Magazines often print articles which list so called superfoods. The exact list varies from one publication to the next, but foods regularly featured included are fish, avocado, olive oil, chocolate, strawberries etc.
The one food that would not make the list is eggs.
The health mantra regarding eggs is to limit consumption to 3 a week. The focus is on the actual egg, most people don’t include the eggs in disguise i.e. those in the mayonnaise, cakes and chocolate mousse in their calculations.
Eggs have a bad reputation
The reason eggs are equated with “evil” is because they have lots of cholesterol in the egg yolk.
And officially cholesterol CAUSES heart disease etc.
In actual fact, from a scientific perspective a better way to put it, is cholesterol is associated with heart disease etc. CAUSING it, that is pushing things beyond the current data.
But eggs don’t actually have that much cholesterol anyway….
Cholesterol number in eggs is wrong
A recent study suggests that since chickens have modified their diet over the years. Switching from “meat” (bugs and things) to maize the composition of the average egg has changed.
Cholesterol is down (14 %) and vitamin D is up (64 %).
So how much is in a standard American egg ? The recent analysis by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) puts the cholesterol count at 185 mg and 41 IU of Vitamin D.
NOTE: Most people could do with getting a little extra vitamin D. A little time is the sun is one way but starting your day sunnyside up is clearly another.
Eating cholesterol doesn’t actually increase cholesterol
The high cholesterol which is associated with heart disease is not coming from outside your body in most people.
Your body is making it because it is needed for membranes and hormones and things.
When things go wrong i.e. your metabolism is “broken” your body goes into panic mode. It starts to produce lots of cholesterol in an attempt to “fix” the problem.
So the cholesterol in the egg is NOT causing those cholesterol levels to rise.
3 eggs a day for 30 days experiments
More than 40 years of research has failed to show that eating eggs is a health hazard for the healthy adult.
In fact, not eating eggs may pose a bigger health hazard due to the fact that they are jam packed with nutrients which are good for the old ticker.
An egg a day keeps the doctor away
Eggs are a package of goodies that a mother hen gives to her chick so that it grows up big and strong.
The package of goodies includes
- Protein
- Calcium
- Phosphorus
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Zinc
- Copper
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin Bs
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Lutein
This list looks as good as that expensive multivitamin pill and its all natural – truly a superfood.
The other huge plus about an egg is, unlike some of those health foods that taste like you’re eating grass, eggs can cook up into a super tasting snack with a little culinary skill.
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Further reading
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| Should you feed a heart attack a high fat meal ? | Chocolate milk is the best sports drink on the market | Street lights drive the birds crazy |
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