Eggs - The "Perfect" Food?

michaelarcand

Nutritionally speaking, is the egg the perfect food???

Typical Nutrition Info:
Egg, 1 large
Calories: ~70 (69.6)

Fat: 4.8 grams / 43.2 calories = 62.1%
Protein: 6 grams / 24 calories = 34.5%
Carbs: .6 grams / 2.4 calories = 3.4%

The nutritional breakdown of these macronutrients suggest that it is pretty darn close. Less than 5% for carbs is well within the LCHF/keto target zone. The protein seems high to me, and the fats seem low. Any thoughts?

sljohnson1207

Yep, add CHEESE!

PatchEFog

I agree. Add more cheese, and depending on where you are with your goals/macros, more butter. Mmmmm butter (or ghee/clarified/drawn butter if you're really closely clamping down on those carbs)....

Also... more about eggs...
From the I Breathe I'm Hungry Blog...
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2014/07/egg-fast-diet-menu-plan-low-carb-keto.html

So I did some additional research this week to try and figure out why this diet works, and found an interesting article on the importance of Choline in liver function over on The Daily Lipid http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2010/11/sweet-truth-about-liver-and-egg-yolks.html. It seems that egg yolks are extremely high in Choline, which as it turns out is critical to our liver being able to metabolize fat. In fact, when Choline is deficient (as it is in much of the modern US population), it can lead to Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease – this means your poor, fat, lazy liver can’t even handle it’s own business – let alone helping rid the rest of your body of excess fat!
“…eggs are pretty much the perfect liver food.”
Also important to helping your liver metabolize fat are Casein (present in cheese and other dairy products) and an amino acid called Methionine. Guess what food has the highest amount of methionine in it? Egg whites! So between the massive amounts of Choline in the yolks, and the bounty of Methionine in the whites, eggs are pretty much the perfect liver food – add some Casein in the form of cheese, and you’re in business! And by the way, this trifecta of liver superstars are pretty much cancelled out in the presence of excess glucose from food or alcohol – which an egg fast also eliminates. Genius.{/quote]
Read more at http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2014/07/egg-fast-diet-menu-plan-low-carb-keto.html#uoAPjQaXcWRQcDg4.99

I'd been incorporating more eggs from the beginning, but this was nice information to know and encourages me to stick with my eggs.

dcristo213

Eggs are the perfect food, cause you can eat them in so many different ways and anytime of the day!

persistentsoul

Yes I enjoy eggs, handy to keep a few ready boiled in fridge for quick meal preparation, great for making up protein in meals if a bit low. Help bind together my home made organic grass fed beef burgers. They taste good too so yes I am a fan of the good old egg.

LatinaGordita

Eggs are perfect and inexpensive!

IMO, Bacon is perfect too, but more expensive...

Dragonwolf

It's nice to know that my (currently, new) favorite breakfast of eggs scrambled in ample amounts of butter is a very good thing for my health. :drinker:

MikeEnRegalia

Eggs have the perfect macronutrient composition for losing body fat - when you restrict calories on keto you need more protein, and around 35% is just what the keto calculator recommends for me. Having said that: Eating only eggs is not advisable - you might even develop an intolerance. So mix it up! :-)

deoxy4

Staple, with other healthy proteins, as long as you don't have a problem with egg proteins. Fortunately, I don't seem to.

toadqueen

I can only eat the yolks because of food sensitivities and this is even more perfect and delicious to me. One large egg yolk has 55 calories, 1 carb, 5 fat, 3 protein. I boil them during the week for easy transport to work and soft boil or scramble on weekends. I love to mix them with sunflower lecithin too. Looks awful but tastes so yummy!

michaelarcand

Thanks for the feedback and the info from The Daily Lipid. I bookmarked that site a few weeks ago but promptly forgot about it. Now I'll have to go digging around there some more!

As far as developing food sensitivities, what would be a sign of that? Are we talking gastrointestinal stuff or allergy type stuff? Or both? I don't seem to have an issue with eggs - at least I never have before. I just started making eggs the base for my diet this morning. Going to do this for as many days as I can. Don't worry - not eating them alone, although I will have some boiled eggs for a snack tomorrow. Mostly having them with a little cheese, added some jalapenos today to a basic egg/cheese omelette ... with Louisiana Hot Sauce, of course.

LMK your thoughts on the sensitivity stuff. TIA

toadqueen

Hi Michael,

I think food sensitivites manifest differently for each person. Most people from what I have heard and read suffer gastrointestinal symptoms. I have those and persistent water retention which causes me discomfort (sometimes hard to move) and physical pain. I did not suspect food sensitivities until I was tested several times in the last 3 years. I do not know if they are the cause of my issues but I feel better if I water fast or eat a very limited loaw carb diet. Water fasting is out because I get too dehydrated and I promised my family I would stop.

If you are having gastrointestinal or allergy issues it could not hurt to be tested. I think it is only a small percentage who do. I happen to be one of the unlucky ones. I was tested first by an allergist/immunologist who used a skin test and blood test (RAST, I think). Then later by applied kinesiologists who confirmed that I still sensitive to several foods. I am being tested in a couple of weeks by a licensed nutritionist using a blood test called the LEAP MRT (mediator response testing) that will test 150 things.

I am not sure about your comment about not to worry that you do not eat eggs alone. Is this an issue on keto? I do not eat them alone only because I like to add more fat and calories to my meal.