Poached. Fried. Soft-boiled. On sourdough or with fries. Give them to us however you got ‘em. But is there a preferred window to indulge in eggs from a fitness perspective? And should we really be skipping the yolk?
It turns out, the science is rapidly changing in the world of eggs. Luckily, here our experts have dug down, scooping out the nutritional know-how you need to help you maximize your eggy intake.
Why are eggs so good?
“I absolutely love eggs,” says Nutritionist Dana Chapman, who’s presumably knocking off poached eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Taste and versatility aside, Chapman is a fan of hen’s jewels for their nutritional content. We’re talking massive levels of choline—a key nutrient needed for brain health and protective against conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, as well as being integral in the production of neurotransmitters associated with motivation, sleep, and libido.
They’re also packed with vitamin A, essential for reproduction, gut health, good eye sight (see also: carrots), and healthy skin. Eggs also provide your daily dose of selenium which helps protect our cells from damage.
All of which is great, but most of us eat eggs with protein in mind. And with good reason. According to Drew Price, author of The Dodo Diet, “Eggs score well on the two preferred protein quality measures the DIAAS and the PDCAAS, with all the essential and non-essential amino acids.” You don’t necessarily need to know what that means, only that that protein is found in both the yolk and the whites, so eat both.
Crucially, Price says that eggs pack leucine, which is directly responsible for muscle protein synthesis, and a cornerstone of growth and recovery, as well as helping regulate blood sugar.
How much protein in eggs is there?
Eggs are ace, but they aren’t the be all and end all of getting swole. “Eggs pack a good source of protein and nutrients, but if you’re keeping a close eye on macros, you might choose options such as fish, turkey, chicken and lean red meat,” says Chapman, explaining that eggs pack 12.6g of protein per 100g, while 100g of turkey, for example, has 29g of protein.
Price may also be a factor in choosing your preferred protein. “There are three things to keep in mind: cost per gram of protein, the grams of protein per calorie, and the quality of the protein,” he says. “In terms of cost per gram of protein, and calories per gram of protein, tinned tuna is the perennial winner.”
How many eggs should I eat per day?
With fears that eggs supercharge your bad cholesterol largely dismissed these days, the sky is really your limit, although Price says we haven’t yet been able to pit man against egg in the ultimate test of endurance. (Gaston from Beauty and the Beast doesn’t count.)
“Getting ethics sign-off, funding and volunteers for a trial that involves eating 20 eggs a day would be challenging, so an upper end hasn’t been tested,” he says.
The science we do have is pretty inconclusive. One meta analysis brought together numerous egg-based studies and found weak associations between greater consumption and some forms of cancer and heart diseases, but also potential protective effects.
In other words, there are no real guidelines around your egg consumption. If you’re opting for ostrich eggs you probably won’t manage that many, though. And if you have hypercholesterolemia, you should be concious of your egg consumption.
How do I get the most nutritional value from eggs?
“The first and most important thing here is to cook them,” says Price. “The whole slamming raw eggs and then the training montage is wrong. Eggs contain digestive enzyme inhibitors that will interfere with the digestion of the protein they contain. Cooking renders these inert.”