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This weekend i caught up with some friends for a brunch get-together and one of my friends was giving very specific instructions to the chef about how his eggs have to be made.
Well, to my shock and horror, I noticed that he was screening out the egg yolks. I asked him why he was not having the egg yolks, and he replied …”because that’s where all the nasty fat and cholesterol is”.
And I replied, “That’s where all of the nutrition is!”
This is a perfect example of how confused most people are about nutrition. In a world full of misinformation about nutrition, somehow most people now mistakenly think that the egg yolk is the worst part of the egg, when actually, the YOLK IS THE HEALTHIEST PART OF THE EGG! In fact, the egg whites are almost devoid of nutrition compared to the yolks.
By throwing out the yolk and only eating egg whites, you’re essentially throwing out the most nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich, vitamin and mineral loaded portion of the egg. The yolks contain so many B-vitamins, trace minerals, vitamin A, folate, choline, lutein, more than 90% of the calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, and B12, and panthothenic acid of the egg. In addition, the yolks contain ALL of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K in the egg, as well as ALL of the essential fatty acids (EFAs). Even the protein in egg whites isn’t as powerful without the yolks to balance out the amino acid profile and make the protein more bio-available.
And now the common objection I get all the time when I say that the yolks are the most nutritious part of the egg… “But I heard that whole eggs will skyrocket my cholesterol through the roof”
No, this is FALSE!
There is no danger from the cholesterol build up since 2/3 of cholesterol in the body is produced by the liver. The amount of cholesterol consumed in the diet does not relate to the amount of cholesterol deposited. First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as whole eggs, your body down-regulates its internal production of cholesterol to balance things out. On the other hand, if you don’t eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has dozens of important vital functions in the body. And here’s where it gets even more interesting…
High cholesterol is NOT a disease! Heart disease is a disease…but high cholesterol is NOT. Cholesterol is actually a VERY important substance in your body and has vitally important functions… it is WRONG to try to “lower your cholesterol” just because of propaganda made by the pharmaceutical companies through their agents (Yes, you guessed it!!) that everyone on the planet should be on statin drugs.
FYI: Statin drugs are prescribed to lower cholesterol levels.
The cholesterol in raw eggs is not deposited in the arteries and is an essential nutrient for aiding health and well-being. The white of the egg has been said to interfere with biotin assimilation. What is Biotin? Did you know: Biotin deficiency can lead to skin rash, hair loss, high cholesterol and heart problems? Biotin is found naturally in food. Good dietary sources of biotin include brewer’s yeast, nutritional yeast, liver, salmon, cauliflower, sardines and our friend the egg yolk. Vegans don’t worry; your quota of Biotin can be had from bananas, carrots, legumes and mushrooms which are also very rich in biotin.
In addition, the yolks contain the antioxidant lutein as well as other antioxidants which can help protect you from inflammation within your body (the REAL culprit in heart disease, not dietary cholesterol!), giving yet another reason why the yolks are actually GOOD for you. So I hope we’ve established that whole eggs are not some evil food that will wreck your body… instead whole eggs are FAR superior to egg whites. But what about the extra calories in the yolks?
This is actually not an issue… even though egg yolks contain more calories than just egg whites; the yolks have such a high micro-nutrient density in those calories that it increases your overall nutrient density per calorie you consume. Essentially, what this does is help to regulate your appetite for the remainder of the day, so you end up eating less calories overall. In addition, the healthy fats in the egg yolks help to maintain a good level of fat-burning hormones in your body. Overall, this means that the extra fats (healthy fats) and calories from the yolk are so nutrient-dense that they actually HELP you to burn off body fat!
Also, your normal supermarket eggs coming from mass factory farming just don’t compare nutritionally with organic free range eggs from healthy chickens that are allowed to roam freely and eat a more natural diet. Your typical grocery store eggs will have lower nutrient levels and lower omega-3 level. On the other hand, the cage-free organic eggs from healthier chickens allowed to eat more natural feed and roam freely will have much higher vitamin and mineral levels and a more balanced healthier omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acid ratio.
Most people don’t realize that there’s a major difference because they’ve never bought real eggs from healthy chickens… The eggs from the grocery store have pale yellow yolks and thin, weak outer shells. On the other hand, the healthier free range eggs from the local farm have strong thick shells and deep orange colored yolks indicating much higher nutrition levels and carotenoids… and just a healthier egg in general.
This is due to the fact that a free-roaming hen allowed to roam on plenty of land will eat a variety of greens, insects, worms, etc. transferring MUCH higher levels of nutrients to the eggs compared to an unhealthy hen that is trapped inside a dark factory farm hen house in horrible conditions and fed nothing but piles of corn and soy. It’s a drastic difference in the nutrition that you get from the egg.
So next time an Orthorexic, a health or fitness professional, tells you that egg whites are superior (because of their “fat-phobic” mentality towards dietary fats), you can quietly ignore their advice knowing that you now understand the REAL deal about egg yolks.
After all, do you REALLY think that our ancestors thousands of years ago threw out the yolks and only ate the egg whites? NOT A CHANCE! They intuitively knew that all of the nutrition was found in the yolks. But our modern society has been brainwashed with misinformation about fats and cholesterol.
Enjoy your eggs and get a leaner body!
BeWell,
Vivek
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