Lettuce Eat: A Food Blog: Eggsellent for your health

Keeping track of what I ate for three days really got me thinking about my eating habits. I looked over what I had eaten and looked for trends in my diet. One thing I noticed is that I eat eggs almost every morning with breakfast. Typically I will enjoy one or two scrambled eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper or with a bit of hot sauce. Because I eat them every day, I started wondering about the health implications of consuming eggs on a regular basis.

Over time, advice about the dietary role of eggs has changed several times. I’ve heard many of these different things regarding the nutritional value of eggs. People have told me that eggs are very healthy for you; however, I have heard from others that they are not very healthy to eat on a daily basis. Starting in 1957, the Egg Marketing Board advertised eggs as being a good source of protein and was successful in increasing sales. By the 1960s, egg consumption in the US “peaked to nearly five eggs per person per week” (Derbyshire et al). However, within a few years people began to worry about the cholesterol content of eggs, with “research studies suggesting that cholesterol-rich foods may elevate blood cholesterol and, hence, increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)” (Derbyshire et al). It is true that eggs contain protein and cholesterol, which leaves me wondering if the health benefits outweigh the concerns or vice versa.

Research shows that “eggs are a rich source of protein and several essential nutrients, particularly vitamin D, vitamin B12, selenium and choline” (Derbyshire et al). It is well established that the egg is a very important source of nutrients. It contains all the “proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and growth factors required by the developing embryo” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). It is logical to conclude that an egg is healthy for us to eat because it contains everything needed to nurture a chicken embryo. It has all the elements necessary for healthy growth and development of a chicken, which are all things that would also contribute to the healthy growth and development of us.

Eggs not only contain all of these important nutrients, but also have “a number of defense factors to protect against bacterial and viral infection” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). In order to defend a developing chicken from disease and infection, the egg contains antioxidants. By consuming eggs, we consume these antioxidants and they give us certain health benefits. Emerging evidence suggest that the egg could become important in “human health and in disease prevention and treatment” (Kovacs-Nolan et al). The health benefits of eggs go beyond being a good source of protein and other nutrients—they have potential to play a role in the treatment and prevention of infectious disease.

Concerns that people have voiced about the cholesterol content of eggs have also been investigated. Within the last 15 years, the majority of key studies done “do not support the contention that egg consumption is a risk factor for heart disease or stroke” (Derbyshire et al). It has been calculated by using the risk apportionment model that “eating one egg per day accounted for 1% of CHD risk. In contrast, 40% of risk was attributed to lifestyle factors” such as smoking, alcohol intake, lack of exercise, or unhealthy diet (Derbyshire et al). While eggs do have a somewhat high cholesterol content, they have much less of an impact on health than other risk factors. Researchers have concluded that “for most individuals, egg consumption will have little or no influence on cholesterol levels or CHD risk” (Derbyshire et al).

There are clear dietary benefits to eating eggs on a regular basis. Emerging evidence shows that eggs have potential to be used in therapy and prevention of infectious disease. The nutritional value of eggs goes far beyond being a good source of protein. While eggs do contain cholesterol, they do not have near the impact of other factors, such as consuming foods with high levels of saturated fat, a lack of exercise, or smoking cigarettes. People who consume eggs on a regular basis are unlikely to be affected by CHD or have a stroke as a result of cholesterol levels in the eggs. Conclusions have been made making it very clear that the health benefits of eating eggs outweigh the concerns. With this in mind, I will be enjoying eggs for breakfast for many mornings to come.