Egg nutrition: Get the facts

Over 75 billion eggs are produced in the U.S. each year. That’s a lot of omelets. Most people know that eggs contain protein, but what else? Here are some egg nutrition facts.

 

A single large egg laid by a hen contains 70 calories, as well as:

• 5 grams of fat (2 grams saturated)
• 6 grams of protein
• 0.5 grams of carbohydrate

More than 60 percent of calories in an egg come from dietary fat. About 35 percent come from protein. But when it comes to eggs, here’s the question many people debate: should I eat the yolk?

 

To eat the yolk or not?

Fat-phobic dieters usually chuck the yolks before they reach the frying pan, but what many egg-white-only eaters don’t realize is that about half the protein in an egg is found in the yolk.

 

There are other benefits of eating the yolk as well.

 

Choline, though not a highly-touted nutrient in diet articles, plays an essential role in fetal brain development. Pregnant women need to eat the yolks to help prevent birth defects. Two whole eggs contain 250 milligrams of choline, about half the recommended daily value.

 

Yolks also contain two other nutrients that pregnant women need, including B vitamins, crucial for fetal nervous system and spinal cord development. The other nutrient is iron. Though an egg has only 5 percent daily value of iron, the iron found in eggs is a healthy mix of both sources of iron—heme and non-heme.

 

Eating two eggs, then, supplies a pregnant or breast-feeding woman with 10 percent daily value of iron, lowering the chance of developing anemia, something to which pregnant and breast-feeding women are more susceptible.

 

What if I’m not pregnant or breast feeding?

You should still eat the whole egg. In addition to the B vitamins, almost the entire amount of the following vitamins and minerals are found in the yolk:

• calcium
• iron
• zinc
• selenium (nearly 25 percent of daily value)
• phosphorous (10 percent of daily value)
• Vitamins A, D, E, and K (the fat soluble vitamins)

The yolks also contain heart-healthy Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids.

 

And yet another reason to eat the whole egg is that yolks contain the full spectrum of essential amino acids. Eating only the whites will require food combining to make sure you get the complementary essential amino acids.

 

But what about cholesterol? Don’t the yolks contain a lot of it?

To some doctors and nutritionists, yes, an egg yolk may indeed have a lot of cholesterol. One whole egg contains approximately 200 milligrams of cholesterol, or roughly 70 percent of suggested daily values.

 

Don’t panic if you just gulped down a three-egg omelet. Your body naturally produces cholesterol for a variety of purposes, including making sex hormones, Vitamin D, and bile acids to help digest fat.

 

If you eat foods containing cholesterol, your body doesn’t have to work as hard to produce it.

 

Conservative recommendations usually allow for one whole egg per day.

 

Yolks also contain the antioxidant lutein, which is thought to promote eye health.

 

Are eggs the best source of protein?

Eggs are considered by many the gold-standard of protein, especially for an all-natural source of food. One egg contains for an average person, over 10 percent of the daily value for protein.

 

More than 90 percent of a whole egg’s protein is absorbable by the body, which scores eggs way up high on the protein bioavailability scale.

 

Many bodybuilders place whey protein on a higher muscle-building pedestal than eggs, but whey protein isn’t a whole food like an egg.

 

Eggs cost roughly 25 cents each, making them one of the least expensive sources of complete protein, plus they’re easy to cook. Being a naturally-nutritiously dense food, it’s no wonder eggs have been eaten for thousands of years.

3 Simple Healthy Living Tips to Live by (a Review)

Let's jump right into it and review a few wellness tips to live by for optimum health.

1. Eat High Quality-Lean Protein and High Fiber Foods at Every Meal

I hate giving one-size-fits-all tips, especially with nutrition, with everybody having a unique biochemistry and therefore different nutritional requirements, however, every single person I've helped get healthier over the years has done so by eating a high-quality (lean) protein and high fiber diet. 

Extensive research shows that in this country, approximately two-thirds of the population are protein-dominant, meaning this population thrives on a high-protein/higher-fat diet. 

That means the other one-third fares well on a diet higher in carbohydrates. 

But even the higher carbo population who can handle more rice and grains in their diet and not bloat like a beached whale will thrive eating high-quality protein and foods rich in fiber. 

Some people need to eat pancakes, french toast, bagels and other typical breakfast foods for the first meal of the day. If you absolutely must have these types of breakfast grains in the morning, try to add some sautéed greens. Adding spinach to an omelet is an easy way to make sure you're getting enough fiber to keep the (digestive) action flowing. If you don't add vegetables and other high-fiber foods to every meal, especially those breakfasts when you gorge at the all-you-can-eat pancake buffets, you'll  be bloated and constipated...not a great start to your day!

2. Go for a Walk After Every Meal

Extensive research has shown that taking just a 10-minute walk after every meal can reduce blood sugar levels significantly. Know someone who has diabetes? Share this info with them. And even if you don't typically have serious blood sugar problems, going for a walk after every meal will prevent energy crashes. 

Personally, I've been doing a good job as of late eating at least three meals a day, all of which contain high quality protein, high-fiber vegetables and some natural fat and never any refined carbohydrates. But the other night, I feasted on my favorite burrito, one containing carne asada, shrimp, avocado and the best chipotle sauce this side of the border. 

I scarfed it down in about two minutes. Rather than get right back in my car and drive the 20 minutes till I got back home, I walked for 15 minutes around the block, including a couple hills. The blood that was coursing through my veins prevented me from feeling sluggish. True, sometimes it's good to chill after a meal to aid digestion, but I'd rather suffer a minor bit of burpitis than feel like a useless lug. 

It wasn't the food in the burrito that caused me to energetically hit a brick wall, it was the tortilla. Mixing a starch with a rich protein like red meat can be tough for your system to digest. But food combining is another topic.

For sustained energy, take a walk after every meal. If you don't already take post-meal walks, try it and see if you notice a difference in how you feel. 

3. Cook Foods with Coconut Oil and Avoid Cooking with Canola Oil (to lightly sauté is OK)

When cooking foods at a low-medium, medium, or high temperature, use saturated fats like extra virgin coconut oil. Contrary to mainstream belief, consuming saturated fat is vital for optimal health. The reason why can be found here. 

Light vegetable oils like canola turn rancid when exposed to high heat. Saturated fats are stable and don't alter molecularly. But be careful when cooking with coconut oil as it does have a tendency to smoke when exposed to high heat. Enjoy the process of cooking and cook foods at a lower temperature. Got screaming kids and need to feed them fast? Prepare some cheese, tomato paste and rice crackers for a healthy quick appetizer. Take your time with the main entrée. 

Don't worry if you use canola oil every now and then to cook at low temperatures, but pass on the message to friends that commonly cook their food by frying with Wesson. Wesson oil has virtually no saturated fat (again, this does not mean a healthier product), but if you cook it at high enough temperatures, it'll get rancid.

(Interestingly enough, ConAgra, the gigantic Franken-food science agri-business, claims that their product, Wesson, is healthier than olive oil. Can you believe the chutzpah? Hope I don't get slapped with an injunction for writing this!)

Adopt these three principles daily if you're not already and you'll feel better in a very short amount of time.