Health benefits of eggs

EGGS are an important and versatile ingredient for cooking, as their chemical make-up is literally the glue of many important baking reactions.

Both the white and yolk of an egg are rich in nutrients- proteins, vitamins and minerals with the yolk also containing cholesterol, fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids.

Here are some important benefits of adding eggs to your meal.

Weight loss

Several studies have reported that starting the day with an egg breakfast increases satiety in overweight people and may help with weight loss.

Brain health

Choline is a nutrient that facilitates brain development in the foetus and newborn as well as memory function even into old age.

Eggs are an excellent dietary source of choline, and one egg per day will provide 28 per cent of a pregnant woman’s choline requirement.

Choline is of extreme importance during pregnancy and lactation when the reserves can be depleted.

Protein

Protein is one of the most important elements of our diet. Our bodies use protein to build new and repair old tissue.

Eggs are champions at providing high quality protein. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Nine of these amino acids cannot be manufactured by the body and must be derived from the diet.

Egg, milk and meat (including poultry and fish) proteins are all complete proteins but egg protein is of the highest quality.

Hair and nails

The hair and nails reflect many biochemical imbalances and shortages in the body.

Eggs can help to promote healthy hair and nails because of their high content of sulphur-containing amino acids and the wide array of vitamins and minerals.

Many people report faster growing hair after adding eggs to their diet, especially if they were previously deficient in foods containing zinc, sulphur, vitamin B12 and vitamin A.

Protect bones

Eggs are one of the few natural food sources of vitamin D which is essential for calcium absorption and for maintaining optimum bone health.

Eggs, therefore, play a supporting role in the prevention of osteoporosis together with dairy products, our main source of calcium.

Healthy eyes

Eggs are a good source of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthine, which play an important role in keeping the eyes healthy.

Getting enough lutein and zeaxanthine is, therefore, very important from childhood onwards throughout the life cycle.