The humble egg is actually a powerhouse of nutrients. In fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it a super food.
There are not many foods that boast as healthy a nutritional chart as eggs. Here are top 10 reasons backed by good science why you must include eggs in your diet.
1. Eggs are Loaded With Healthy Nutrients
Eggs are the extremely rich in protein. They also offer many essential minerals and vitamins that are part of a healthy, balanced diet. Egg nutrition facts, along with a brief description about main benefits of each nutrient present in it, are as follows:
- Protein: Builds as well maintains muscles and tissues and plays a vital role in production of enzymes, hormones, and antibodies.
- Iron: Needed for production of red blood cells and transportation of oxygen in the body.
- Phosphorus: Maintains bones and teeth and helps energy metabolism.
- Selenium: Aids immune system, protects body cells against oxidative damage, and helps thyroid gland function properly.
- Lutein and zeaxanthin: Helps maintain normal vision and prevent age-related eye disease.
- Iodine: Needed for thyroid gland function.
- Choline: Important for brain health.
- Vitamin A: Helps maintain the immune system, normal vision, and skin.
- Vitamin B2 and B12: Helps energy metabolism, the nervous system, and formation of red blood cells.
- Vitamin B5: Useful for mental functioning as well as energy metabolism.
- Vitamin D: Essential for bone and teeth health and absorption of calcium.
- Vitamin E: Needed for healthy muscles, nervous system, and reproductive system.
When it comes to providing nutrients, there are not many foods that can match eggs. A medium-sized egg offers 5.53 grams of protein, 5 grams of healthy fats, and 77 calories.
Organic eggs are healthier than regular ones as they have a higher omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin A and E content.
2. Boosts Brain Power
Eggs, as the above-listed egg nutrition facts, show contain many constituents essential for brain health, namely choline, vitamins B12 and D, and omega-3 fatty acids.
While choline improves cognitive power and memory, vitamin B12 (one hardboiled egg provides you with 19% of recommended daily intake of this vitamin) helps reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Omega-3 fatty and Vitamin D, too, aid brain health. The former helps increase brain volume and the latter improves brain function.
3. High in Cholesterol, Eggs Don’t Cause a Spike in Blood Cholesterol Levels
The recommended daily intake of cholesterol is 300 mg. A single medium-sized egg offers 212 mg of cholesterol. That’s about 70% of your recommended daily intake. Even then eating eggs does not negatively affect blood cholesterol.
Consuming more dietary cholesterol does not necessarily mean higher blood cholesterol. In fact, each day the liver produces a lot of cholesterol. Increasing the intake of eggs actually results in liver producing less amounts of cholesterol, and this in turn compensates for the increased consumption of dietary cholesterol.
According to one study, 70% of participants who ate eggs didn’t report any increase in blood cholesterol while 30% recorded a mild increase in LDL (the bad) and total cholesterol.
The egg yolk is a good source of lutein, which, as per the American Heart Association, protects against early heart disease.
4. Aids Weight Loss
Did you know that eating eggs in breakfast can help you lose weight? Contrary to the popular belief, eggs are better than bagels as a breakfast food, especially when the focus is on losing weight.
In the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers noted that participants who ate an egg-based breakfast lost more weight than those having bagels in the morning.
In another study, researchers found that eggs for breakfast helps reduce the daily calorie count by as much as 400 calories. In other words, you can lose about 3 pounds every month with this single dietary change.
This ability of the egg to aid weight loss is attributed to its high protein. Gram for gram, protein keeps you full for more time than carbs—and this explains why you consume fewer calories when you eat eggs for breakfast.
5. Eggs Change Small LDL Particles to Large Particles, Associated With a Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
LDL cholesterol is bad for your heart. Almost everyone knows this.
But did you also know that there are subtypes of LDL cholesterol and one subtype is more harmful for heart health than the other?
LDL particles, on basis of their size, are categorized as small and large LDL particles. People with more small LDL particles have a significantly higher risk to cardiovascular disease than those with predominantly large LDL particles.
Eggs convert the small LDL particles in your blood to large particles, which is not bad for your heart.
6. Keeps Eyes Healthy
As you can see from the egg nutrition facts, they are a good source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that studies have shown to lower the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.
Both these compounds have a strong antioxidant effect, which in turn strengthens the retina and keep the eye protected from UV rays and free radical damage. Green leafy veggies also contain lutein in good amounts, but many nutritionists believe that this compound is absorbed better when taken through eggs.
Eggs are a great source of protein (probably the best source) and many other healthy nutrients. Eat them daily for better health and weight management.