The egg is just between 72 to 85 calories but provides us with about 7 grams of protein, B vitamins, iron, zinc and is loaded with amino acids, antioxidants as well. This solid diet staple is not good stuff alone. Keep in mind before you crack an egg, it already has 2 grams of saturated fat and 212 milligrams of cholesterol. That doesn’t mean you have to throw it away. What you need is to learn harmless ways to cook eggs.
Eggs can be part of a healthy diet even though they’re high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Moderation and smart cooking can help to make eggs a healthy part of your diet. But, is there an optimal way to cook an egg?
In this article you will find most nutritious and healthy ways to cook and eat eggs without adding extra fat and calories. Next time you go to reach for an egg, keep these healthy eggs cooking tips in mind.
Most Nutritious Way To Prepare Eggs
(i) Boiled: Boiling is an easy way to cook your eggs without adding any extra saturated fat. Boiling an egg keeps the yolk intact, containing all the nutrients in one stable location. One large, hard-boiled egg has 5.3 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, 186 milligrams of cholesterol and 78 calories.
Try a hard-boiled egg as a simple breakfast with 100-percent whole-grain toast, or cut it up and put it on a salad for added protein. You can also use them as ingredients in recipes for dishes such as egg salad. Look for recipes that go easy on fat and include other nutritious ingredients.
Tip: If you’re watching your cholesterol, take the yoke out. That way all the cholesterol will be removed.
(ii) Poached: Poach eggs by simmering them in water (not in boiling water) after removing them from the shell. It’s one of the healthiest methods as you’re just cooking them in water without adding fat. Poached eggs have the same nutritional value as hard-boiled eggs. Serve the eggs over 100-percent whole-grain toast or on top of cooked green vegetables, such as asparagus, to add more vitamins, minerals and fiber to your egg dish.
(iii) Baked: And if you are looking for another low fat cooking option for eggs, try baking.
Actually, the egg itself is healthy but a lot of the things we cook them in and add to them are not. For example while preparing the scrambled or fried egg you might rob all the goodness of the egg itself? Keep in mind these tips:
(iv) Scrambled: Scrambled eggs recipes can be some of the least beneficial because they often call for milk, extra butter, cream etc. So you’re not only getting the calories from the eggs – which are fine – but you’re getting extra fats also. But if you use water instead, your scrambled egg will have the same fat, cholesterol and calorie counts as hard-boiled eggs. Alternatively, separate the yolk and use only the egg whites. One scrambled egg white has 17 calories, 3.6 grams of protein and almost no fat. Boost the nutritional value of scrambled eggs by adding chopped peppers, onions, mushrooms and spinach.
Useful Related Post: How Much Fat An Older Adult Needs?
(v) Fried: Frying an egg needs the most heat, which affects potential nutritional value of the egg. A large egg fried in butter or margarine has more calories and fat. You can avoid this unwanted fat, by using an oil spray or a nonstick pan. Serve fried eggs with 100-percent whole-grain toast or with cooked vegetables and potatoes. Steer clear of creamy sauces and cheese topping for your eggs.
Eggs are great option for seniors. It’s just about being careful about the extra ingredients. As for the eggs themselves, they contain 11 essential vitamins and minerals. They are really unbeatable. They’re high in protein and vitamin B12, high in monounsaturated fats, phosphorus that is vital for bone health, iodine for healthy thyroid function, folate and vitamin A as well. They’re also naturally low on salt and sugar.
Useful Related Post: How An Older Adult Can Meet His Or Her Protein Needs?
Salt is another thing, which the older adults should be mindful of. It’s likely to affect your blood pressure, so be carful while adding salt to your egg preparation.
When choosing your cooking media, be natural and use olive oil and avoid butter.
I usually eat eggs fried or scrambled 🙂
Saturated fat is the healthful form of fat. Cholesterol is needed in virtually every cell of the human body, including the brain and nervous system. Statins are a huge money-maker for pharmaceutical companies so they perform “research” and claim that cholesterol is bad. Since it is the pharmaceutical companies that educate doctors, doctors just step in line and go with whatever they are told. So, they are pushing statins and ever lower cholesterol numbers. Despite this, heart attacks and strokes have not gone down, even though cholesterol has been maligned as the cause of heart attack and strokes, and cholesterol levels get pushed lower and lower with no measurable benefit. Curious, don’t you think? Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, however, seem to be going up and are at epidemic levels. I find that curious as well. I expect, if I live long enough, to someday read that lowering cholesterol not only failed to stop the epidemic in heart attacks and strokes but it also caused the epidemic in Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and related health problems.
Healthcare in America is a scam. It is based on outright lies, innuendo, half-truths, psuedo-science, and mis-translations of foreign research documention. Doctors should be ashamed to have let the pharmaceutical companies hijack medicine and to continue to let them keep people sick, make them more sick, and kill people so their CEO’s and investors can get rich more quickly. We’re just about the wealthiest nation on Earth. We.spend more on healthcare than the next few, at the top of that list, combined. Yet we rank near the bottom, of the industrialized nations, in healthcare. Another curious thing, don’t you think?
You better go on an preach!!
Pharmaceuticals have done the same thing with BP control medications. I monitor my own BP at home and notice that I have low periods and high periods thru out the day/evening. Which is actually normal as our BP’s follow along with our natural circadian rhythm.
Dr. Offices push these meds on us as a form of insurance covered “treatments” that in turn require future BP “monitoring” multiple appointments.
Once the desired BP(a # recently reduced by the US to 120/80, while in the UK the old US measure is still the standard with 130/90 being considered acceptable, especially within older age groups), is obtained(in office), the Dr. then is credited for “successful” treatment. The big lie they don’t tell us is that once they’ve started patients down this road of fear and stress by adding these statins and beta blockers they’ve basically given the patient a life sentence, or put them in FURTHER risk of stroke if the medications are ever stopped.
I recently was given this “life sentence” including an added commonly used diuretic called HCTZ, which is directly connected to gallbladder disease. Unfortunately, my gallbladder was ACTUALLY a problem(they ignored my complaints of bloating and high BP readings after meals), to begin with. And now I’ve had to go thru the surgery for removal. I stopped the diuretic immediately upon learning on my own this connection. I also then noted that my initial bloodwork that was pretty normal b4 any of these meds were prescribed, suddenly and consistently showed me low sodium and chloride(typically a sign of dehydration), even tho I consistently drank plenty of liquids, including added electrolyte drinks! I also suffer from DDD in my back and neck which leads to chronic pain, which in turn produced the increased BP readings. The meds NEVER actually lower my readings during high stress or pain times anyway!
So, amen to everything you’ve said here. I completely agree that the medical association should be ashamed that they’ve let the pharmaceutical and the insurance industry(two of the highest for profits there is), hijack our healthcare system and actually put the patients they swore an oath to “not harm” in jeopardy!