Nutritional Egg-cellence!
There’s plenty of confusion around cholesterol and in particular, the egg. As heart disease has become an epidemic in the United States, physicians have been telling patients with high cholesterol to stay away from foods that contain cholesterol. In 1961, the American Heart Association recommended limiting dietary cholesterol and recommended a maximum intake of 300 mg/day. With a single large egg containing about 212mg ( compared to 134 mg per 3oz serving of red meat), this tasty breakfast staple is the most concentrated form of cholesterol found in naturally occurring foods. Traditional thinking would lead us to believe we should avoid eggs… until the last decade!
Luckily, science has revealed that dietary cholesterol doesn’t have a direct correlation to our internal CHOL levels. Most of the cholesterol is actually created in the liver since cholesterol is essential for various processes in the body such as production of Vitamin D, hormones, and bile salts for fat digestion. Many international health organizations no longer have recommendations to restrict cholesterol including the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, who recently removed the limit on cholesterol intake in the 2015 recommendations. Interestingly enough, studies are showing that regular egg intake can even increase plasma HDL Cholesterol ( the good stuff!).
On top of being one of my favorite foods, the egg is actually one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. The whites being an excellent and complete protein and the yolk containing all the fats along with micronutrients. As I’ve heard from chefs, fat is flavor, so you’ll never catch me asking for an egg white omelet! Without the yolk, you’re missing out on a plethora of great micronutrients and antioxidants such as B vitamins, Vitamin A, selenium, choline, lutein, and trace amounts of almost all nutrients required by the body.
Finally, not all eggs are created equal! When you go to the grocery store, you’re likely to see dozens of adjectives to describe the egg’s size, grade, and how the hens were kept. From organic to free range to grade A, it’s quite confusing how the FDA defines a few of these words. My biggest peeve are eggs labeled as free-range. According to the FDA, this means the hens were given the opportunity to go outside but by no means does it mean the hen that laid your egg stepped foot outside the hen house. The only requirement is that there was a way to get outside. Instead check out the guidelines below to help you identify the right egg!
- The most important words to look for on the carton are pastured or Omega-3. These eggs are higher in omega-3 and contain more vitamin A and E compared to conventional eggs.
- Organic eggs are from hens that were fed organic feed, but the nutritional value is no different from conventional.
- The grade of the egg refers to the quality of both the interior and exterior, the highest quality eggs are AA, next being A, and lastly B with all of them being safe for consumption.
4. Eggs come in various sizes from small, medium, large, extra large, to jumbo. When a recipe calls for an egg, the standard is 1 large egg.
So go ahead and have breakfast for dinner, those extra eggs won’t hurt your cholesterol!
