals. An average serving of 2 eggs contains
- Eggs Provide Excellent Quality Protein. Eggs are widely considered to be a valuable source of quality protein. Proteins are the building blocks of life, essential for the strength and repair of muscle and tissue – with one single egg containing about 6.3 grams of protein.
- Eggs Improve Levels of “Good” Cholesterol. Eggs help increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels – or “good” cholesterol as it’s commonly known – and this is one reason why eggs have been found to have little to no effect on heart disease risk.
- Eggs Provide A Great Source Of Vitamin D. Egg yolks are one of a handful of foods that naturally contain vitamin D. And with close to a quarter of all Australian adults suffering from a mild or moderate vitamin D deficiency, the case for eggs is even more potent.
Eggs and Diabetes. Eating just a single egg a week appeared to increase the odds of diabetes by 76 percent. Two eggs a week appeared to double the odds, and just a single egg a day tripled the odds. Once we then have diabetes, eggs may hasten our death.
Jul 11, 2024 · Eggs are a protein-rich food — one large egg has six grams of protein. [1] If you consume the whole egg, you’re eating the egg yolk, which is a source of dietary cholesterol. In fact, one...
Oct 25, 2016 · Not only do they offer culinary variety — hard-boiled eggs, omelets, deviled eggs and then some — they are also a source of protein, calcium and several vitamins and nutrients. Here are some of the benefits of incorporating eggs into your diet. 1. It’s a nutritious treat.
