As dietitians we find it amusing when we see egg white omelettes on the menu at local brunch spots. Research shows that one whole egg per day is perfectly safe as part of a healthy diet. The egg-heart disease hypothesis has failed to be proven by modern research, and should be considered null and void.
It is time to put eggs back in their rightful place in the South African diet, and in its entirety. It seems the segregation laws of Apartheid also found their way into food: whites are better. This is not true. Egg yolk was shown to contain all the fat and cholesterol of the whole egg and so egg yolk got a bad reputation for being high in cholesterol.
However, all the vitamin A, D, E and K, as well as zinc, folate, iron, and phosphorus, among others, is in the egg yolk. The yolk is also higher in choline, magnesium, potassium and sodium. In contrast, the egg white contains more than half of the eggs total protein, as well as the B-vitamins riboflavin and niacin. The nutritional contents of the egg yolk and white therefore vary, and so the idea of favouring one part of the egg over another should be changed. Eating the whole egg provides a balanced intake of many more nutrients then if each component is eaten singularly.
A recent research indicates that when hens are fed with a diet low in omega-6 fatty acids from a young age (feed high in wheat, barley, and milo and lower in soy, maize and sunflower, safflower and maize oils) they may cause less oxidative damage to human health.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts on this?
Peace
Mike
Hi there Mike
ReplyDeleteyes we do agree
hope this gives you a clear view:
in an ideal world, we want a 1:1 ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.
Whenever is an animal (such as chickens and cattle) are fed with grains, this ratio becomes distorted as it becomes pro-inflammatory, causing oxidative stress and damage
Therefore, if the animal has a diet high in grass types, without much added grains, the ration gets more ven, having less oxidative stress
hope we could help!
Good Life Dietitians