Why 99% of People Should Eat Eggs Daily

I’m old enough to remember when people used to think eggs were terrible for your health. Back when the war on fat was being funded with millions (if not billions of dollars) eggs and other high-fat foods that you’d get from a farmer were persona non-grata.

Except they were food, so they were food non-grata.

I’m glad that the public has come to realize that eggs aren’t bad, and I’m here to flip the conversation on its head and give you additional information that may convince you that eggs are one of the best foods you could ever eat on a regular basis.

I will make one admission in saying this.

The quality of your eggs matters an incredible amount. Not just for health reasons, but for environmental and ethical reasons, too.

Here in North Carolina, we have hundreds of egg farms, and many of them are the opposite of “healthy.”  What I mean is the chickens are brought up inside of massive hen-houses that don’t take the animal’s welfare into account.

The stress they’re exposed to, and the food they eat, actually contribute to a less-healthy egg, and the chickens lead miserable lives.

The good news is there are hundreds of farms, both big and small, all across the state and the nation that are taking animal welfare into consideration and this means healthier, happier birds and better quality eggs.

And once you see how many things are inside eggs worth celebrating, you’ll see why I’ve written an article extolling the benefits of these ovalesque superfoods.

4 Great Reasons to Eat Eggs Daily

So remember, if you’re going to eat eggs regularly, it’s best to eat ones that are pasture-raised, that get to eat bugs and seeds, AKA “real chicken food.”

But, even if you’re getting mid-grade eggs ($2-$4 a dozen instead of $5-$7 a dozen) the benefits are still going to be pronounced.

Without further ado, here are 4 great reasons to eat eggs daily.

1. They’re a Premier Brain Food:

Whenever we write about brain health, we talk about the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is incredibly important for your brain's function.

It’s also made with a nutrient that you can find in abundance inside of eggs.  It’s called choline.

Choline plays a role in total health as it’s technically part of the B-vitamin complex. It’s indicated as being responsible for helping liver function, heart function and is a component of cell membranes.

But, if you have low choline intake, you can fully expect your brain to feel like a bowl of mush.

When you get sufficient amounts of choline in your diet it can help you maintain perfect cognitive function later in life. Choline and its constituent acetylcholine also help to regulate how attentive you are during the day, can make it so your memory is as strong as a steel trap. And also helps with language and more.  The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition summarized choline’s role in brain health like so. When you have a higher choline intake it helps to maintain great acetylcholine levels and the more choline intake you get, the better your cognitive performance is (provided you’re not already stricken with a brain disease.

Many people are minorly, or majorly deficient in choline, and as 1 egg contains 113 mg of choline and the recommended daily value is just 450-550 mg, you can see how eggs could contribute to an awesome brain. 

 2- Loaded with Super Fats:

I love fat, especially animal-based fats, because they are one of the best sources of energy for our bodies. That, and most of your cells are made up of fat and the higher-quality fat you eat the healthier you and your cells likely are. 

For years people feared eggs because the yolks contained so much fat.

Now we know these fats are necessary for human flourishing.

The kinds of fats you get from eggs are very similar to those found in fish oil, which are omega-3s. Yes, there are other kinds in the egg yolk, but omega-3s are essential and if you consume several eggs a day as part of a diet balanced with other healthy fats you’re doing wonders for your heart health, your brain health, your joint health and more.

Egg yolks have monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, and saturated fats too. Your body needs all of these and seeing as how many of these are anti-inflammatory there’s no good reason to skip out on eating eggs. 

3 - Are Great at Helping Build Lean Body Mass (and losing weight):

Another reason to consider eating eggs is because they’re also filled with lean-body mass promoting proteins and have 0 sugars and 0 carbohydrates, which are both two factors that can help contribute to weight loss.

Of the 21 essential amino acids (amino acids make proteins), 9 cannot be made in the body and must be from your diet.

Eggs contain a full spectrum of these amino acids, and do so in such a perfect way that when protein sources are considered by their biological value (a measure of protein quality) they’re often compared to eggs, which are given the perfect score of 100.

Protein also is incredibly satiating, low in calories, and helps build lean-body mass, which means the more you eat the less hungry you are and the thinner you could potentially become. 

4 -  Improve Cholesterol and Lower the Risk of Heart Disease:

When I reference how there was a war on eggs at one point in time, some of that had to do with how much fat was in eggs, and the other part of that war was based on the assumption that dietary cholesterol harmed the heart.

Now we know otherwise.

While one large egg is filled with 212 mg of cholesterol, studies show that much dietary cholesterol doesn’t do anything negative to your heart.

In fact there are studies that indicate eggs can actually improve your cholesterol profile.

This happens as the cholesterol in eggs is assimilated in the body and simultaneously raises your HDL cholesterol  (the “healthy kind”) while decreasing the amount of LDL. This mechanism is directly implicated in better hearth health, too.

There are more than a few studies showing that eating eggs does not have any association with an increased risk of heart disease.

And if anyone wants to tell you eggs are bad for your heart I’d challenge them to provide evidence that when eggs are eaten as part of a diet filled with whole foods, low in carbohydrates, and absent of many of the artificial ingredients so many people eat, this claim still holds true.

Just Get the Good Kind

Again, I want you to understand that better eggs cost a bit more, but your body will benefit from that extra expenditure.

On top of that when you spend more you support farms that raise healthy chickens and offer high-quality food and you are partnering with people who are looking to change the world, the food-world in particular, into a better place.