Egg Nutrition: Protein, Calories, and Health Benefits

How many eggs do you eat a day?

Perhaps there is no one answer! and the answer will most likely depend on who is answering.

Like a housewife or a general person would eat less eggs than someone in the process of body building and needs more egg protein, or an athlete would take more eggs for muscle strength while a pregnant women in her prenatal stage would consume eggs just enough based upon diet chart to benefit fetus.

But whatever is the number and purpose, you’re eating the healthiest and nutrition rich food available on this planet. Eggs are super food and also known as nature’s multivitamin for its high nutrition values.

Why eggs are good for you?

Egg is an natural source of antioxidants and brain nutrients, which is good for overall health for any age. Eating eggs will act as a food supplement to those suffering from nutritional deficiencies.

So, be it scrambled egg, fried egg, poached egg, or boiled egg, it has got low calories and high protein, a super food for your daily consumption.

Have you not added eggs in your daily diet yet? If not, add eggs in your morning diet to start your day with a healthy breakfast.

However, there are concerns among people with high cholesterol about eating this super food. With lots of concern, some ended up eating just the egg whites, leaving behind the delicious and protein rich yellow yolk.

So, what do modern day researchers say about eggs? Is egg really an unhealthy food for everyday diet as dieticians would have thought previously?

Egg cholesterol myth

It’s true that eggs are heavy with cholesterol, one large egg (50g serving) contains 200 mg of cholesterol, which apparently very high for someone suffering from high cholesterol, or heart diseases.

But, surprisingly recent research shows dietary cholesterol present in eggs have little effect on cholesterol in our body. The dietary cholesterol doesn’t add up to our LDL cholesterol levels at all, rather improves HDL cholesterol.

In general, eating eggs in moderation is always good for health except for high diabetic patients, let’s understand the nutrition facts and health benefits of eggs in more details.

Egg nutrition facts

Eggs are the healthiest food as it contains all the essential vitamins and minerals. According to the recommended dietary allowance, egg carries imperative nutritional value.

Curated from different sources^1,2, here is a comprehensive nutrition data in sorted order of nutrients and respective quantities found in an egg.

One large egg (50g serving) contains nutrients as follows:

Nutrition Table

Vitamins in egg

Minerals in egg

Other properties in egg

Egg white and the yolk contains around 3.5 grams and 2.5 grams of healthy protein, respectively. Furthermore, the fat content in an egg is around 5.0 grams.

The nutrition table shows, how a large egg contains all the critical minerals and vitamins in enough percentages that our body needs, yet carries less calorie.

If you are overwhelmed by the given facts and figures, all looking like numbers but egg! It’s probably the time to make you light with some little known facts about eggs, followed by the health benefits an egg has to offer.

Interesting facts about eggs

• There are thousands tiny pores on the shell surface of an egg that we don’t see.
• Brown eggs are always costlier than white eggs not because they are healthier than the other, but they are laid by bigger expensive breeds of hens.
• Chicken’s age determines its eggshell thickness, not whether it’s brown or white.
• The nutritional benefits of egg doesn’t depend on its shell’s color as it differs due to its genetics.
• Egg that float on water not as fresh as that sinks to the bottom when immersed in a glass of water.

Health benefits of eating eggs

In terms of health benefits, eggs are the next best to breast milk. No wonder eggs are called nutrients goldmine! Low calorie in eggs make them even more special to fit in your fast healthy meals, eggs also contain zero carbs and no sugar.

Here are the different health benefits that an egg has to offer:

Eggs are natural energy booster

Eggs contain Vitamin B, which acts as a natural energy booster and balance your diet when you pair an egg with your everyday diet. Food with a high content of Vitamin B like eggs converts the energy from the food you eat to fuel your body.

Thus, there’s no need for you to increase caffeine intake or take any energy boosting supplement for boosting energy to stay more active.

Improves hair quality and growth

Essential nutrients like Vitamin B6, B12, A, and Biotin improves hair quality and growth. You’ll find these crucial nutrients inside an egg yolk, which is an excellent healthy reason for eating eggs.

Some even rinse hair with eggs for the same reason, but what’s better than doing it inside out!

Improves your vision

Eggs are rich in vitamin A and Lutein. There are two essential nutrients for improving eyesight. Therefore, eat eggs along with other vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, and fish. That’ll make your eyesight better and last longer.

Improves the functioning of brain

In a study, it’s found egg yolks contain a good percentage of choline and DHA (omega-3 fatty acid), both of which help to boost brain function.

Therefore, for better brain development, especially among growing children, eating at least an egg daily is recommended.

Boosts the good cholesterol level

Although an egg (large) contains around 185 mg of cholesterol, when you eat eggs daily, it boosts the good cholesterol, HDL level. So, even being considered as a high cholesterol food, you can eat eggs happily, but in moderation.

Eating eggs protects the heart

Do you know that eating eggs is healthy for your heart? Yes, eggs alter the risky small dense lousy LDL cholesterol into the suitable large LDL cholesterol type.

Thus, it protects your heart and benefits your overall health. Also, eggs contain Omega 3, which is beneficial in reducing the triglycerides present in the blood.

Rich in protein

Proteins contain amino acids, which are vital for cell regeneration and growth. Of course, you’ll find protein in so many foods, but eggs contain all the necessary amino acids.

It means if you eat eggs every day, your body will get additional protein supply. Protein also helps in fast weight loss by reducing the hunger hormone!

Helps in muscle building

Protein accelerates the protein synthesis process, which is essential for building muscles. So, with rigorous workout sessions, make sure to eat eggs regularly.

It will inject added proteins to your body and speed up the muscle building process.

Outstanding food for a pregnant woman

Usually, eggs are good to consume during pregnancy. The amino acid, vitamin, protein, and minerals that are present in eggs boost baby’s growth and brain development.

Especially egg yolks is an important source of choline, which is an essential nutrient for fetal and neonatal brain development and preventing birth defects.

Now that we have discussed multiple health and nutritional benefits of egg, we will try to answer some of your common questions regarding eggs.

How long to boil an egg for hard boiled eggs?

In general, depending upon egg size, it takes anywhere between 9 – 15 minutes in medium flame. Small eggs take less time, while extra large eggs can take up to 15 minutes to get its perfect hardness.

With this new method explained by American Egg Board, it’s not just easy to peel boiled eggs with that method, it also reduces the time to get hard boiled egg by 30%.

Using the new and faster method, you can get a large egg hard boiled within 12 minutes, while an extra large egg would take 13 minutes to hard boil.

How many eggs are safe to eat per day?

There’s no scientific evidence on the exact number of eggs one should consume in regular basis.

However, eating any food in moderation is better. Eating up to three quality whole eggs every day considering its nutritional benefits is safe, and enough to provide you a balanced diet.

If you eat eggs from pasture raised hens, they contain a higher amount of Omega-3 and healthy fat soluble vitamins. These Omega-3 enriched eggs add more nutrition values to your healthy meal, while it also reduces health risk from heart diseases, by lowering triglycerides levels.

What are the health benefits of egg white?

Egg white comes with tons of health benefits. It is the cholesterol-free part of the egg, so an egg white yummy omelet is free from cholesterol.

Also, egg white is high in nutrition as it contains protein in abundance and fewer calories.

What are the health benefits of egg yolk?

Egg yolk boosts antioxidants as it contains essential vitamins like A, D, E, K, and Omega 3.

Egg yolk provides an excellent vision to your eyes. It also prevents heart disease because of the presence of amino acids like tryptophan and tyrosine.

Conclusion

Eggs are super food for any age, full of nutrients and high in protein, yet a low calorie food for your daily diet.

However, patients with high cholesterol levels must consult a doctor or nutritionist to decide on the number of eggs, and egg portions to eat daily.