What Makes Eggs Healthy?
If you’re looking to make a quick, easy and healthy breakfast, eggs are all of the above. Not to mention cost-effective if you’re not wanting to spend too much money on meals, and they can be easily incorporated into other foods such as baked goods and breakfast omelettes. They can also be made in a variety of ways: Hard boiled or soft boiled, scrambled, sunny side up, over easy. It’s all about personal preference.
Eggs are considered one of the healthiest foods due to their high nutritional value. They contain Vitamin A, Vitamin B12 (cobalamin), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), as well as selenium. Vitamin A helps promote healthy vision, boosts the immune system, assists in reproduction, as well as promotes proper functioning of organs such as the heart, lungs and kidneys. Vitamin B12 is important for keeping our nerve and blood cells healthy, as well as for preventing anemia. Vitamin B2 is essential for your overall health as it helps the body break down proteins, carbohydrates and fats, produces energy, and allows the body to use oxygen. Vitamin B5 is important for maintaining things like healthy eyes, hair, skin, liver, as well as keeping our nervous system healthy; while Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that protects the body against things like heart disease and cancer. In addition, eggs also contain Vitamin D, Vitamin E, iron, calcium, potassium, manganese, and folate. In total, eggs contain 13 essential vitamins and minerals.
There are many different ways that the nutrients found in eggs can benefit your health. They’re great for our cognitive health as well as promoting early brain development in both pregnancy and infancy. While eggs were once considered risky for individuals with conditions like diabetes or other cardiometabolic health concerns, including high cholesterol and heart disease, recent studies have shown that those who consume eggs actually experience positive changes in their HDL-levels, as well as with insulin sensitivity. You can read more about these studies here.
The protein found in eggs are also a great source of energy. Not only can they can help improve physical performance, but they can also help you build up a healthy body mass. They’re great to eat before workouts, but also after workouts as they can help the body repair and build new muscle tissue. Just make sure you don’t eat eggs in excess, as you’ll be intaking extra calories (which can then convert to fat) if you do. That being said, eggs can actually reduce hunger; you’ll feel fuller longer and be less likely to want to snack in-between meals.
When feeding eggs to infants, you’ll want to be careful as they are one of the most common allergens amongst those that are younger aside from peanuts. Symptoms of an egg allergy can appear as soon as a few minutes after consumption, or a few hours. The symptoms can range from mild to severe, and may include things like rash, hives, vomiting, nasal congestion, and digestive problems. In severe cases, eggs can cause what’s known as anaphylaxis. When this occurs, the ability to breathe becomes difficult, and it is something that is considered a medical emergency.
For more information on eggs, including healthy breakfast ideas and other frequently asked questions, visit eggs.ca.
