I love eating eggs, as they are an excellent, nutritionally balanced and convenient food and hence it is of great importance. Especially after bariatric surgery or patients looking forward to non-surgical weight loss, egg makes a perfect meal choice. You will be amazed to know that India is one of the largest egg producer in the world.
An egg weighs around 45 to 50g. Eggs are rich in all nutrients except ascorbic acid (vitamin C), provides 80 to 90 Kcal, 6 to 7g protein, 6g fat, 30 mg calcium, 1.1 mg iron, 210 mcg vitamin A (retinol) and 40 mcg folic acid. Egg protein contains all the essential amino acids which makes it a complete protein. The protein content of two eggs meets nearly 25% of an adult’s daily protein requirement. Egg yolk confines all the fat of egg, and it is the richest source of lecithin, an essential part of every cell in the body. Egg yolk contains essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D and E. The fat present in egg-yolk is in highly emulsified form which is easily digested and absorbed. An average size egg contains 250 mg cholesterol. Except from vitamin C which is totally absent in the egg, other water-soluble as well as fat-soluble vitamins exists in appreciable amounts. Egg is also a rich source of biologically available zinc, required for strong immunity.
Have you all ever heard about vegetarian eggs?? Yes, they do exist!! Vegetarian eggs are unfertilized eggs of hens and they are formed without the fusion of sperm. The leghorn birds are genetically improved birds, suitable for egg production, lays only unfertilized eggs as they are not allowed to mate with cocks.
Good news is, nutritionally there is no difference between country breed and leghorn eggs, however, to identify between country bread and leghorn eggs, you may check on the following points:
- Country breed eggs are smaller in size and the color of their shell is either white cream or pale straw, whereas,
- Leghorn eggs are larger in size and are always white in colour
Cooking only has little or no effect in the nutritive value of proteins, minerals or fat-soluble vitamins present in eggs. There is only some loss of vitamin B1 and B2.
To have a quality check, whether you have bought good quality eggs or not, put them in a bowl of water, if the egg sinks, it is considered as good, whereas poor quality eggs either floats midway, rises to the water surface or floats on the top. Fresh eggs have best nutritional quality.
As a weight loss dietician, I recommend including eggs in the daily diet, to get loads of nutrients and health benefits packed in a small shell.
