Egg Nutrition Facts

Eggs are a favorite item on everyone's menu. Except of course for the people who do not eat eggs for either religious or dietary reasons, it is quite a different story. When the mention of eggs as food comes up, the only egg that comes to the minds of people are the hen's eggs. But the egg of duck, quail, fish and turtle are eaten all over the globe.

Eggs are a very convenient food, being quite easy to cook and easily available too. Many bachelors and others with very less or no cooking skills will vouch for this fact.

Eggs can be relished in so many forms. Some people like to gulp it down raw, some prefer to beat in the raw egg in a glass of warm milk and enjoy it. Others prefer to hard boil it. Some may prefer soft boiled eggs, yet others prefer to cook it with spices and tomatoes and some like to see it fried as an omelet or others may have it scrambled. There are people who pickle the egg before eating.

Eggs are also used as an ingredient in so many different dishes and food items. Cakes, pastries, mayonnaise, meringues etc are different food items where eggs are used as ingredients.

The eggs are classified as meats and included under that section in the Food Guide pyramid because its chemical component matches that of meat. There is a high content of protein and choline in the eggs.

The best way to consume eggs is after cooking them, because the useful protein available in these eggs can be fully absorbed by the human body only after the heating process. Raw eggs also provide protein but only half the amount of protein as compared to cooked eggs is available for absorption. Also the cooked eggs are safer because the bacteria causing salmonella infection is killed after cooking.

Eggs are very rich sources of essential nutritional factors. Protein which is necessary for muscle and nerve growth is a rich content of the eggs and hence eggs are an excellent food for children, young adults, pregnant and lactating women, sportsperson and body builders.

There are many negative issues regarding egg consumption too. The yolk of the egg, which is the yellow part in the centre, is quite high in cholesterol. This cholesterol proves quite dangerous for patients suffering from diabetes, cardio vascular diseases and with high levels of cholesterol in the blood.

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