Food of The Week: Eggs |
3 Comments |
This is probably the controversial Food of the Week, yet. The egg has gone in and out of favor so many times that it’s hard to figure out where it stands at any given point. No Calories Needed even asked Should I be Eating Eggs?
Since I’m giving it Food of the Week honors, you can guess that my answer is a “Yes, you should be eating eggs.” It’s not a cut and dry recommendation by me though. I believe some people should think twice about incorporate eggs into their daily diet. Let’s look at the good and bad qualities of eggs.
Eggs (particularly the whites) have a tremendous amount of high-quality protein. Some may believe that all proteins are considered equal, but that’s a case for another post. Protein quality is a whole other topic, but there’s a reason why you find more whey protein in health food stores vs. all the other kinds of protein. Egg white protein is up there with whey, but I don’t think it stays preserved as well. For those of you looking into low carb diets, the egg should be part of your diet there as well.
The yolk of the egg isn’t exactly the best thing for you. It doesn’t have the same protein of the whites, instead being mostly fat and having a lot of cholesterol. It’s this large amount of cholesterol that has caused the controversy with eggs. Excess cholesterol is not good for the heart and the logic would dictate that it should be avoided. Evidence shows that logic fails us in this case. Studies have shown that eating saturated fat is one of the main contributors to excess cholesterol (another is your family history, but you can’t change that).
If you have a high cholesterol problem, I’d definitely look to limit egg yolks - just in case some percentage of digested cholesterol factors in. For everyone else of average cholesterol levels, I’d say that eggs can be part of even a daily diet. And even if you are in the risk factor, egg whites are a great food.Featured Information
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June 22nd, 2007 at 10:48 am
I buy my eggs by the 5 dozen.
June 23rd, 2007 at 10:29 am
While losing weight during the last 14 months, I started using egg whites instead of whole eggs, although occasionally I would make an omelet using 3 whites and 1 whole egg. I also like throwing hard boiled egg whites into my salads and I still have a fried egg on the side with my breakfast oatmeal every once in a while.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:51 am
hey there,
I hope your wife manages to get that cholesterol in check - it’s always seems kinda unfair when you eat right and still have high cholesterol. A bit like the non-smoker who gets lung cancer.
Anyway, I reckon egg yolks are probably ok due to the lecithin they contain, but I guess if you already have high cholesterol then it’s best to play it safe and limit them. I wrote a post on my blog about eggs & cholesterol if you’re interested.
Hope you don’t mind shameless self promotion
Mike