Sometimes, in the name of being adventurous cooks or staying healthy, we forget the most basic of ingredients: eggs - and tend to ignore the most essential meal of the day: breakfast.
As we try to come up with quick and easy meals that look divine and sound snazzy, we forget nutrition and the basic wholesomeness discovered by our ancestors and passed on diligently down the generations.
The key to losing weight could be as simple as having two eggs for breakfast. Scientists have shown that those who start their day with poached, boiled or scrambled eggs can lose up to two-thirds more weight than those on a diet.
This may come as a surprise to us as we all know that egg yolk is extremely calorific. However, the secret of the egg's success lies in it's ability to make us fell full for longer than many other foods. It is thought their high protein content could play a large part.
Despite equal energy content and weight, an egg breakfast has a greater satiating effect compared to a breakfast with bread. This translates into lower energy intake at lunch. The resulting decrease in energy consumption lasts for at least 24hrs after an egg breakfast.
Eggs are an integral part of part of breakfast in numerous cultures and the satiating effect of eggs may be useful in promoting weight management.
Nutrition Information
Egg are an important source of protein, essential vitamins and minerals and can make a significant contribution to a healthy diet. Nutritional requirements can vary considerably between men, women and children and can also vary in individuals from time to time.
Energy value of eggs
A medium egg has an energy value of 78kilo-calories (324 kilojoules) and the consumption of one egg daily would contribute only around 3% of the average energy requirement of an adult man and 4% for an adult woman. With their significant protein, vitamin and mineral content and relatively low saturated fat content, eggs are a valuable component in a healthy diet.
Protein
Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Egg protein is of high biological value as it contains all the essential amino acids needed by the human body. Eggs therefore complement other food proteins of lower biological value by providing the amino acids that are in short supply in those foods.
Protein accounts for 12.5% of the weight of an egg and it's found in both the yolk and albumen. Although protein is more concentrated around the yolk, there is in fact more protein in the albumen.
On the evaluation scale most commonly used for assessing protein, egg is at the highest point, 100, and is used as the reference standard against which all other foods are assessed.
Vitamins
Eggs contain most of the recognized vitamins with the exception of vitamin C. They are a good source of all of all the B vitamins, plus the fat soluble vitamin A. They also provide useful amounts of vitamin D as well as some vitamin E.
Minerals
Eggs contain most of the minerals that the human body requires for health. In particular, eggs are an excellent source of iodine, required to make the thyroid hormone, and phosphorus, required for the bone health.
The egg provides significant amounts of zinc, important for wound healing, growth and fighting infection; selenium, an important antioxidant; and calcium, needed for bone and growth structure and nervous functions.
Eggs also contain significant amounts of Iron, the vital ingredient of red blood cells, but the availability of this iron to the body is uncertain.
Carbohydrate and dietary fiber
Eggs contain only traces of carbohydrate and no dietary fiber
Fat
Fat accounts for 11.2% of the egg content. The fat of an egg is found almost entirely in the yolk; there is less than 0.05% in the albumen. Approximately 17% of an egg's fatty acids are polyunsaturated, 44% monounsaturated and only 32% saturated.
Cholesterol
Eggs are both bad and good for cholesterol. The egg yolks are definitely not good and may raise cholesterol levels. The egg whites are considered safe.
However, research has found that eggs whites contain a substance that counteracts the harmful effects of egg yolk on your cholesterol level to a big extent anyway. So eating a whole egg appears to be somewhat safe, even for someone on a low cholesterol diet.
