Nutritional Information for Eggs |
|
Eggs are one of the most highly nutritional foods that you
can eat. In fact, one average sized egg contains about
75 calories, 6.25 grams of protein, and 220 milligrams of
cholesterol. It also contain large amount of vitamins,
minerals, macro and micronutrients (including but not limited
to: carotenoids, choline, betaine, and many others). In essence,
in one small package, eggs provide our bodies with essential
amino acids.
Why then do eggs have such a bad reputation? Well, there is
no way around it, eggs do contain fat and cholesterol, and
for some people they shouldn’t consume too many. This
is because there are two types of cholesterol. The first is
dietary cholesterol (commonly found in food) and blood cholesterol
(commonly found in our bodies.) For most people, 300 milligrams
of dietary cholesterol (amount recommended by American Heart
Association) a day doesn’t have a detrimental effect
on their body cholesterol levels. However, for some people
this amount increases their blood cholesterol levels. Therefore,
it is paramount that you know exactly how many milligrams
of cholesterol that your body can safely consume without affecting
your blood cholesterol levels.
So, if your body can handle it, there is no need to avoid
or limit your intake of eggs as they provide us with nutrients
that our body needs to function. If, however, you’re
one of those folks whose blood cholesterol levels increase
based on the amount of dietary cholesterol you consume and
for health reasons, you can’t intake 300 milligrams
of cholesterol a day, you probably don’t have to limit
eggs altogether, just eat the egg whites (as they are cholesterol
free) and find comfort in knowing that you’ll still
receive many of the benefits of eating eggs.
|
