The Truth About Eggs

Another Energy Bulletin...


  I remember a time not so long ago when eggs where evil… That’s right, evil little suckers that were half the reason why a good percentage of the population had high cholesterol. Nasty little buggers them eggs… or are they?

Fast forward a decade or so and eggs are no longer the villains they once were. The once misbegotten idea that eggs would utterly destroy your cholesterol rating has been proven, if not a myth, then a large exaggeration on the truth. It is true that eggs do contain a reasonable amount of cholesterol, which is why I would avoid having 5 or 6 a day, however we now know that eggs contain more in the way of good cholesterol than bad, which is to say, yay for the eggs.

Now that the dark and evil side of eggs has passed, let’s bring ourselves on into the light.

Egg Benefits

We all know the importance of amino acids right? Of the 22 amino acids available there are 8 that we call ‘essential amino acids’. These little blighters are the reason why most vegetarian nutrition plans are so difficult to adhere to properly. These 8 essential acids are all found in great supply in meat and meat products but must be combined correctly in vegetable sources to create the proper profile, a concept that is often not understood little lone complied with.

So if you are a vego and you will/can eat eggs, then your kitchen duties just got 40% easier. (side note- if you can eat fish as well then add another 40% to your kitchen ease)

The other benefit here, for the rest of us as well, is that the amino acids in eggs are converted into muscle, skin and collagen tissue far more efficiently than the proteins from any other food you might consume. Are you listening ladies?? Think hair, skin and nails!

The yolks of the eggs are also filled with beneficial vitamins and other antioxidants including the Lutein and Zeaxanthin carotenoids that have been shown to protect us against macular degeneration and other eye disorders.

I haven’t touched much on protein for proteins sake yet. One large egg will supply around 6 grams of protein. This means with their mostly unsaturated fat profile, they are great for assisting in fat loss and leaning up the body.

It’s true, there have even been some good studies that prove it ;o)

Eggs have also been shown to improve nerve function within your muscle receptors as well as assist memory.

So that’s it… Eggs ain’t so bad. In fact they are pretty darn good for you as long as you don’t have too many. Studies suggest 2 per day to be fine.

Duncan's little handy egg hint… I hard boil a dozen eggs each week (usually on a wknd). I usually keep 2 in my lunch box with a small container of low fat, natural mayonnaise with some Dijon mustard mixed in. This makes for a great, quick little snack of slow release energy. Particularly useful after a hard session.

Once hardened they will keep for quite a while outside of the fridge as well, which means if I don’t eat them today, I’ll be able to scuff em up tomorrow or even the day after. The same, so I’ve learned, cannot be said of the mayonnaise… Blah!

duncan