Cracking the Age Old Myths on Eggs Now a lot of people even fitness oriented people are very worried about eating the yolks of eggs for fear of eating too much fat and cholesterol, and in turn think this will raise their cholesterol levels. The media, and general ‘gossip’ has distorted much of the information about eggs, saying that the yolks are bad and will cause excessive weight gain and can cause high cholesterol due to their fat and cholesterol content. This is really not the case at all. Now I can understand if you are watching your calories very strictly in an attempt to lose body fat you can then start limiting the yolks and focusing more on the egg whites to cut out fat and excess calories from your diet. But if you are training consistently and intensely I see no reason why you need to toss out most of the egg yolks, obviously within reason now. Take for example a typical breakfast for an average male weighing about 70Kg, who works out 5 days a week and is relatively active. I would say three whole eggs would be sufficient. Now you need to still go and work out YOUR own calorie needs, as a bigger man (say 90Kg) would obviously have different calorie requirements to the 70Kg man. Whole eggs vs. egg whites? In the world of nutrition, few debates have remained as heated as the great egg debate. For nearly 40 years, researchers have tried to determine whether your omelets, scrambled eggs, and frittatas are actually healthy. The argument against has always revolved around two simple factors—eggs are high in fat and cholesterol. So it’d be easy to assume that removing the yolk (or avoiding eggs altogether) are part of any “get back in shape” diet plan. But a closer look at the research reveals that the real debate about eggs is why there was any question about their health benefits. In fact, a quick look at the most common myths shows that making eggs a standard part of your diet is one of the best decisions you can make. Myth: Eggs make you fat Truth: Eggs are a great food for weight loss You may have heard that eating eggs will make you fat as 60 percent of the calories in eggs come from fat. However, eating fat doesn’t make you fat and eggs are a calorie-controlled food designed to maximize weight loss not prevent it. One egg is only 70 calories, with a great balance of 6 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat. The protein/fat combination of increases satiety hormones (the ones that tell your brain you are full). The protein in eggs also causes your body to release the hormone glucagon, which encourages your body to release and use stored carbohydrates and fat. To prove the point, compare eggs to rice cakes—a timeless “diet” food. Two rice cakes also contain 70 calories, but with no protein or fat. Those calories come from 14 grams of high glycemic, fat-cell stuffing, refined carbohydrates, which makes it a much less desirable choice. Myth: Eggs raise your cholesterol Truth: Eggs don’t impact cholesterol levels Reducing blood cholesterol levels has been a major public health mission for decades. It would make complete sense that if you wanted to decrease the amount of cholesterol in your blood stream then you should reduce the amount of cholesterol that you are eating. That’s why eggs have typically been touted as dangerous, as it contain approximately 200 mg per serving. The problem: Dietary cholesterol doesn’t actually raise cholesterol as much as you might think. In fact, only 30 percent of people experience significant increases in cholesterol levels following a diet high in cholesterol. Researchers from Harvard looked at the dietary habits of more than 100,000 people and concluded that daily egg consumption in healthy individuals didn’t increase risk of coronary heart disease. What’s more, a study from the University of Connecticut found that eating 3 eggs per day as part of a low carbohydrate improved HDL (‘good’) cholesterol without any negative health effects. Myth: You should only eat egg whites Truth: Enjoy the entire egg (yolk included) The ‘egg white only’ movement was birthed out of the mass movement to remove as much cholesterol and fat from the American diet as a way to fight heart disease and obesity. An egg white contains all protein (3.5 grams per egg); the rest of the nutrients, protein, and fat are hiding in the yolk, which means the yellow is the most nutritious part. Egg yolks contain 240mg of leucine, the amino acid single handedly responsible for flipping your genetic muscle building switch. But egg yolks are much more than just a muscle building nutrient. They also include choline (essential for cell membrane function), cholesterol (which serve as the molecular framework for multiple hormones in the body), vitamin A , vitamin D, and vitamin E. You can also get eggs that come from chickens who were fed omega-3 rich feed, the omega-3s in their feed enriches the omega-3 fats in the yolk, giving you as much as also contain 150mg of the long chain omega-3 fat DHA . Enjoy the entire egg to take advantage of all the nutritional benefits. Myth: Eating raw eggs allows you access to more nutrients Truth: Cook your eggs to ensure you access all the nutrients Ever since Rocky chugged down raw eggs as part of his quest to beat Apollo Creed, the lore eating raw eggs has appealed to nutrition fanatics. However, research shows that the only thing you’ll gain from your Italian Stallion style of eating is are a list of health concerns—without the benefits. One touted benefit of raw eggs is that you’ll digest cholesterol in its unoxidized form. However, the oxidation of egg cholesterol during the cooking process is minimal (and reduced even further if you cook your eggs at a lower temperature). Eating raw eggs has also been recommended to prevent the degradation of health promoting lutein and zeaxanthin. However, research from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Journal of Nutrition shows that eating cooked eggs leads to increases in blood lutein and zeaxanthin levels. On the flip side, raw eggs contain a compound called avidin which binds and prevents the absorption of the essential nutrient biotin. Cooking eggs deactivates avidin, rendering it biochemically useless. And while only 1 in 10,000 eggs are contaminated with salmonella, properly cooking eggs will effectively kill any salmonella that is present—as well as significantly reduce the risk of any food-borne illness that might exist.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:54:46 +0000
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