By all indications it is a myth that the cholesterol in eggs should increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Unless you have type 2 diabetes, there are good reasons why you should eat plenty of eggs. Here are four health benefits to eating eggs.
1. Eggs are rich in nutrients
If an egg is to transform a single cell into a chicken, there needs to be an abundance of nutrients. Therefore, the yolk of an egg contains a plethora of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fatty acids. An ordinary boiled egg contains not only A-, B-, D-, and E-vitamin; it also contains calcium, phosphor, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, and other vitamins and minerals that the body needs. In fact, an egg contains almost all the things a body needs. The only missing vitamin is vitamin C.
2. You don’t need to be afraid of cholesterol
It is true that eggs have a high content of cholesterol. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it affects your cholesterol count. The liver produces large quantities of cholesterol each day. When we ingest cholesterol through our diet, the liver produces less than it would normally – in an attempt to maintain a balance in the cholesterol count. It is different from person to person how one is affected by ingested cholesterol. However, in 70 percent of people, there is no marked difference in the cholesterol count when eating eggs. In the other 30 percent, the cholesterol count will increase.
However, there is not any recent research that suggests eating eggs increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and strokes as some believe.
3. Eggs are a good way to get protein
While the yolk contains large quantities of vitamins and minerals, the egg whites contain large amounts of amino acids. Your body uses 21 amino acids to construct protein – nine of which the body can not produce on its own. They are called essential amino acids and are ingested along with the food you eat. The more of these amino acids a food source contains, the better the source of protein. Eggs contain all nine of these amino acids in the right quantities; therefore, eggs are one of the best sources of protein. Among other things, this means that eggs make you feel full faster. Meanwhile eggs contain no sugar or carbohydrates – therefore, it could be a good idea to eat eggs, if you wish to lose weight - as long as you remember to variate your food, eggs can easily be part of a healthy diet.
4. The yolk can protect the sight
When you get older, there is a significant risk that your sight will grow worse. There are numerous nutrients that can help slow the development of this process.
Two of them are called lutein and zeaxanthin, and both are present in large quantities in the yolk. Lutein and zeazanthin are antioxidants, which aide in constructing the retina.
Research has proven that these two nutrients can reduce the risk of developing cataract and macular degeneration. Furthermore, a lack of vitamin A is one of the most common causes of blindness; and as said, eggs contain large quantities of vitamin A.
Be careful if you have type 2 diabetes
However, some research indicates that the rules are different, if you have type 2 diabetes. It has been shown that patients with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, if they eat eggs. However, if you don’t suffer from type two diabetes you can safely eat large quantities of eggs.
