Eggs for Nutrition

Eggs are a nutritious food, which healthy adults can eat in moderation everyday. They are rich in folate, vitamin B12, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Eating one egg a day has been shown to increase carotenoid concentrations in a group of adults who were older than 60 without raising cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Our bodies use the lutein and zeaxanthin (carotenoids) in eggs more readily due to their higher bioavailability than that in spinach or in lutein supplements.

However, if you have high cholesterol or known risks to heart diseases, the NCEP and American Heart Association (AHA) recommend limiting your cholesterol intake to no more than 200 mg per day. AHA says that one egg a day is acceptable, provided you limit the cholesterol in the other foods you eat in the day. You could choose a small or medium egg instead of larger ones, which have more cholesterol. Remember that egg whites have no cholesterol.

The current scientific belief that is gathering strength is not in favor of restricting eggs. In fact, many believe that eggs taken as breakfast provide satiety and do not add to artery-clogging cholesterol in the blood. According to them, what leads to high blood cholesterol is the lack of other nutrients necessary for the metabolism of cholesterol, such as chromium, magnesium, vitamin B, and omega-3 essential fatty acids.

The best way to eat is egg is to eat it raw. This overcomes the allergic reaction experienced by certain people. Heating the egg alters the cholesterol in the egg and oxidizes it. Our blood vessels do not have receptors for cholesterol, only for oxidized cholesterol. So, you can eat as many eggs as you like, without worrying about cholesterol, as long as you don’t cook the yolks. The Journal of Nutrition, in its 2001 issue, reports that Phosphatidylcholine (PC) in eggs actually stops a significant amount of cholesterol from entering the bloodstream.

Eggs are one of the richest food sources of lecithin, a phospholipid found in the cell membranes of our body. Scientists at Kansas State University were the first to publish evidence that lecithin actually reduces the absorption of cholesterol. Many people eat only the egg whites, discarding the yolk, in the mistaken belief that eggs yolks increase the cholesterol in the body. But the lipoprotein called avidin in the raw white yolks can bind with biotin, one of the B vitamins in the body, leading to biotin deficiency. The simple solution is to cook the egg whites, as this deactivates avidin, but destroys other nutrients in the egg white as well. There is a lot of biotin in the egg yolk, so it is unlikely that you will have a biotin deficiency if you consume the whole raw egg.

Those who are worried about a possible Salmonella infection (which is very low) when eating raw eggs, should learn to discriminate good eggs from the bad. A few tips: check the freshness of the egg by immersing it in a pan of salted water. If you see a stream of bubbles coming from the egg, don’t consume it, as the shell is broken. If the egg white is watery instead of gel-like, or if the egg yolk is not convex and firm, don’t consume the egg.

All eggs are not created equal. Omega-3-enhanced eggs are from hens fed organically grown flaxseed and all natural, vegetarian feed. Flax seed contains omega 3 fatty acids which are important for lowering blood triglyceride levels. Organic eggs are produced by hens fed certified organic grains. You may try substituting regular eggs with Omega-3-enhanced, free-range or processed eggs. Better still, buy eggs from sources known to you, who do not cage their chicken improperly and who use organic chicken feed. And then get them as fresh as possible.