Eggs…… Good or bad??

Well, like anything it depends… It depends on the quantity and quality of the eggs you are consuming and on what you would choose to eat instead if you decided not to consume eggs.  For example, if you compare if against kale – sure, kale is probably better for you… but if you chose to eat a plant- based meat instead of an egg, you would be doing yourself a major disservice, due to the highly processed nature of this type of food.

As a general rule, foods that are close to nature tend to be the best for us.  I believe good quality eggs are a great choice. They are full of protein (which helps you stay fuller for longer and crave less sugar). They also contain important nutrients such as B vitamins, carotenoids, essential amino acids, fatty acids and choline (a nutrient that protects you from heart and liver disease).  Caged eggs tend to have less nutrients and higher levels of fat, so choose your eggs wisely.

But what about cholesterol you ask?? Well, in healthy people studies have shown that even 6 eggs per day doesn’t seem to cause increases in cholesterol for the majority of people.  In ‘at risk’ populations (those who have diabetes or high cholesterol already) eggs combined with a good diet may improve cholesterol. Its when an excessive number of eggs are eaten combined with an unhealthy diet that can lead to raised cholesterol levels, and raised cholesterol can be a concern for heart health in the long term.

So, to summarise in controlled research studies, consuming eggs has not been associated with an increase in risk markers for heart health or elevated blood sugar or elevated cholesterol in the majority of people, so I consider them to be healthy, as long as they aren’t consumed in excess and they definitely beat anything in a packet hands down.

Personally, I love some scrambled eggs in the morning – it’s a great way to start the day. Don’t forget to add in some leafy greens though!

https://examine.com/nutrition/are-eggs-healthy/#ref5

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19906248/

https://examine.com/nutrition/will-eating-eggs-increase-my-cholesterol/

 https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(20)30549-0/fulltext