Egg Yolks: The Perfect Food?

Egg yolks aren’t as bad as we may have thought! Egg yolks tend to get a bad reputation because of their high cholesterol content, but medical research has discovered that there is a difference between dietary and blood level of cholesterol.

A recent study showed that egg consumption had no negative effect on the overall blood cholesterol levels of 115 healthy adults. Eggs actually have the ability to increase our HDL cholesterol, which is our good cholesterol! Could this completely change how we look at the whole egg and mean that we don’t have to spend the time to crack and separate our whites from our yolks? Drew Ramsey, M.D claims— and I would agree— that the bigger issue isn’t the natural cholesterol in foods but rather lifestyle habits and processed foods.
The yolk actually has a lot of powerful benefits. Egg yolks are one of the richest dietary sources of choline, helping decrease inflammation and increase nerve function. This rich source of choline makes the whole egg perfect for pregnant women, helping aid in fetal brain development! Yolks also contain two carotenoids that help protect against vision loss! The high sulfur content helps with the production of collagen, keeping our hair, skin and nails glowing! Eggs contain so many various nutrients that are essential for overall health that some may consider them “the perfect food.”

Rather than ditching your yolks, try adding in a few yolks a week! I wouldn’t suggest switching from eating only egg whites to all whole eggs but rather mixing a whole egg with three or four egg whites to still get all the powerful and nutritious benefits of a whole egg without all the calories and fat from eating multiple whole eggs. A whole egg contains about 80 calories and 5 grams of fat whereas an egg white has about 17 calories and less than one gram of fat! If you eat a meal that consists of one whole egg and three egg whites, that is still a total of less than 150 calories and only five grams of fat!

One of my favorite healthy, well-balanced and EASY meals to make is called “egg with soldiers” or as my Sicilian Nonna use to call them, Banias. I used to eat these growing up and still eat them today! It is simply a soft-boiled egg placed in a small cup or shot glass with the top cut off so you can see the runny yolk inside the egg. You use sliced whole-grain bread to dip into the egg yolk and it is pure heaven! When you are done, you remove the rest of the egg shell and eat the remaining part of the egg white! These are a low calorie, easy and tasty breakfast meal that anyone in the family will enjoy. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Egg with Soldiers

Ingredients

1 extra large egg
2 slices Ezekiel whole-grain bread

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove. Once boiling, carefully set the egg in the water. Cover and allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and allow the egg to sit in the hot water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, toast your bread and cut into one-inch sticks (“soldiers”).

Gently remove the egg from the water when the timer goes off. Immediately run under cold water. Place the egg in a small cup or a shot glass works perfectly! Use the back of a spoon to lightly crack the top of the egg and remove the shells. Dip the pieces of toast directly into the yolk and enjoy!

Serving size: 1

Nutritional Information Per Serving

Calories: 240 calories
Fat: 6 grams
Sat Fat: 1.5 grams
Carbs: 30 grams (24 net carbs)
Fiber: 6 grams
Protein: 15 grams