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Eggs: the new Super-Food
– Reported, May 16, 2012
Eggs are rich in vitamins and minerals and have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties.
Easter Day should begin with what else? eggs. For breakfast I favour soft-boiled myself, with a crunchy sprinkle of Maldon and sourdough soldiers. There are few finer moments than when your first soldier pierces the yolk and the sunflower-yellow liquid flows out, telling you that for once yes! you have got the timing exactly right: quivering but cooked white and liquid yolk.
Eggs are an even greater treat now that we can eat them minus the nutritional guilt and worry that hovered around them for so long. Cholesterol, heart disease, salmonella hen’s eggs seemed like oval bombs, to be handled with extreme caution. Now, thanks to the successful British Lion mark scheme, launched in 1998, salmonella is nothing like the concern it once was. As for the nutritional value of eggs, there has been a dramatic rethink. Far from being seen as a dietary liability, they are now commended. That shell contains not a bomb but a gift.
On a menu the other day I saw eggs described as a ‘super-food’, putting them on a par with such wholesome ingredients as broccoli, blueberries and brazil nuts. That may be pushing it a bit, but it’s certainly true that they are nutrient-dense.
A single medium-sized egg contains 6.8g protein. Some of the proteins in both the white and the yolk have been shown to have antibiotic properties. Eggs are also rich in vitamins and minerals, notably selenium, iron, B vitamins and folic acid. More importantly, these trace elements are highly ‘bio-available’ from a cooked egg, meaning that our bodies easily absorb most of the goodness.
A passion for poached eggs may even help prevent cataracts, because eggs contain a chemical called lutein, an antioxidant. They have also been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, when eaten as part of a low-carbohydrate diet. Is there no ailment they won’t cure? I can’t think of any food that has gone from demon to angel so fast.
In the near future it is possible that they will become healthier still. Scientists have discovered that if you feed the hens certain seeds such as flax- and linseed, the fatty acids in the yolk become more like the oily fish we don’t generally eat enough of.
Early experiments foundered, because the eggs ended up tasting fishy. But a paper this year by a group of American scientists reported that giving the hens camelina meal (otherwise known as gold-of-pleasure) improved the fatty-acid content of the eggs without spoiling the taste. I’m not generally a fan of fortified foods, but if I could get the benefits of cod-liver oil from a plate of eggs benedict, count me in.
What about cholesterol? That joyless Californian mess, the egg-white omelette, was born from the fear that the high cholesterol levels in yolk translated into high cholesterol in the human body. Recent studies, however, have suggested that this is not so. If you are predisposed to heart disease or a diabetes sufferer, then bingeing on fried egg and chips or three-egg omelettes smothered with melted cheese may not be wise. The medical advice is still to go easy on yolks after heart attack or stroke. But a 2010 study of 40 adults found that moderate egg consumption did not lead to higher cholesterol.
Which is happy news. As I hold my soldier over the yolk, poised to dip, it’s all good.
Credits: The Telegraph
More Information: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/healthyeating/9175851/Eggs-the-new-super-food.html
