Egg Help to Your Health

Eggs are a good source of low-cost high-quality protein, providing 5.5 grams of protein (11.1% of the daily value for protein) in one egg for a caloric cost of only 68 calories. The structure of humans and animals is built on protein. We rely on animal and vegetable protein for our supply of amino acids, and then our bodies rearrange the nitrogen to create the pattern of amino acids we require. In addition to its significant effects on brain function and the nervous system, choline also has an impact on cardiovascular health since it is one of the B vitamins that helps convert homocysteine, a molecule that can damage blood vessels, into other benign substances. Eggs are also a good source of vitamin B12, another B vitamin that is of major importance in the process of converting homocysteine into safe molecules.

Eggs are high in cholesterol, and health experts in the past counseled people to therefore avoid this food. However, nutrition experts have now determined people on a low-fat diet can eat one or two eggs a day without measurable changes in their blood cholesterol levels. This information is supported by a statistical analysis of 224 dietary studies carried out over the past 25 years that investigated the relationship between diet and blood cholesterol levels in over 8,000 subjects. What investigators in this study found was that saturated fat in the diet, not dietary cholesterol, is what influences blood cholesterol levels the most.

Lutein, a carotenoid thought to help prevent age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, may be found in even higher amounts in eggs than in green vegetables such as spinach, which have been considered its major dietary sources, as well as in supplements. Research presented at the annual American Dietetic Association Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in 2003, by Elizabeth Johnson from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University also showed that natural lutein esters found in eggs are as or even more bioavailable as the forms of the nutrient offered in purified lutein products. Eggs from chickens fed marigold petals (which are high in lutein), spinach (one of the best known sources of dietary lutein), lutein ester supplements (purified lutein) and lutein supplements.

Differences in serum lutein levels in response to the various types of doses were observed the day after the first dose: the serum lutein response to egg was significantly greater than the supplements but no higher than the response to the spinach. After nine days of daily lutein dosing, the serum lutein response was significantly greater in the egg phase than either of the supplements or the spinach. The bottom line: this study suggests that eating lutein-rich foods may be a more effective means of boosting lutein concentration in the eye than taking supplements. For more details visit indomunch

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