Eating eggs for breakfast can help your weight loss efforts!
Think about it…eggs were made as fully equipped little packages to sustain life. They contain high quality protein. Eating eggs for breakfast can also help you feel full and maintain your lean body mass.
But don’t just stop at breakfast- eggs are great for lunch, dinner or even snacks! They are inexpensive, convenient & quick. Eggs can be cooked in so many ways that you might never tire of them.
Eggs are “nutrition rock stars”, according to Frances Largeman-Roth, who wrote a wonderful article in the January/February issue of Health Magazine. Largeman-Roth is a nutritionist who recommended these tasty ways to upgrade eggs:
- By adding a splash of hot sauce, you will “kick up” the flavor and add some health benefits. It is the capsaicin in the hot sauce that revs up your metabolism and may help keep you slim.
- Asparagus spears can be dipped into soft-boiled eggs and you can try adding herbs and goat cheese to scrambled eggs.
- She also states that “simple poached eggs are a wonderful foil for salty salmon” and that eggs combined with a little diced ham in ramekins and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes offer a “big dose of flavor”.
Why are eggs “nutrition rock stars”? Here’s a break down of the good nutrition found in eggs:
- Eggs are high in vitamins and minerals. One large egg has 251 milligrams of choline, more than half of a woman’s daily requirement and 25 micrograms of vitamin K, one third of the daily requirement for women. Choline is crucial for brain health as it important for brain development of unborn babies and affects memory later in life. Vitamin K is a key nutrient in blood clotting.
- One medium whole egg has 65 calories, 1 gram of effective carbohydrate, 4 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein. A large egg has 75 calories, 1 gram of effective carbohydrate, 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein. An extra large egg has 85 calories, 1 effective carbohydrate, 6 grams of fat and 7 grams of protein.
- One large yolk has 60 calories, no carbohydrates, 5 grams of fat and 3 grams of protein.
- One large egg white has 15 calories, a trace of carbohydrates, no fat and 4 grams of protein.
- ¼ cup of egg substitute has 35 calories, a trace of carbohydrates, 1 fat gram and 6 grams of protein.
If you have high cholesterol, you might have been told to avoid eggs. However, it is saturated fat that substantially impacts your blood cholesterol levels. Recent studies have shown that adding eggs to a healthy diet did not increase LDL or heart disease. It’s best, as always, to check with your physician before changing your diet, but why not ask if you can add a few eggs to your life?
Ultimately, eggs are good for you. Maybe the English egg industry had it right when I was growing up. Their TV commercials used a very memorable slogan – “Go to work on an egg”.
