What is the truth about egg whites calories? Are egg whites really superior to egg yolks? Why do we hear about the importance of getting rid of that yolk before making an omelet for breakfast?
The reason we are told this is because many fitness experts claim that egg yolks are chock full of cholesterol and fat. This is a ridiculous claim, because they are thus disregarding the fact that almost all of the egg’s nutrition comes from the yolk! The yolk contains anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals that are great for your body. Compared to the yolk, egg whites have little to no nutritional value, except for their protein of course. However, what most people don’t know is that without the yolks, the protein does not work as well in building muscles. That’s right! This is because the amino acids in egg whites need to be balanced out by the yolk. Furthermore, if you buy free-range chicken eggs (which you should, for both health and moral reasons!) then the yolks are full of omega-3 fatty acids I’ve heard my friends rattling on about how they’re getting all the protein and ridding themselves of all the extra unwanted cholesterol by separating the yolk, but what they’re really doing is eating something almost null in any nutritional value.
Need more incentive? Egg yolks also contain iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamine, B6, folate, panthothenic acid, B12, and calcium! Want more? How about the fact that they’re also full of vitamins A, D, E, and K? You probably spend over 30 bucks on vitamin supplements, meanwhile you’re discarding this natural vitamin-pumped food away because of your fear of extra calories and cholesterol. But is this actually true? Should you be avoiding yolks in order to also avoid high cholesterol? I believe this is not the case. When you eat foods that have cholesterol in them, your body is smart and therefore adapts to the situation. By this I mean that it produces less of its own cholesterol in order to balance things out. Of course you don’t want to get rid of cholesterol from your body completely, as you need good, HDL, cholesterol to function properly. Some studies actually show that eating whole eggs can increase HDL and decreases LDL cholesterol levels in your body!
So please stop believing the hype about ridding your eggs of their yolks before consuming them! If, in fact, you want to eat something that is low in calories, but does nothing positive for you, then go right ahead and make yourself an egg white omelet. However, if you are actually trying to consume nutritional meals, which you should always be doing, then eat the eggs whole! I don’t care if you boil em’, poach em’, fry em’, or eat them raw (well that might cause salmonella), but just don’t throw out the yolk!
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