Eggs: Is It Time To Get Back Together With This Once-Feared Food?

Have you ever ended a relationship because the person you were with wasn't as exciting or sexy as some of the other options that were presented to you? Perhaps your friends and family kept telling you that your relationship was toxic, and eventually, it could lead to some pretty bad side effects to your health. Maybe you ended it (reluctantly), but your missed it and over time, you dreamt of having it back. This is what's now happening with our relationship with eating eggs. Yes, they are simple, and yes, they have been given some unfair negative attention in the past 10 years, but now there's new hope, and many of us are now realizing that the grass really wasn't greener with your rebound fat-free sugar-laden muffins for breakfast or your refined and stripped carbohydrate loaded bagel. It turns out, you were with the right breakfast all along, and now the people around you are finally on board as well.

If you follow my blogs, you know I've always been a huge proponent of eggs. On numerous occasions, I've referenced eggs as the perfect food, wrapped up in an easy-to-break shell that provides amazing nutrients. You can imagine, then, how excited I was to see the recommendations an expert panel had for the upcoming dietary guidelines last week and the inclusion of the once-feared, high-cholesterol egg. The recommendations are now suggesting that eggs, and specifically the cholesterol in eggs, may not actually raise dietary cholesterol, and that it's actually other foods that should be more feared (such as processed meats and sugar) and limited in the diet. Yep, eggs can go back in your shopping cart! But if you're like many of my patient's, you may still not feel comfortable adding eggs back into your diet, especially if you've avoided them for so long with the goal of keeping your cholesterol down. Here's why it may be time to throw caution to the chicken coop.

Common "Egg" Wrong Facts

First, let's dispel a few myths related to choosing an egg. No, a brown egg is not necessarily better nutritionally than a white one (it simply signified the breed of the hen that laid the egg), and a cage-free or free-range label doesn't always mean the hen is roaming happily in a field of shrubs and insects. Further, not all eggs you buy in the store are pasteurized, which means that if you're planning on eating the chocolate chip cookie batter, have a compromised immune system, are elderly or an infant, you should look for a pasteurization label on your egg carton to avoid food borne illness. You should also know how to store and use eggs as well.

Egg-xtraordinary Benefits

Now that we've covered the basics, it's time to get into the really exciting aspects of egg consumption -- the health benefits!

Moderate consumption of eggs lowers a lot of chronic health risks, including your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

A 2011 study in the journal Food Chemistry found that eating eggs regularly may be associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer because they're so packed with free radical- and inflammation-fighting antioxidants. Several studies, including a 2012 review in the journal Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, showed that a few eggs (four to six) each week did not increase cholesterol levels. Further, a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that eggs may also help lower blood pressure as well. A 2014 study found that high-protein breakfasts (like eggs) helped control and manage glucose and insulin throughout the day; which in turn may help to reduce the overall risk of developing diabetes in the future.

Eggs can also play a role in weight loss, since they're low in calories and high in protein. A small 2005 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that eating eggs was associated with increased satiety and reduced cravings -- two important factors in the battle of the bulge. A 2008 study in the International Journal of Obesity found that having eggs for breakfast could result in a calorie-deficient diet, and a 2013 study found that having higher amounts of protein in the morning could actually help you ward off those later-in-the-day snacking habits as well.

Eggs are also a great choice for expecting moms (and their growing babies). That's because eggs are high in choline, an important nutrient for a growing fetus. A 2010 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that choline intake during pregnancy was positively associated with brain development in the fetus, especially in areas that were responsible for memory. Further, a 2012 study found that adequate intake of choline during pregnancy helped ward off stress-related conditions and perhaps even hypertension in children years later.

Finally, eggs are a great choice to protect your eyes. The nutrient rich yolk in eggs (as well as green leafy vegetables) is high in lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that have been shown to help protect against macular degeneration.

A Word About Moderation

Just because you're considering getting back together with eggs doesn't mean you should spend every waking moment with them. That's right, as with all foods (except green leafy vegetables -- eat those to your heart's delight), moderation is key to overall healthy living. While the studies are pointing in a healthy direction, I still tell my patients to limit their egg consumption to seven a week, or one a day, and for individuals with severe heart disease, I'm still recommending a three-times-a-week consumption rule. Scientists are constantly learning, and with many foods, we still need a lot more data. But for now, it appears that it might be time to put your tail between your legs, and ask that eggs come back into your life.

Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD, is the manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. She is an experienced presenter, an award-winning dietitian, an author and a regular television guest on both local and national shows, as well a contributor to several national magazines and newspapers. The Huffington Post recently named Kristin "one of 25 diet and nutrition experts you need to follow on Twitter." Kirkpatrick's career began in Washington, D.C., lobbying for Medical Nutrition Therapy reform, and from there she went on to become the Regional Coordinator of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Hearts N Parks program in Maryland. Follow her on Twitter at @KristinKirkpat.