Showing posts with label eggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eggs. Show all posts

The Health Value of Eggs vs Egg Whites




You do your level best to remain as healthy as you can. You keep track of your calories, exercise on a regular basis and throw away your egg yolks to make a vegetable omelet. Wait, you throw your egg yolks away? Did you know that whole eggs do not necessarily reduce your risk of heart disease? In fact, it may be far worse for your health not to eat your egg yolks. 

Egg yolks and all other sources of saturated fat and cholesterol were first given a bad rap in the early 20th century. Nikolai Anichkov, a Russian pathologist, performed an experiment in which he fed rabbits high levels of pure cholesterol. The arteries of the rabbits became clogged with plaque, leading Anichkov to surmise that cholesterol leads to heart disease. However, it is widely known that the liver makes about 75 percent of the body's cholesterol. This vital nutrient is required by every single one of your 37.2 trillion cells to create their protective membranes. There is a very small flaw in Anichkov's theory: the cholesterol he fed his test subjects was synthetic. Also, rabbits and humans are fundamentally different in their make-up. As vegetarians, rabbits do not consume cholesterol in their natural diet. 

Despite these facts, the research performed by Nikolai Anichkov and Ancel Keys spurred the start of a witch hunt geared toward demonizing foods containing saturated fats. After studying the eating habits of seven different countries, Keys claimed that those who consumed the greatest amounts of animal fat all died from heart disease. Although his data did show a correlation between fat consumption and heart disease, he was unable to prove that the relationship was causal. Also, while mortality rates for heart disease were higher, deaths from nearly every other cause were significantly lower, resulting in longer life expectancies. 

More recent findings regarding egg whites and egg yolks have shed additional light on the subject. A set of 21 studies collected and published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that saturated fat was not associated with an increase in the risk of heart disease. Instead, the true risk comes from the inflammation caused by chronic stress and regular consumption of vegetable oils and processed foods. 

If you have been avoiding egg yolks for fear of endangering your heart, you are missing out on a world of nutrition. Egg yolks are an excellent source of vitamin A, a nutrient that is critical for healthy and vibrant skin. Other nutrients include B vitamins and choline. The saturated fat present in egg yolks is needed for balanced hormone production and vitamin/mineral absorption. 

Egg whites contain the largest percentage of the protein found in an egg. One egg white, on average, contains the following:

  • 4 grams of protein
  • 1.3 micrograms of folate
  • 6.6 micrograms of selenium
  • 2.3 milligrams of calcium
  • 53.8 milligrams of potassium

Egg yolks, on the other hand, contain the following nutrient profile:

  • 2.7 grams of protein
  • 30 micrograms of selenium
  • 21.9 milligrams of calcium
  • 18.5 milligrams of potassium

The yolk itself has more nutrition than the white, but consuming the whole egg will give you a more complete nutrient profile. Eggs are among the most nutritious food on earth. Because eggs provide all the nourishment needed to grow a chick, this statement makes perfect sense.

As long as you maintain the overall number of calories you consume each day, eating whole eggs will not affect your weight. Remember to check with your health care provider or a nutritionist for more information on how to balance fat levels and fitness goals.