The topic of whether eating eggs everyday is good or bad for your health has been an age old breakfast discussion that even your grandparents have an opinion about. It seems that every few years, varying, and at times, even conflicting reports come out, each attesting to having the “latest” and most accurate information about eggs.
Some reports claim that eating an egg everyday is unhealthy while others swear by the actual benefits to be garnered by a daily dose of eggs. Some reports even aver that eating just one to two eggs a day is perfectly alright, only to be contradicted by later testimonies. Needless to say, all these simply add to the confusion regarding the pressing question of whether or not we should eat eggs everyday.
Though this article will not attempt to give you a definitive, final answer with regard to the more scientific aspect of egg-eating, hopefully it will be able to give you a certain understanding of the composition of eggs, of what cholesterol really is, and how your body works so that you may be able to arrive at a well-founded judgment on your own.
Good Cholesterol, Bad Cholesterol
Though it is common knowledge in this day and age that not all cholesterol is to be avoided and that some types of cholesterol are not only good for your body, but actually necessary for it to subsist, the difference between what “good” and “bad” cholesterol is and the sources of these are still murky to some people.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider before delving into the discussion is that your body is an expert at regulating and balancing itself out. If you provide your body with organic, naturally occurring and healthy foods while veering away from the heavily processed and chemically imbalanced foods, your body will be able to take the material that it has been given and make it work so that your health and well-being still come out on top.
With this in mind, you may avoid eating eggs so that you don’t expose yourself to “high cholesterol.” You should realize, however, that your body needs cholesterol and that if this need is not fulfilled through your diet, then your body will simply make cholesterol for itself in order to maintain its necessary balance. So, eating eggs actually gives your body what it needs in terms of its cholesterol balance. In fact, it provides your body with more than just “balance”; eating eggs actually gives your body more good cholesterol, thus creating a better overall cholesterol ratio for your body.
Misconceptions of Eggs
It cannot be denied that, among all other staples of the breakfast table, eggs are able to prompt the most discussion. Though older beliefs strongly hold that eating multiple eggs or eating them daily is bad for your health, modern science has almost completely and unquestionably proven this belief wrong. Why then does this dated belief still hold so much ground in the modern day?
The misconceptions revolving around the healthiness of eggs and the kind of cholesterol they provide stem from a very flawed and old understanding of how calories, cholesterol, and our bodies work. Some time in the 1960’s to the 1970’s, heart disease and other cardiovascular illnesses had increased and had become disturbingly common in the United States.
This prompted multiple scientific queries into the foods and diets that contained the most cholesterol, which then spurred flawed and even unhealthy and potentially harmful dietary programs and beliefs. This was a result of an incomplete understanding of how our body consumes cholesterol and the different kinds of cholesterol there were (aside from eggs, coconut oil had also become an unfortunate target of the new found cholesterol hate, despite being healthy and beneficial).
However, as time went on, a better and more complete understanding of cholesterol and its role concerning our cardiovascular health developed and the unhealthy notions associated with eggs were generally proven false. Even without scientific backing, a simple survey of places and populations that have a high amount of egg in their daily diets shows that they are usually healthier than places without eggs in their diet. Though this could be a result of a myriad of other factors, at the very least it, shows that having egg regularly in your diet isn’t as bad as people often believe it to be.
Is the Yellow Stuff Bad?
It isn’t uncommon for someone cooking breakfast to cook some eggs while taking out the yolk, as some sort of compromise. This is usually done due to the belief that the yolk contains all of the unhealthy components of the egg, all the unwanted and undesirable “bad” cholesterol while the egg whites hold all of the healthy benefits hidden in eggs. However, it may shock you to discover that this is almost completely untrue. Though it is true that the egg whites contain some health benefits, this amount is almost negligible compared with the amount contained in the egg yolk.
Eggs are also considered to be one of the best sources of protein, which your body needs for different uses and functions.
Aside from containing most of the taste you get from an egg, the egg yolk also holds the most nutritional value inside the eggs and is, by far, the healthiest part of the entire egg. It contains the most nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that can be found in the egg, in addition to potent anti-oxidants. Eating only the egg whites under the guise of health is not only a waste of good egg yolk; it actually provides you with minimal health benefits.
So, the next time you have eggs for breakfast don’t shortchange yourself by removing the yolks in the hope that you’re eating healthier. You can keep the yolk while alleviating yourself of any guilt that may have been associated with it because now you know that yolks are actually good for you. You can have your cake (or egg) and eat it, too!
What to Look Out For When Purchasing Eggs?
It almost goes without saying that when you do buy your eggs, it’s highly recommended that you buy organic and local. This is because eggs that were made by free range chickens have an incredible amount of vitamins and minerals to offer, putting its generic supermarket egg counterparts to shame. Aside from this, buying eggs produced by free range chickens also help safeguard you from a major health issue that usually concerns these animals. You greatly reduce the risk of eating an egg containing bacteria (salmonella, for instance) when you buy a free range egg instead of a supermarket one.
Additionally, in the case of eggs, you might be surprised to find out that sometimes what’s on the outside is just as important as what’s on the inside. Not only should you consider the actual egg when you are thinking about buying it, but you should also look at its exterior, the egg shell.
Though most people are familiar with egg shells being paper white, anyone who’s been to a chicken coop will know that the eggs actually come out as a more natural brown color, at first. How then, do they end up turning into the egg shell white that we are familiar with today?
First, it is important to know what an egg shell actually is. An egg shell is essentially more like our own skin, rather than some impenetrable wall or barrier. It has, in fact, thousands of pores which are covered by a protective cuticle. When this cuticle is removed, the pores are prone to attack from numerous sources of bacteria, and what goes into the pores will also go into the egg that we eat. This is important to remember as we discuss the cleaning process that eggs undergo before they can be sold.
Before the eggs go on supermarket shelves, they have to go through a process of cleaning. There are multiple methods of cleaning eggs, some of which can further solidify the integrity of the egg while others actual endanger it. Some processes make use of strong chemicals that you wouldn’t usually associate with consumption, such as mineral oil, chlorine, and rye. These methods are usually utilized by companies that produce large quantities of eggs for shipping into supermarkets.
So, it goes without saying that it is very important that the egg’s protective cuticle is maintained, right? Unfortunately, some of these cleaning methods actually remove the important protective cuticle, thus opening the inside of the egg to complications, as well as exposing itself to the very chemical (be it non-natural oil, chlorine, or rye) used to clean it.
However, local farmers and egg producers usually employ much more natural and safer ways to clean their eggs. Some employ a simple water rinse to clean the egg, others use vinegar (a much healthier and natural alternative to other chemicals) to ensure that it is without debris, while others use a simple dry brush method to sweep dirt off the egg.
The only way to really find out how the eggs you eat are cleaned is by asking the producers of the eggs regarding their preferred method of cleaning. This is why it is easier to ensure that your eggs were cleaned in a natural, environmentally friendly method when you buy from a local producer or farmer’s market, than when you buy in a big, corporate supermarket.
Breakfast with a Side of Eggs
Even though at this point, we have discussed and discovered how eggs are actually good for you and essential to your health and body’s wellness, it is equally important to have a realistic view of how eggs figure into our diet. Most of the time we eat eggs, if not all of the time, we do eat them for breakfast. More often than not, we pair eggs with other breakfast staples such as bacon, bagels, sausages, and pancakes.
When we do this, however, we are almost completely balancing out, if not outright tipping the scales in opposition to, the good cholesterol and all the benefits that eggs provide us against all of the unhealthy and potentially dangerous cholesterol and calories from other breakfast foods.
The truth is, a lot of breakfast foods are actually really unhealthy for you, no matter how scrumptious or comforting they might be. Even if you cut out all of the deep-fried meats and the sugary, sumptuous treats from your breakfast diet and settle for things like bagels and even cereals (depending on the type), these foods are still usually very unhealthy.
If you’re looking for some good food that you can pair up with eggs, then perhaps you should look into adding alkalizing foods into your diet. Some of these greens include vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, carrots, turnips, Brussels sprouts, turnips, garlic, and many more.
You can also add a little tang to tickle your taste buds by including alkalizing fruits such as lemons, bananas, berries, apples, and the like, while making sure to avoid foods such as chocolate, dairy, coffee, alcohol, sweets, and sodas. Though doing so might be easier said than done, it is important to remember that this is recommended to ensure that, not only are the great benefits of eating eggs not put to waste, but that you are able to regulate the chemical balance of your body in one quick and tasty swoop.
Sunny Side Up
There you have it, enough information on eggs to hopefully unscramble the confusion and reveal the sunny truth about this small but amazing food wonder. Now you know that though it does contain cholesterol, it is the good kind of cholesterol that your body needs. Add this to the knowledge that eggs actually come in originally brown shells and that you should always try to buy locally when you can. Appreciate the fact that some breakfast foods, though tasty, aren’t worth the well-being of your health, and that it’s alright (actually, it’s even recommended) that you leave the yolk in your eggs when you eat them.
As with everything else in life, it is of the utmost importance to remember that everything should be done and consumed with moderation and that if you do so, your body will thank you and will allow you to reap all of the benefits for a long time to come.
Now as you have learned that eggs will not affect your health as much as you used to think, you will be amazed to find out these 4 foods that will cause your body to be FAT, and most folks eat these 4 foods for breakfast.
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About the Author:
Emma Deangela is the best selling author of The Alkaline Diet Program and 80/20 Fat Loss. She has helped over tens of thousands of men and women to lose weight and transform their health with sound nutrition advice.
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