World's Healthiest Foods _ EGGS

[RealFoodLiving]

EGGS-quisite Nutrition!

Cracking the myths behind eggs and your health.

By Rebecca Abma

Where can you find more than a dozen essential nutrients for less than 100 calories? Look no further than the egg. One large egg contains about 75 calories and 6 grams of protein. For someone on a 2,000-calorie diet, that translates to 10 percent of the daily recommendation of protein for less than 4 percent of calories. What’s more, one egg packs a nutritional punch with vitamins A, B6, B12, D and E, along with riboflavin, folate, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorus and zinc. Eggs are one of very few foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D. Most of an egg’s nutrients are in the yolk, though more than half the protein is in the white.

EggsIn fact, research published in a 2000 issue Journal of the American College of Nutrition found the daily nutrient intake of people who ate eggs was significantly greater for all nutrients (except dietary fiber) than that of people who did not regularly consume eggs. Even more interesting, those who ate more than four eggs a week were found to have lower blood cholesterol levels than those who ate less than one egg a week.

Eggs and your heart

Perhaps the biggest myth about eggs is that they’re bad for your heart. Two decades ago, egg’s cholesterol content — about 200 milligrams (mg) per egg yolk — put them on the watch-list of artery clogging food. Since then, scientists have found no link between the dietary cholesterol found in eggs and high serum cholesterol levels associated with heart disease risk.

The most recent study found that regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke in healthy adults. Researchers tracked more than 9,500 adults over a 20-year period and found those who consumed more than six eggs a week were no more likely to suffer a stroke or coronary artery disease than those who ate one egg or less a week. However, in people with diabetes, researchers caution further study is needed, because there may be an increased risk among those who consume more than six eggs per week.

There were only 349 people with diabetes in the study, and “the patients with diabetes who ate one to six eggs a week were not at a higher risk, so perhaps that is the tolerated threshold for diabetics,” explains study author Adnan Qureshi, M.D., executive director of the Minnesota Stroke Initiative and a professor at the University of Minnesota.

“Eggs offer a good source of high biological value protein that’s low in saturated fat and trans fat,” explains New Jersey-based dietitian and diabetes educator Beverly Herman-Rivera, R.D., C.D.E. “If you reduce the amount of yolks you eat and more egg whites, why avoid eggs?”

Cholesterol confusion aside, eggs contain nutrients that are essential for heart health, such as the B vitamins choline, folate and B12, which can help reduce homocysteine levels. Studies show high homocysteine levels may increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Eating more eggs has also been found to increase HDL, the “good” cholesterol, and even lower blood pressure.

Eggs and your waist

If eggs bring to mind greasy-spoon diners and fattening meals, think again. A 2004 study suggests eggs may be the perfect diet food. In the study, researchers compared the satiety and hunger levels of overweight patients after a breakfast of either eggs or bagels. Though both meals contained the same amount of calories, those who dined on eggs reported greater feelings of satiety before lunch and ate fewer calories than the bagel eaters during the remainder of the day.

A 2007 follow-up study, funded by The American Egg Board, found dieters who consumed eggs for breakfast lost 65 percent more weight and had an 83 percent greater decrease in waist circumference than dieters who ate bagels for breakfast.

An egg breakfast may also be good for your blood sugar. “Including a source of protein in a meal will blunt the curve and elongate the glucose peak following meals, resulting in lower postprandial blood sugar levels,” adds Herman-Rivera. “You’ll also feel fuller longer than if you ate a breakfast without protein.”


Sources:

Adnan Qureshi, M. Fareed Suri, Shafiudin Ahmed, Abu Nasar, Afshin Divani, Jawad Kirmani, “Regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases,” Med Sci Monit 2007; 13(1):CR1-8; abstract found at: Medical Science Monitor, accessed Dec. 10, 2007

American Egg Board, Welcome to the Incredible Edible Egg Website, accessed Dec. 10, 2007

American Heart Association, Make Healthy Food Choices. accessed Dec. 10, 2007; and What Is Homocysteine?, accessed Dec. 11, 2007

Nikhil Vinod Dhurandhar1, Jillon S Vander Wal2, Natalie Currier1, Pramod Khosla3 and Alok K Gupta1,“Egg breakfast enhances weight loss,” FASED Journal, 2007;21:538.1, abstract found at: Egg breakfast enhances weight loss -- Dhurandhar et al. 21 (5): A326 -- The FASEB Journal
&title=egg+breakfast&andorexacttitle=and&andorexac ttitleabs=and&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FI RSTINDEX=
0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT, accessed Dec. 10, 2007

Won O. Song, PhD, MPH, RD and Jean M. Kerver, MS, RD, “Nutritional Contribution of Eggs to American Diets,” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 19, No. 90005, 556S-562S (2000), Nutritional Contribution of Eggs to American Diets -- Song and Kerver 19 (Supplement 5): -- Journal of the American College of Nutrition
10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=eggs&andorexactfulltext= and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&res ourcetype=HWCIT, accessed Dec. 10, 2007

World’s Healthiest Foods, WHFoods: Eggs, accessed Dec. 10, 2007
Last Modified Date: January 4, 2008

[jacksmixedtape]

Great news for the staple of the low carb WOE. I'm going to print this out and show it to my egg-fearing mom who gets on me for eating more than one a day.