Life / Food & Wine

Are eggs really healthy? Food fight finds out

Over-easy, poached or once a year? We tell you the healthy way to enjoy your eggs.

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There&rsquo;s a lot of quality protein, fat and vitamins inside that little shell.

Sharis Shahmiryan

There’s a lot of quality protein, fat and vitamins inside that little shell.

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What comes first, health or the egg? Fried, poached or over-easy? Would you like a side of bacon with that? When it comes to the oval, shelled protein, there’s no shortage of questions. Eggs are full of important nutrients, but they are also a source of cholesterol. Deviled or angel, do eggs deserve a place on your plate?

Pros: Great eggspectations

Eggs are a whole food. There’s a lot of quality protein, fat and vitamins inside that little shell.

The whites contain all the essential amino acids, making them a complete source of protein.

And the yolks contain vitamins A and B12, folate, which helps prevent birth defects, and vitamin D, which helps our body absorb calcium and fight infections.

Eggs are filled with lutein. This carotenoid is also synthesized by plants and found in vegetables, such as kale, spinach and carrots. It’s what endows the yolk with its orange tinge, and it decreases our risk of macular degeneration, a process that makes our field of vision narrow as we age, says registered dietitian Shauna Lindzon. Lutein acts like an antioxidant, keeping free radicals away from the retina.

Our brains need many of an egg’s components, including choline. This beneficial nutrient helps our neurotransmitters communicate with our neurons and one another.

Vegetarians or those who eat little animal protein increase their cardiovascular health by eating eggs, says University of Toronto Department of Nutritional Sciences professor Dr. David Jenkins.

Cons: Stop crackin’!

A large egg contains about four grams of fat, and a large portion of that is saturated fat, which raises blood cholesterol levels.

In addition, each egg yolk contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol. This waxy substance is manufactured in our livers and is necessary for our bodies to build tissue. But cholesterol can clump, causing arteries to narrow, and perhaps lead to heart attack and stroke.

However, eating foods that contain cholesterol doesn’t necessarily increase our blood’s cholesterol. Healthy livers, which produce cholesterol from saturated fat that we eat, have a feedback mechanism, Lindzon says, shutting off cholesterol production when our bodies have enough.

But for people who already have cardiovascular disease or Type 2 diabetes, the cholesterol in eggs can increase the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, says registered dietitian Nishta Saxena. Their feedback mechanism is compromised and their livers continue to produce cholesterol that could deposit unwanted plaque in the arteries.

Many North Americans eat their eggs as part of a greasy breakfast: fried eggs beside homefries, bacon and buttered toast. In that case, says Jenkins, eggs are “not a good thing to add to the diet.”

The Bottom Line:

Eggs are an “extremely nutritious food,” says Saxena.

Healthy people, those without cardiovascular disease or Diabetes, who incorporate lean meats, fish nuts, seeds, legumes and lentils in their diet, can eat eggs with relative impunity.

For those at risk of cardiovascular disease, or who have Type 2 diabetes, Jenkins says eating too many eggs “could be as bad as cigarette smoking.”

Lindzon won’t put a number to how many eggs a week anyone should eat because, she says, it depends on their medical history, family history and diet.

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