EGGS

New study establishes link between egg consumption and heart health

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eggsHere’s why you should include eggs

A new study has tried to address an often-asked question: whether egg consumption has a bearing on heart health. The research, published in the journal Nutrients, found that eating more eggs could be good for your heart. The researchers from Boston University studied data on more than 2,300 adults and concluded that eating five or more eggs a week was associated with lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, and a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, suggesting eating eggs may actually promote heart health.

Currently, the American Heart Association recommends one whole egg or two eggs with just the whites per day as part of a heart-healthy diet. While eggs are a rich source of protein and other nutrients, they are also known to elevate cholesterol levels, which may not be good for the heart.

One egg, approximately, gives six grams of protein, said Dr Aparna Jaswal, director, electrophysiology and cardiac pacing, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, Okhla, New Delhi adding that a normal healthy adult needs 0.8 to 1 gram of protein a day for every kilogram of weight. “This means, if you are 60 kg, you would need 40-60 g of protein. Also, remember that you could take 2-3 yolks in a week while largely trying to stick to egg whites,” Dr Jaswal told indianexpress.com.

heart Be aware of your heart health.

Vitamin A – 6 per cent
Vitamin B5 – 7 per cent
Vitamin B12 – 9 per cent
Phosphorus – 9 per cent
Vitamin B2 – 15 per cent
Selenium – 22 per cent

“This is why a fruit or orange juice with egg and whole wheat bread makes for the perfect breakfast,” Dr Patil told indianexpress.com.

Dietary proteins, such as those in eggs, are known to have natural blood pressure-lowering properties. They act as natural potent ACE inhibitors, said Dr Shrey Srivastav, MD (Internal Medicine), Sharda Hospital.

“ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors are compounds that lower your blood pressure by relaxing your blood vessels and improving your blood flow. Protein not only slows digestion, it also slows down glucose absorption. This is very helpful if you have diabetes. Eating one large egg per day led to a significant 4.4 per cent reduction in fasting blood sugar,” Dr Srivastav told indianexpress.com.

Eggs also improve levels of good cholesterol, are filling, and help with weight management which prevent heart issues, said Sakina Diwan, Dietician, Bhatia Hospital.

Rather than frying eggs, experts suggest boiling eggs as it preserves the nutrients.

Eating one egg per day does not increase CVD risk

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Moderate egg consumption, defined as up to one egg per day, was not linked to CVD risk, according to a study published in The BMJ.

The study also found that moderate egg consumption may be associated with lower CVD risk in Asian patients.

“Our main finding that no evidence supports a higher risk of CVD associated with moderate egg consumption (up to 1 egg per day) can be easily translated into practice,” Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier, RD, PhD, assistant professor in the faculty of pharmacy and researcher at NUTRISS Center of INAF at Université Laval in Quebec City and visiting scientist in the department of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Healio. “Still, while moderate egg consumption can be part of a healthy eating pattern, they are not essential. There is a range of other foods that can be included in a healthy breakfast, such as whole grain toasts, plain yogurt and fruits.”

Prospective cohort study

Researchers analyzed data from 83,349 women from the Nurses’ Health Study, 90,214 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II and 42,055 men from the Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study who were free from CVD, cancer and diabetes at baseline.

Patients from all three cohorts completed questionnaires to collect information on disease risk factors, disease diagnosis, lifestyle characteristics, drug use and food frequency, which asked patients how often they consumed whole eggs in the past year.

The primary endpoint was incident CVD, defined as fatal CHD, nonfatal MI, and fatal and nonfatal stroke.

During 5,540,314 person-years of follow-up, 14,806 patients developed incident CVD. Patients with a higher egg intake were less likely to be treated with statins, had a higher BMI and had higher intakes of unprocessed red meat, calories, bacon and other unprocessed meats, whole milk, potatoes, refined grains, coffee and sugar-sweetened beverages. In 1998-1999, 1.24% of patients ate at least one egg per day, and of these patients, 0.2% consumed at least two eggs per day.

After adjusting for lifestyle and dietary characteristics linked to egg intake, consuming at least one egg per day was not associated with incident CVD risk compared with consuming less than one egg per month in a pooled multivariable analysis (HR = 0.93; 95% CI, 0.82-1.05).

An increase in egg consumption of one per day was also not linked to CVD risk in an updated meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies (RR = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.93-1.03; I2 = 62.3%). Results were similar for stroke (RR = 0.99; 95% CI, 0.91-1.07; I2 = 71.5%) and CHD (RR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.91-1.03; I2 = 38.2%).

When stratified by geographical location, there was no association between egg consumption and CVD risk in European cohorts (RR = 1.05; 95% CI, 0.92-1.19; I2 = 64.7%) and U.S. cohorts (RR = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.96-1.06; I2 = 30.8%), although there was an inverse association for Asian cohorts (RR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99; I2 = 44.8%).

“Recent studies reignited the debate on this controversial topic, but our study provides compelling evidence supporting the lack of an appreciable association between moderate egg consumption and cardiovascular disease,” Drouin-Chartier said in an interview.

‘Convincingly null’

In a related editorial, Andrew O. Odegaard, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, wrote: “The results of this study are convincingly null save for a couple of subgroup findings. Yet, we should not put all our eggs in this observational basket for formal guidance on eating eggs. Given the unique challenges in nutrition research, it is necessary to triangulate evidence from different study designs and populations to provide the most robust basis to answer questions about diet and disease.” – by Darlene Dobkowski

5 Myths About Eggs That Just Won’t Die

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eggs mythsEggs are one of the most affordable sources of high-quality protein (yes, even if you buy organic!). But there’s a lot of lingering misinformation about eggs, so it’s time to cut through the confusion. Here are the most common myths I hear about eggs–and the facts.

Myth #1: Egg whites are better for you than yolks.

Some people eat only the whites to save calories, score protein without fat, and avoid cholesterol. But half the egg’s protein is actually found in the yolk. And even the American Heart Association says an egg per day can be part of a healthy diet. The yolk also has key nutrients that the white doesn’t, like choline (involved in liver function) and vitamin D (which helps your body soak up calcium to keep bone mass strong). The yolk is also rich in disease-fighting antioxidants such as lutein, which protects your eyes.

Myth #2: “Cage-Free” means the hens happily roamed pasture.

Claims around animal treatment can still be a little fuzzy. The “cage-free” claim just means that the hens weren’t kept in enclosures (cages), but they were still held indoors. If you see “free range” eggs, that means the hens were given access to the outdoors (but it doesn’t mean they necessarily made it out there or that they were pecking around on picturesque pasture). “Certified organic” eggs are laid by hens that have access to the outdoors and eat organic feed grown without the use of most pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. If you want store-bought eggs from hens that definitely spent time outdoors, look for “pasture raised”.

Myth #3: Brown eggs are healthier than white eggs.

Don’t be fooled! Eggs are brown because they come from a different breed of chicken than white eggs do. It doesn’t mean those eggs are healthier or more wholesome than white. Whether it’s white or brown, one large egg has roughly 70 calories, 6 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fat.

Myth #4: You should pay more for a “hormone-free” claim on egg cartons.

This is one of those “gotcha!” claims when it comes to poultry. Though you may see claims like “hormone-free” or “hens raised without added hormones”, this is simply a marketing technique. By law, poultry can’t be given hormones.

Myth #5: Eggs shouldn’t be kept past the date stamped on the carton.

Eggs can actually be kept in the fridge up to three weeks past that “sell by” date. And in case you were wondering, yes, store-bought eggs must be refrigerated. When eggs are washed and sanitized for packaging, their natural protective coating is removed. That makes them more vulnerable to bacteria entering the shell if they’re bought cold and then kept at room temperature to “sweat”. Eggs from backyard chickens will still have their protective coating unless they’re washed. Either way, remember that eggs stay fresher longer when they’re kept refrigerated.

Diet may influence the spread of a deadly type of breast cancer, study finds

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Diet may influence the spread of a deadly type of breast cancer, study finds
Three-dimensional cell culture of breast cancer cells.

A single protein building block commonly found in food may hold a key to preventing the spread of an often-deadly type of breast cancer, according to a new multicenter study published today in the medical journal Nature.

Investigators found that by limiting an amino acid called asparagine in laboratory mice with triple-negative breast cancer, they could dramatically reduce the ability of the cancer to travel to distant sites in the body. Among other techniques, the team used dietary restrictions to limit asparagine.

Foods rich in asparagine include dairy, whey, beef, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, asparagus, potatoes, legumes, nuts, seeds, soy and whole grains. Foods low in asparagine include most fruits and vegetables.

“Our study adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests diet can influence the course of the disease,” said Simon Knott, PhD, associate director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics at Cedars-Sinai and one of two first authors of the study. The research was conducted at more than a dozen institutions.

If further research confirms the findings in human cells, limiting the amount of asparagine cancer patients ingest could be a potential strategy to augment existing therapies and to prevent the spread of breast cancer, Knott added.

The researchers studied triple-negative breast cancer cells, which grow and spread faster than most other types of cancer cells. It is called triple negative because it lacks receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone and makes little of a protein called HER2. As a result, it resists common treatments—which target these factors and has a higher-than-average mortality rate.

Research from past studies found that most tumor cells remain in the primary breast site, but a subset of cells leaves the breast and enters the bloodstream. Those cells colonize in the lungs, brain and liver, where they proliferate. The study team wanted to understand the particular traits of the tumor cells circulating in the blood and in the sites where the cancer has spread.

The researchers discovered that the appearance of asparagine synthetase—the enzyme cells used to make asparagine—in a primary tumor was strongly associated with later cancer spread.

The researchers also found that metastasis was greatly limited by reducing asparagine synthetase, treatment with the chemotherapy drug L-asparaginase, or dietary restriction. When the lab mice were given food rich in asparagine, the cancer cells spread more rapidly.

“The study results are extremely suggestive that changes in diet might impact both how an individual responds to primary therapy and their chances of lethal disease spreading later in life,” said the study’s senior author, Gregory J. Hannon, PhD, professor of Cancer Molecular Biology and director, Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge in England.

Investigators now are considering conducting an early-phase clinical trial in which healthy participants would consume a low-asparagine diet. If the diet results in decreased levels of asparagine, the next scientific step would involve a clinical trial with cancer patients. That trial likely would employ dietary restrictions as well as chemotherapy and immunotherapy, Knott said.

Studying the effects of asparagine also could alter treatments for other types of cancer, investigators say.

“This study may have implications not only for breast cancer, but for many metastatic cancers,” said Ravi Thadhani, MD, MPH, vice dean, Research and Graduate Research Education, at Cedars-Sinai.

The Big Fat Lie You’ve Been Told About What’s Hurting Your Heart

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Despite multiple studies showing that carbohydrates hurt your heart, and not saturated fats, misguided advisories and Big Pharma profiteering both persist.

There is no need to stay away from meat, butter, cheese and eggs to keep your heart healthy. Credit: RitaE/pixabay

There is no need to stay away from meat, butter, cheese and eggs to keep your heart healthy.

I’ve been taught since my undergraduate days in medical college that eating saturated fats was to ask for trouble. Meat (red or white), cheese, butter and egg yolk were prohibited. Repeated guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA), the American College of Cardiology and even the World Health Organisation were clear that fats in general, and saturated fats in particular, were to be strictly avoided to prevent a heart attack. The message was to reduce fats to less than 30% of the total calories consumed in a day, and with saturated fats to be kept well below 10%. Why, most people on the planet followed these dietary commandments from the two most powerful and respected cardiology associations.

The AHA declared in 1961 that saturated fats were bad because they increased blood cholesterol, which blocked coronary arteries and caused heart attacks. Surprisingly, the AHA was driven this conclusion by the hypothesis of one physiologist who didn’t bother to submit a shred of evidence. Ancel Benjamin Keys, a physiologist with a PhD from Cambridge University, stamped his ‘diet heart’ hypothesis into the consciousness of Paul Dudley White, a founder-member of the AHA. White was attending to Dwight Eisenhower, then the US president, who suffered his first heart attack in September 1955. Many middle aged Americans were succumbing to heart attacks in the 1950s and the situation demanded convincing answers from the health community. Eisenhower had helmed NATO and, before that, had been the supreme commander of the Allied forces that wrenched Europe back Europe from the Nazis.

Eisenhower managed the brilliant generals George Patton and Bernard Montgomery, and famously warned the American public in his farewell address of the “military-industrial complex”. But as president, he had no clue of the new and rapidly developing “health-pharmaceutical-industrial complex.”

Keys was able to launch his ‘diet heart’ hypothesis because there was little science available in the 1950s that could explain the near-epidemic heart attack among middle-aged Americans. He presented his “seven countries study” that displayed a clear association between eating greater amounts of saturated fats and deaths due to heart disease. The seven countries were the US, Japan, Yugoslavia, Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Finland. The method behind the study was seriously flawed, however.

The biggest was that Keys had cherry-picked these countries because they supported his hypothesis. He left out 15 countries that did not reveal any association between saturated-fat consumption and heart mortality. He conveniently ignored Denmark, Sweden and Norway, each of which had relatively few deaths from heart attacks in spite of sporting diets with lots of saturated fats. And Chile, on the other hand, had a high cardiac mortality despite eating little saturated fats. An unbiased investigator would have realised these problems in Keys’ hypothesis – as they do now – but didn’t: they hadn’t been presented with the complete data.

Keys also checked food samples for fats in less than 4% of the 12,000 participants he studied, and when the food was studied it was checked for a single day among the American and for less than a week among the European participants. Keys had been impressed by the large number of long-lived people on the Greek island of Crete, but had tested them when they’d been fasting for more than a month during a religious festival. In this period, more than 60% of the population abstained from meat, butter and cheese. This led Keys to the wrong conclusion that a low-fat diet was the key to longevity.

The AHA was so impressed by the ‘diet heart’ hypothesis that it made an official policy of it, and voila! By 1977, more than 220 million Americans were being urged by the US government to adhere to a low-fat diet. The British, true to form, officially imposed the same diet guidelines by 1984 on their subjects.

Remarkably, the AHA ignored no fewer than six randomised studies – including almost 2,500 heart patients – that showed no difference in mortality between the intervention group (low saturated-fat diet) and the control group (which continued with its regular eating habits). Both the intervention and control cohorts had 370 deaths each. Moreover, no women were being studied, and in the absence of a single primary prevention trial, the AHA and the US government had formulated their advisories.

The food industry also got in on the action. Vegetable oils started being manufactured in the millions of tons. Leading them all was Procter and Gamble, which began to aggressively market cottonseed oil – as well as make a sizeable donation to the AHA, an amount worth $20 million today. The corresponding “diet-food-health-industrial complex” has not looked back in the 60 years since.

The largest randomised trial assessing the effects of a low-fat diet on heart and cardiovascular diseases was the Women’s Health Initiative. It followed up 49,000 postmenopausal women who had been on a low-fat diet (alongside an increased intake of fruits, vegetables and grains) for eight years but had failed to lower their risks of death, heart attack, stroke or diabetes.

Two large reviews and meta-analyses (this and this) involving more than 600,000 participants have also failed to show any reduction in cardiovascular events, or death, by replacing saturated fats with vegetable oils. There was an increase in cardiovascular events due to trans-fats.

The Minnesota, DIRECT, Framingham and PURE studies

In 1967-1973, doctors intervened in the diets of a group of people randomly picked from a cohort of 9,000 for the famous Minnesota Coronary Experiment. The intervened group had saturated fats replaced by a polyunsaturated vegetable oil. The control group continued with their regular American diet. These people were from enrolled from mental institutions and from homes for the elderly. More than 2,500 participants continued on their respective diets for at least a year, and autopsy reports were available for about 140 deaths. This trial’s results were never published until a group of investigators got its hands on all the raw data.

They were dumbstruck to learn that the autopsies revealed 42% of the people in the intervention group had suffered a heart attack against only 22% in the control group. Both groups had similar amounts of atherosclerosis in their coronary arteries.

The other major finding was that, in spite of a 13% reduction in blood cholesterol with a vegetable-oil diet, there was a paradoxical 30% higher mortality in people older than 65 years. To explain this, the investigators hypothesised that the lowered cholesterol had the denser LDL particles that are oxidised more easily and so invade the coronary faster. As it happened, the principal investigator of the Minnesota Coronary Experiment was none other than Ancel Keys.

The other distinct possibility (to explain the mortality paradox) is that polyunsaturated vegetable oils produce hundreds of oxidised molecules that are toxic to the human body. For example, the aldehydes are carcinogenic apart from being able to compromise cognition. Another randomised trial assessing the replacement of saturated fats by corn oil also showed an increased mortality against the control group.

More recently, the DIRECT trial finished up in Israel in 2008. It divided participants into three groups. The first was kept on a low-fat diet; the second, a Mediterranean diet; and the third, a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet. At the end of follow-up period, the low carbohydrate high fat group was found to have lost the most weight, have the highest levels of HDL (a.k.a., ‘good cholesterol’) and have triglyceride levels lower than the high-fat group. In fact, the low-carbohydrate high-fat group also had better metabolic markers across the board.

The Framingham study, which began in 1948 and still continues, has been following the consumption of dietary fats and the development of heart disease among its 5000+ inhabitants, chosen from Framingham, Massachusetts. At the end of the first follow-up, the investigators were unable to find any correlation between fat-intake, cholesterol and heart disease.

But like with the Minnesota Coronary Experiment, the data was never deliberately published. In William Kannel, who served as the study’s the chief investigator in 1969-1979, at one point even stated: “That blood cholesterol is somehow intimately related to coronary atherosclerosis is no longer subject to reasonable doubt.” After a 30-year follow-up, the study reported that 1 mg% per year reduction in cholesterol was associated with 14% increased cardiovascular mortality and 11% total mortality.

Finally: the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) survey examined cardiovascular risk factors around the world in 2003-2009, with more than 150,000 participants. Though the results are yet to be published, a recently leaked (and now unavailable) video stated that there seemed to be no correlation between saturated fats (red meat, white meat, dairy products) and heart disease but a positive correlation between carbohydrates and heart disease. Moreover, a very sensitive cardiac-risk-factor marker was found to have increased with carbohydrates and reduced by saturated fats. Vegetables and fruits had no effect on the marker.

Though the PURE trial was very large, it was an observational that, strictly speaking, can’t explain causality.

So, based on the evidence obtained from well-conducted clinical trials, Keys’s ‘diet heart’ hypothesis is wrong. However, it remains to be seen when the big cardiac bureaucracies will begin to edit their guidelines. The ‘big cholesterol is bad’ maxim remains firmly in place because its persistence allows drugmakers to persist with large profit margins on drugs that may not even be necessary. Precisely this was confirmed by the FOURIER trial presented in the American College of Cardiology Meeting held in March 2017.

FOURIER was a ‘mega-trial’ that randomised 28,000 cardiac patients to a statin-plus-evelocumab versus a only-statins for two years. The annual cost of an evelocumab regime is $14,000 (Rs 9 lakh). In the end, LDL cholesterol levels had plunged to about 30 mg% in the evelocumab group versus about 90 mg in the only-statins group. There was also a 1.5% absolute reduction in stroke and myocardial infarction risks but – get this – no reduction in mortality. Implication: 75 patients will need to be treated for two years to prevent a single heart attack or stroke, at a total cost of Rs 13.5 crore. You’re likely to get a better deal without spending a penny by following the Copenhagen study: 10 minutes of slow-jogging per day reduced mortality by 70% compared to being sedentary the whole day.

It’s difficult to not feel dizzy when confronted by organisations like the AHA and the WHO, which have converted hypotheses into dogma etched on stone without any evidence in the past. But what then would be good and sane dietary advice to a layperson? There has to be an application of common-sense, a request to continue to eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. At the same time, there is no need to stay away from meat, butter, cheese and eggs. There is no evidence that eating saturated fats along with reasonable amounts of proteins, with about 45% of calories as carbohydrates will, trigger a heart attack. Au contraire: evidence has emerged that increasing carbohydrates to 55% or more can actually be harmful to the heart. Even the current obesity epidemic and type-2 diabetes are most likely the handiwork of an increased carbohydrate intake that has replaced fats in people’s diets.

Source:thewire.in

The Truth About Eggs – 6 Facts About Egg Nutrition and Labeling.

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I feel bad for eggs. There’s so much about them to love, yet many people fear them. For years, thinking eggs were a major cause of high cholesterol levels and increased risk of heart disease, health experts have recommended that egg consumption be limited.

In fact, for years I was one of those people who stigmatized eggs and limited my consumption to hard-boiled egg whites or an egg-white-only omelet —figuring the protein-rich egg white was all that was worth eating anyway. Boy was I wrong, and so were the experts who made these recommendations.

Some people are also apprehensive about buying and eating eggs because of what they have heard, read, or seen about how hens are raised. If you do choose to buy eggs, you may be confused by all the labels on the carton — “natural,” “cage-free,” “free-range,” and “vegetarian fed” are just some of them.

To help you cut through the clutter of misinformation and get to the truth about eggs, here are six facts about egg nutrition and labeling.

The Truth About Eggs

FACT #1: Eggs Are Nutritional Powerhouses

One large egg has 13 essential vitamins and minerals, 6 grams of protein, and all nine essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein) – all for only 70 calories! Here are some of the standout nutrients found in eggs — especially the yolks — and what they can do for you:

  • Choline: Found in the yolk, this nutrient plays an essential role in fetal and infant brain development and may be important for brain function in adults. Adequate choline during pregnancy also may prevent neural tube defects.
  • Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Also found in the yolk, these two phytochemicals play a role in eye health — particularly in the prevention of cataracts and macular degeneration.
  • Vitamin D: Known as the sunshine vitamin, this nutrient is found in only a few natural sources, one of which is the egg yolk. Vitamin D aids the absorption of calcium, making it essential for the health of your bones and teeth.
  • Protein: Eggs are a good source of high-quality protein, with about 60% coming from the whites and about 40% from the yolks. Protein is satiating, which helps with appetite and blood sugar control, both of which are important for weight maintenance and diabetes prevention.

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FACT #2: Eggs Can Be Part of a Heart-Healthy Diet

Most people are familiar with the old recommendation to limit dietary cholesterol to 300 mg/day, however, this limit was removed in the most recent 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Believe it or not, cholesterol is essential to our body and plays a special role in the formation of brain cells and certain hormones. What most people don’t realize is there’s a difference between dietary cholesterol — cholesterol found in food — and blood cholesterol — cholesterol in your bloodstream, most of which is made in the liver. The primary dietary culprit of increased blood cholesterol is saturated fat and trans fats, both of which should be limited.

The truth about eggs and cholesterol is proven in research that shows eggs, which are a source of dietary cholesterol, have little impact on blood cholesterol levels. For example, a study found in the American Heart Journal found daily consumption of eggs or egg substitutes show no adverse effects on any cardiac risk factors. Even more so, the authors of the study said that excluding eggs could potentially lead to alternate choices high in starch and sugar, potentially associated with increased cardiovascular risk.

Fact #3: There Is No Nutritional Difference Between Cage-Free, Free-Range, and Conventional Eggs

There is no scientific data showing nutritional differences between these types of eggs. The differences are solely the environment in which the laying hens are raised.

  • Conventional Eggs: Laid by hens living in cages with access to feed, water, and security. The cages serve as nesting space and protect the birds from the elements, disease, and predators.
  • Free-Range Eggs: Laid by hens housed in a building, room or area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and the outdoors. The outdoor area may be fenced and/or covered with netting-like material. These hens may forage for wild plants and insects in addition to consuming their diet of grains.
  • Cage-Free Eggs: Also known as free-roaming eggs, these are laid by hens housed in a building, room, or enclosed area in a barn or poultry house, which allows for unlimited access to food, water, and provides the freedom to roam within the area.

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Fact #4: There Is No Nutritional Difference Between Brown and White Eggs

Brown bread (ie. whole grain) is healthier than white bread, so brown eggs should be better than white, right? Wrong! The color of the shell is based on the type of hen that laid the egg and does not affect the quality or nutrition of the eggs. Brown eggs tend to be larger in size than white eggs and cost more to produce, hence the higher price tag. 

Fact #5: All Eggs are Antibiotic-Free, Hormone-Free, Natural, and Non-GMO

As I mentioned in my post Chicken Myths & Truths, the use of hormones in eggs is forbidden by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Whether or not it says so on the carton, you can rest assured that no hormones are given to egg laying hens.

Similarly, you need not fear antibiotics in eggs. The egg industry does not use antibiotics on a continuous basis; therefore, eggs are generally antibiotic-free. That said, there are occasions when antibiotics may be used for the health of hens (just like humans use antibiotics on occasion when they are sick). Hens who receive antibiotics rarely produce eggs, as their egg production is severely decreased due to illness, and if an egg is produced, it would be diverted from human consumption according to FDA regulations.

Seeing eggs labeled as natural and non-GMO? That’s another marketing tactic. According to the USDA, all shell eggs are natural and eggs are not a genetically modified food. Research confirms that any GM food in the hen feed is not passed into the egg itself.

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Fact #6: Hens Fed Different Diets May Or May Not Produce Eggs With Slightly Different Nutrients

Some egg cartons may have claims like “omega-3 enriched” or “vegetarian fed” based on what the hens are fed. In general, commercially raised hens are fed a specially formulated feed consisting of corn, cottonseed, soybean meal, and/or sorghum. Poultry nutrition specialists carefully balance the feed to make sure it has the right amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Some producers add flax, marine algae, or fish oils to increase the omega-3 fatty acid content of the yolk. Whereas most shell eggs have about 30 mg of omega-3 per egg, omega-3 enhanced eggs provide anywhere from 100 to 600 mg omega-3 per egg.

On the other hand, eggs touted as vegetarian fed—meaning they are produced by hens whose feed is free of animal by-products—are no different nutritionally than conventionally fed eggs. Some experts suggest that feeding hens a vegetarian diet may actually increase feed costs and reduce feed efficiency.

So, there you have it; six facts about egg nutrition and labeling that you may not have been aware of, and that show you the truth about eggs. Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion and you’re ready to get cooking.

12 THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO YOUR BODY WHEN YOU EAT EGGS

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Eggs might just be the easiest, cheapest and most versatile ways to up your protein intake. Beyond easily upping your daily protein count— each 85-calorie eggs packs a solid 7 grams of the muscle-builder—eggs likewise improve your health. They contain amino acids, antioxidants and iron. You should not just reach for the whites, though; the yolks boast a fat-fighting nutrient called choline, so choosing for whole eggs can actually help you trim down.

When you are buying eggs you have to pay attention to the labels. You should be buying organic, when possible. These are certified by the USDA and are free from antibiotics, vaccines and hormones. The distinction in color just varies based on the type of chicken—they both have the same nutritional value, says Molly Morgan, RD, a board certified sports specialist dietician based in upstate New York. Here are 12 incredible impacts the mighty egg can have on the human body:

  1. You will reduce your risk of heart disease

 LDL cholesterol is known as “bad” cholesterol in light of the fact that LDL particles transport their fat molecules into artery walls, and drive atherosclerosis — basically, gumming up of the arteries. (HDL particles, by contrast, can remove fat molecules from artery walls.) But not all LDL particles are made equal, and there are different subtypes that differ in size.

Bigger is definitely better — numerous studies have shown that people who have predominantly small, dense LDL particles have a higher risk of heart disease than people who have mostly large LDL particles. Here is the good part: Even if eggs tend to bring LDL cholesterol up in some people, studies show that the LDL particles change from small and dense to large, slashing the danger of cardiovascular problems.

  1. You will boost your immune system:

Only one large egg contains almost a quarter (22%) of your RDA of selenium, a nutrient that aids in supporting your immune system and regulate thyroid hormones.

Children should eat eggs. If children and adolescents do not get enough selenium, they could develop Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease, two conditions that can influence the heart, bones and joints.

  1. You will improve your cholesterol profile

There are three things about cholesterol that everyone knows: 1) High cholesterol is a bad thing; 2) There are good and bad types of cholesterol; 3) Eggs contain plenty of it.

Doctors are generally worried with the ratio of “good” cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL).One large egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol, but this does not imply that eggs will raise the “bad” kind in the blood. The body constantly produces cholesterol on its own, and a large body of evidence shows that eggs can actually enhance your cholesterol profile. How? Eggs seem to raise HDL (good) cholesterol while increasing the size of LDL particles.

  1. You will have more get-up-and-go

Just one egg contains about 15% of your RDA of vitamin B2, also called riboflavin. It is just one of eight B vitamins. These vitamins help the body to convert food into fuel, which in turn is utilized to produce energy. Eggs are just one of the 25 Best Foods for a Toned Body! 

  1. Your skin and hair will improve

Other necessary vitamins for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver are B-complex vitamins. (In addition to vitamin B2, eggs are also rich in B5 and B12.) They also help to secure the proper function of the nervous system.

  1. You will feel fuller and eat less:

Eggs are such a good wellspring of quality protein that all other wellsprings of protein are measured against them. (Eggs get a perfect score of 100.) Many studies have shown the effect of high-protein foods on appetite. You may not be surprised to learn that eggs score high on a scale called the Satiety Index, a measure of how much food contribute to the feeling of fullness.

  1. You will lose fat

 A study gave some remarkable outcomes: Over an eight-week period, people ate a breakfast of either eggs or bagels, which consisted of the same amount of calories. The egg group lost 65% more body weight, 16% more body fat, experienced a 61% greater reduction in BMI and saw a 34% greater reduction in waist circumference!

  1. You will protect your brain

Eggs are good for your brain because of an essential nutrient called choline. It is a component of cell membranes and is required to synthesize acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Studies have demonstrated that a lack of choline has been linked to neurological disorders and decreased cognitive function. According to a U.S. dietary survey more than 90% of Americans get less than the daily recommended amount of choline.

  1. You will save your life

Amid the lesser-known amazing things the body can do: It can make 11 essential amino acids, which are important to sustain life. The thing is, there are 20 important amino acids that your body needs. Guess where the other 9 can be found? That’s right. A lack of those 9 amino acids can prompt muscle wasting, decreased immune response, weakness, fatigue, and changes in the texture of your skin and hair.

  1. You will have less stress and anxiety

 If you are not having enough of the 9 amino acids that can be found in an egg, it can have mental effects. A 2004 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences described how supplementing a population’s diet with lysine significantly reduced anxiety and stress levels, perhaps by modulating serotonin in the nervous system.

  1. You will protect your peepers

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two antioxidants found in eggs and they have powerful protective effects on the eyes. You will not find them in a carton of Egg Beaters — they only exist in the yolk. The antioxidants significantly reduce the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts. Macular degeneration and cataracts are the leading causes of vision impairment and blindness in the elderly.

  1. You will improve your bones and teeth

 Eggs are one of the few natural wellsprings of Vitamin D, which is crucial for the health and strength of bones and teeth. It does this, by aiding the absorption of calcium. Calcium is essential for a healthy heart, colon and metabolism.

WHY ARE EGGS GOOD FOR YOU? AN EGG-CEPTIONAL SUPERFOOD

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Nutrition professionals have an excellent track record of demonizing healthy foods.

Red meat, cheese, coconut oil… to name a few.

But the #1 worst example is their decades of propaganda against eggs, which are among thehealthiest foods on the planet.

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Eggs do NOT Cause Heart Disease

Historically, eggs have been considered unhealthy because they contain cholesterol.

A large egg contains 212mg of cholesterol, which is a lot compared to most other foods.

However, it has been proven, time and time again, that eggs and dietary cholesterol do NOT adversely affect cholesterol levels in the blood.

In fact, eggs raise HDL (the good) cholesterol. They also change LDL cholesterol from small, dense LDL (which is bad) to large LDL, which is benign (1, 2, 3).

A new meta-analysis published in 2013 looked at 17 prospective studies on egg consumption and health. They discovered that eggs had no association with either heart disease or stroke in otherwise healthy people (4).

This isn’t new data. Multiple older studies have led to the same conclusion (5).

Bottom Line: Despite the fear mongering of the past few decades, eating eggs and cholesterol has no association whatsoever with heart disease.

Eggs Are Rich in Unique Antioxidants

 

Eggs are particularly rich in the two antioxidants Luteinand Zeaxanthine.

These antioxidants gather in the retina of the eye and protect against the eye diseases Macular Degeneration and Cataracts (6, 7, 8).

In one study, supplementing with an average of 1.3 egg yolks per day for 4.5 weeks increased blood levels of Lutein by 28-50% and Zeaxanthine by 114-142% (9).

Bottom Line: Eggs contain large amounts of the antioxidants Lutein and Zeaxanthine, which dramatically lower your risk of age-related eye disorders.

Eggs Are Among The Most Nutritious Foods on The Planet

Just think about it… one egg contains all the nutrients and building blocks required to grow an entire baby chicken.

 

Eggs are loaded with high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, good fats and various trace nutrients.

A large egg contains (10):
  • Only 77 calories, with 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein with all 9 essential amino acids.
  • Rich in iron, phosphorous, selenium and vitamins A, B12, B2 and B5 (among others).
  • One egg contains 113 mg of Choline – a very important nutrient for the brain, among other things. A study revealed that 90% of Americans may not get enough choline in their diet (11).

If you decide to include eggs in your diet (you should) then make sure to eat Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs. They are much more nutritious than eggs from factory-raised chickens.

Eat the yolks, they contain pretty much all the nutrients!

Bottom Line: Eggs contain all 9 essential amino acids, are highly concentrated with vitamins and minerals and are among the best sources of choline you can get. Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.

Eggs Are Satiating and Help You Lose Weight

 

Eggs score high on a scale called the Satiety Index, which means that eggs are particularly capable of making you feel full and eat less overall calories (12).

Eggs only contain trace amounts of carbohydrate, which means that they will not raise blood glucose levels.

In a study of 30 overweight or obese women that ate either a bagel or eggs for breakfast, the egg group ended up eating less during lunch, the rest of the day and for the next 36 hours (13).

In another study, overweight men and women were calorie-restricted and given either a breakfast of 2 eggs (340 kcal) or an isocaloric breakfast of bagels. After 8 weeks, the egg eating group had a (14):

  • 61% greater reduction in BMI.
  • 65% more weight loss.
  • 34% greater reduction in waist circumference.
  • 16% greater reduction in body fat.

 

…even though both breakfasts contained the same number of calories.

Bottom Line: Eggs are a nutritious, protein rich food with a strong impact on satiety. Studies show that eating eggs for breakfast can help you lose weight.

An Egg-ceptional Superfood

If you need any more reasons to eat eggs… they are cheap, go with almost any food and taste awesome.

If there was any food I’d be willing to classify as a superfood, it would be eggs.