Today, the 9th of October is World Egg Day.
World egg day is celebrated on the second Friday of October every year. Annually people across the globe celebrate and raise awareness on the importance, beneficial effects, and the significance of eggs for human nutrition.
Eggs can form part of a healthy, balanced diet as they are high in good quality protein and low in calories. They also have various health benefits for all individuals no matter your age and they are good for the environment as they have a low environmental impact due to them requiring very little water.
Eggs are not only nutritionally beneficial, but as you probably know egg is an extremely versatile ingredient. You can eat eggs on their own, add them to dishes, consume them at any time of the day, cook them in a variety of ways and they are quick and easy to make. You can poach, fry, boil or bake them or you can use them as an ingredient in your cooking or baking.
If you enjoy baking and cooking, I am sure you will probably know how important eggs are. Eggs provide the structure, stability and moisture to the product and can help thicken sauces and custards or act as a glue or a glaze.
When it comes to eggs there is no reason to complicate things by only eating the egg whites. Whole eggs (with the yolk) contain many nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B12 and are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D. The fat that is provided by the egg yolk also helps with vitamin absorption, boosts brain function and contains about 6g of protein. When only consuming egg whites, it increases food waste, decreases the total protein content of the egg and removes many of the nutrients as mentioned above, especially vitamin D.
This year during COVID-19, vitamin D has had a lot of attention for potentially reducing the risk of COVID-19 and people have been recommended to take vitamin D supplements to help potentially prevent and aid in the treatment of COVID-19. Vitamin D is not only important for boosting the immune system, but it is also related to building healthy and strong bones, skeletons and teeth and protects against heart disease and cancers. Usually one third of our daily vitamin D needs can be reached by just eating 1 large whole egg which is why consuming whole eggs is more beneficial than consuming just the egg whites.
Eggs are also one of the best sources of choline which is an essential nutrient for foetal brain development. When consuming just two whole eggs, you get about 250mg of choline which is great for your memory and essential neurocognitive development especially during pregnancy and lactation.
I hope this blog gives you a bit more insight into the importance of eggs.
Remember, eggs are great sources of protein and nutritionally beneficial to your health.
