The 411 On Eggs: Nutritional Info
The egg is one of nature's most nutrient-dense foods, meaning that it has a very high proportion of nutrients per calorie. For the 57 calories of a large egg, what you get is 6 grams of the highest quality protein perfectly packaged with complete amino acids, 13 essential nutrients - including the valuable choline, folate, lutien, and vitamin D.
Protein for Building, Repairing, Preserving Muscle Tone
Each large egg provides 6 grams of protein, that is 12% of the Recommended Daily Value. It is a long known fact that eggs contain the highest quality protein to be found in any food because it is brilliantly packaged with all of the essential amino acids our bodies need, in the perfect pattern our bodies require to be absorbed and utilized fully.
Recent studies have revealed that high-quality protein may be helpful in building muscle strength and preventing loss of muscle tone and strength in middle-aged and aging adults. For those in exercise routines, high quality protein is a must for helping bodies that are constantly repairing toning muscles.
The high quality protein can help in maintaining healthier weight by helping to feel fuller longer an stay energized.
Choline
Choline? Until recently it has been treated as part of the Vitamin B group, but recently research has focused on this vital nutrient that contributes to fetal brain development, prevents birth defects, and aids in the brain function of adults by maintaining the structure of brain cell membranes. Choline is required to make the important neurotransmitter acetylcholine that makes it possible to relay messages from the brain through nerves to the muscles. Egg yolks are one of the greatest dieatary sources of Choline.
Who wants to be an egghead now?
250 milligrams of choline, about half the recommended daily amount, is contained in two whole eggs. The National Academy of Sciences recommends that pregnant women make sure they consume 450 milligrams of choline per day, for breastfeeding women it is 550 milligrams per day.
In addition to choline, eggs provide three other nutrients much needed by pregnant women. High quality protein supports fetal growth, Vitamin B to help normal development of nerve tissue, and iron. The iron in eggs is a good balance of heme and non-heme iron, which makes it easily absorbed, good for pregnant and breastfeeding women who are at high risk for anemia.
Choline also works closely with other B vitamins to metabolise fats, by exporting fat from the liver. Without choline, fats can get trapped in the liver, blocking metabolism.
Seeing is Believing: Eggs and Eyes
There are two antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, found in egg yolks, that help prevent macular degeneration, a cause of age-related blindness. Research shows that though eggs contain a small amount of these particular nutrients, what it does contain maybe more bioavailable (easier digested and utilized by the body) than lutein from other foods.
Setting the Record Straight about Cholesterol
For decades, scientists have been examining the cholesterol debate launched against eggs in the mid-eighties. Twenty years later, the verdict has emerged, underlined by a 2007 study reported in Medical Science Monitor, showing that consuming one or more eggs a day did not increase the risk of heart disease or stroke among healthy adults. It also showed that eating eggs may be associated with a decrease in blood pressure. Another report published in 2007 revealed that egg consumption contributed less than 1 percent to the risk of heart disease when other factors were taken into account.
The researchers concluded that broad and general recommendations limiting egg consumption may be misguided, especially when looking at the wealth of nutrition an egg provides naturally and at such a low cost.
Not only have the decades of research shown that there is no association between eating eggs and the risk of heart disease, but the recent studies about choline shows that it may even be helpful. Eggs are one of the best dietary sources of choline, which beside helping with brain function, plays an important role in the breaking down of homocysteine, an amino acid in the blood associated with an increased risk of heart disease.
The Complete Egg
Eggs have long been thought of as a perfect and whole food. It contains vital protein, nutrients, as well as a wealth of antibodies that mainstream science is only beginning to understand. Over the centuries, the world's diverse cultures have used eggs in a variety of ways in healing illnesses and wounds, as well strengthening the young, sick, and old. For more information about this part of the egg's history, please visit the “Natural History of the Egg” page on this website.
Here is a snapshot of the nutritional value of an egg, as we understand it to be, here in the beginning of the twenty-first century:
For more information on the benefits of eggs, visit:
www.incredibleegg.org
www.enc-online.org