Now that eggs have regained their place
in nutrition, people are asking questions about eggs. While people know that eggs are healthy, they are asking just how healthy.
Eggs are very healthy and an excellent
source of high quality, complete protein. Getting enough protein is
very important for building bones and muscle, as well as maintaining
good overall health. How much protein can you expect to get from
eggs?
For this answer, you need to know the
size of the egg and sometimes how the hens that laid them were fed.
Often the average egg size is given, which is not always to best
answer, but the average egg contains about 6 to 7 grams of protein.
The protein content does depend on the
size of the egg. Here’s how much protein different sizes of eggs
contain:
- Small egg (38 grams): 4.9 grams of protein
- Medium egg (44 grams): 5.7 grams of protein
- Large egg (50 grams): 6.5 grams of protein
- Extra-large egg (56 grams): 7.3 grams of protein
- Jumbo egg (63 grams): 8.2 grams of protein
To put these numbers in perspective,
the average sedentary man needs about 56 grams of protein per day,
and the average sedentary woman needs about 46 grams.
Now let’s look at the protein content
of different parts of the egg. People often think that protein is
only found in the egg whites, since they consist of little other than
proteins.
The egg yolks are known to be where
almost all the nutrients and fat are found.
However, in addition to these
nutrients, the yolk also contains up to about half of the protein
content of the egg. In a large egg that contains about 7 grams of
protein, 3 grams will be coming from the yolk and 4 grams from the
white. Therefore, eating the entire egg, not just the white, is the
way to get the most protein and nutrients.
Does Cooking Affect the Quality of the
Protein? The high-quality protein abundant in eggs contains all nine
essential amino acids in the right ratios.
However, how much of that protein the
body can actually use seems to depend on how they are prepared.
Eating eggs raw seems to provide the
least amount of protein. One study looked at how much protein was
absorbed from cooked versus raw eggs. It found that participants
absorbed 90% of the protein from cooked eggs, compared to only 50% of
the protein from raw eggs.
Another study provided healthy
individuals with a meal that contained either cooked or raw egg
protein. It found that 94% of the cooked egg protein was absorbed,
compared to only 74% of the raw egg protein.
This means that cooking eggs helps the
protein become more digestible and more accessible to the body. In
addition, eating raw eggs carries a risk of bacterial contamination
and food poisoning.
Eggs are among the healthiest and most
nutritious foods you can eat. They are relatively low in calories,
with one large hard-boiled egg containing only about 77 calories.
Despite being low in calories, they are
a balanced source of almost every nutrient you need. One such
nutrient is choline, which many people are lacking in their diet.
Choline is important for many processes in the body. In fact, a lack
of it may affect brain and heart health, and has been linked to an
increased risk of neural tube defects during pregnancy.
Aside from their nutrient content, eggs
have also been linked with numerous health benefits, including
benefits related to weight loss and weight maintenance.
Eggs have been shown to promote
feelings of fullness, which can help prevent you from eating too much
at a time. This effect is especially noticeable when people eat eggs
for breakfast.
Eating eggs for breakfast has been
shown to cause people to eat significantly less for the next 24 hours
than other types of breakfasts, without actively restricting
calories.
In one study, men who ate eggs for
breakfast ate up to 470 fewer calories at lunch and dinner buffets
than when they ate cereal or croissant-based breakfasts. In addition
to all of this, eggs are cheap and very easy to prepare.
The information you need to know
includes:
An average-sized egg contains about 6–7
grams of protein. To enable your body to use as much of that as
possible, it is recommended to eat eggs cooked rather than raw.
Aside from their impressive protein
content, eggs are low in calories, high in nutrients and especially
weight loss friendly.
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