When you think of breakfast options, eggs are one of the most popular choices out there especially because they are known to be one of the most nutritious food sources out there. Whether they are scrambled, fried, or in an omelet you can’t go wrong with eating eggs because of their eloquent taste. But the toughest decision is which part of the egg do you want, the whole egg or the egg white? Lately egg whites are looked as one of the healthiest possible choices of foods on the market while regular eggs are perceived as the more unhealthy and even dangerous option. These interpretations aren’t necessarily true because they are both extremely healthy and both offer health benefits that the other doesn’t.
Egg whites are a a great quick source of protein, as one egg white is loaded with 4 grams of protein according to PopSugar Fitness. Protein is an essential macronutrient that must be incorporated in your diet because your body needs it in order to stay healthy, increase muscle, and have blood flow successfully throughout the body. Egg whites are beneficial for people who want to loose weight because there are a lot less calories in an egg white. For example their are 17 calories in one egg instead on 72 in a whole egg. Those 17 calories are fully made from the protein because eggs whites don’t contain any carbs or fats. Another benefit of the egg whites is they have absolutely no cholesterol! The American Heart Association reveals that a person shouldn’t consume more than 300 of cholesterol per day in order to keep their body a healthy. This demonstrates the importance of egg whites because they don’t contain any cholesterol, while one regular egg has 213 milligrams. The egg white is a healthy option for people who want to cut their calories but they don’t contain all the vitamins and minerals a persons body needs.
By looking at the numbers it seems to be obvious that regular eggs aren’t as healthy as egg whites. Eggs were given a bad reputation because in a 1984 study by Harvard researches. 17 students were given a jumbo egg for three weeks. In the end this concluded their bad cholesterol levels raised 17 percent which scared people into thinking it would cause heart disease. Again 22 years later another study “The Journal of Nutrition” tested Brazilian men to see if the bad cholesterol would go up as one group was given 3 egg whites per day opposed to 3 regular eggs. In the end the group given regular eggs had cholesterol levels rise 30 percent compared to egg white eaters and have a greater chance of obtaining a heart disease. These studies definitely have many faults which make them inaccurate especially because their sample size was extremely small. It is now known that regular eggs don’t cause heart disease and a small portion of cholesterol is actually important for a person. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition studied 1,032 healthy men and found men averaged 2,800 milligrams of cholesterol a week. In the end they didn’t find a correlation between heart disease and cholesterol consumption. But it is now known trans fat and saturated fats cause heart disease not dietary cholesterol. Image 2
Child’s hands breaking an egg for pastry in a glass bowl
The truth is the egg yolk is healthier than the egg white because they contain all of the important vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals that your body needs. Whole eggs are a rare food source that contain Vitamin D, they also contain vitamin A, E, and K. The yolk has 90 percent of iron, calcium and even contain omega 3 fatty acids which are actually essential for the body and even prevent heart disease. Egg yolk also contains L-aginine which increase hormones and boost testosterone which increase overall energy. Also, if you are interested in obtaining more protein PopSugar Fitness shows us that is beneficial to eat the whole egg because there is 6 grams of protein opposed to only 4 grams in one egg white.
Next time you think about ordering that egg white omelet just remember the only true benefit is their are less calories and fat in the egg white. If you want to obtain vitamins, minerals, more protein, and healthy nutrients it would make sense to order a full egg that has the yolk as well as the egg white. Egg yolk do contain more cholesterol and fat which definitely may scare a consumer but those ingredients are important in persons diet.
Works Cited
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Egg-Whites-Healthier-Than-Egg-Yolks-364527
http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/myth-eggs
http://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/are-egg-whites-better-than-whole-eggs
http://www.medicaldaily.com/cholesterol-eggs-heart-health-374040
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6142348
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/4/971.abstract
http://www.livestrong.com/article/311013-are-egg-whites-healthy/
I really liked reading this blog because I’ve always wondered this. I honestly feel healthier when I eat egg whites however, my very health conscious aunt brought this to my attention about how the yolk is an excellent part of the egg to eat. I feel like this was a good topic to write about because too many people assume a full egg isn’t the best choice. However, I do find it interesting how something that has so many nutrients and health benefits can be “worse” for a person when trying to lose weight. It’s kind of ironic how something that can make you healthier can also make you gain weight. I wonder why this is. I think this would be an interesting thing to look into!!
I liked this blog! I usually find myself feeling good after opting for egg whites, but now I will feel comfort in knowing each is healthy in different ways. The idea of the core being packed with nutrients reminded me of avocado. I heard that the pit/core of the avocado contains an extremely good amount of vitamins and minerals, which is also confirmed here: http://www.californiaavocado.com/blog/march-2016/is-it-safe-to-eat-the-avocado-seed?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 However, according to the arguments of many nutritionists, the avocado seed is not as easy or safe to eat as the egg yolk. To reap the benefits of the avocado seed, one would have to grind it up into a powder and use in smoothies or yogurt. Even with this effort, people are skeptical as to whether the seed is safe to eat! So, not all things are meant to get down to the core. But thanks for letting me know that eggs can!
Great post. I have always heard that egg whites are better for you than regular eggs and know I know why. Throughout high school I would always make scrambled eggs in the morning to start off the day. When I seriously started caring about what I used to eat I switched to egg whites. The only downside to egg whites is that you need to use so much of them to fill your appetite and if you don’t put spices or hot sauce on them they taste like cardboard. Personally I don’t think regular eggs are bad for you. Everything in moderation is ok. I find it comical that there are studies showing how regular eggs are bad for you because of the cholesterol intake with them but people aren’t worried about the cholesterol in fast food that they constantly get. Eggs, preferably scrambled or over easy are GAINS, they are full of protein and overall more healthy than you than eating a doughnut in the morning for breakfast.
This post really caught my eye because it is a problem that I struggle with all of the time. As someone who has a history of diabetes in her family, I am always looking for ways to lower my risk. Now, you should know breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. there are just so many options with it, with eggs being my favorite. Personally, I believe the egg white is the way to go. As you mentioned, egg whites have significantly less calories than the full egg. I used to count my calories, so the egg white was great because I could have more eggs white than eggs and still consume less calories. Recently, over the summer, I started to cut out my carbohydrate intake. Egg whites actually have less carbs than the whole egg does. So, given that egg whites are less calories and less carbs than the whole egg, I am a full believe that the egg white is the way to go. This articles gives a great side-by-side table depicting the nutritional value of an egg white vs. an egg white- https://www.ahealthiermichigan.org/2011/10/11/the-nurtional-value-of-egg-whites-versus-egg-yolks-what-do-you-use/. Enjoy!