Well, not feel about exactly…but do you limit your egg intake? I’m training around 10-14 hours a week right now and I am not a big meat eater. I try to get protein from other sources, but am not at diligent as I should be. And I’m finding myself craving eggs a lot.
I think the recommendation for mere mortals (meaning I assume fairly sedentary) is three eggs per week. If you are training a lot, do you think that is still reasonable? Last time I had my cholesterol checked, it was way below average (but that was quite a few years ago). Any other concerns with eggs?
All the protein is in the whites. If you don’t eat the yolks, you can eat a lot more eggs. All the junk is in the yolk. Even still, eating one (whole) egg a day should have no effect on your cholesterol. (See http://www.acsh.org/publications/reports/eggs_2002.html)
Since the white of one egg has around 20 calories, all from protein, you can probably eat as many egg whites as you want.
Personally, I eat quite a bit of meat(mostly chicken), but get a lot of my protein from dairy. I eat yogurt and cottage cheese every day. Cottage cheese in particular has a lot of protein.
Eggs are the best natural source of protein. I have read that your body assimilates a higher percentage of protein from eggs than from any other “natural” source. That being said, I was concerned with the cholesterol as well. Since eggs seem to stay with me the longest of any other breakfast food I eat them probably 5 times a week as an omelet made from 1 whole egg and the whites of 3 others. I believe that I am remembering correctly when I say that most of the cholesterol comes from the yoke. I have seen no increase in my cholesterol since beginning to follow this regime.
I had “metabol” powder made by champion nutrition in my water bottle for my commute (25 miles each way through the rain!) yesterday and it kinda tastes like it has some powdered eggs in it. Making it viable for breakfast (of Champions).
You can get just egg whites in a paper milk carton container in most grociery stores. I crave a big egg white slab cooked in olive oil with turkey on top all rolled into a whole wheat tortilla after big days on the bike. It also serves as a sort of giant sleeping pill because I usually pass out for an hour or so after indulging, not that a six-hour ride would have anything to do with it.
"I crave a big egg white slab cooked in olive oil with turkey on top all rolled into a whole wheat tortilla after big days on the bike. It also serves as a sort of giant sleeping pill "
It’s the tryptophan (? spelling) in the turkey that is making you sleepy, try changing the meat and see if it still does. On eggs, I eat 1yolk, 4 whites, couple of days a week as my second breakfast. First breakfast is usually cottage cheese with some cut up fruit or oatmeal with 1 tbl spoon honey.
90% of your blood cholesterol is made new from saturated fats. Eggs, even the yolks are not as bad as was once thought. Just avoid the saturated fats and don’t eat a ton of yolks.
Honestly, I don’t remember where I saw that, but it was a very generic plan, and so I wondered if it was more geared towards people who have potentially higher cholesterol.
I hate to waste the yolks even though I know the whites are better for me. I like the idea of doing 1 full egg with a couple of extra whites…will have to give that a try.
Thanks for the feedback everyone - I’m going to give in to my egg cravings and try the egg and turkey wrap - yummy!
I tend to limit egg intake to maybe three every 2-3 weeks. Egg beaters come in handy. Then of course if I really get protein cravings I will go for sardines and once in a very very long while, meat…as in steak…gasp…yeah I know…but sometimes just have to have that protein in that form.
I hate to waste the yolks even though I know the whites are better for me.
Don’t waste them, get egg whites in a carton at the store, then you don’t have to separate egg/yoke either. Or use egg beaters which is 99% egg whites with some stuff thrown in to make them more whole egg color and consistency.
I usually do 1 whole egg + 1/2 cup egg white from carton (=3 eggs)
To expand on Docfuel’s post, that bad rap eggs got was paritally due to a misunderstanding of the link between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol (And, if I remember right, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the national advertising campaign to limit egg consumption, the first time they had engaged in “advertising” for public health, and it turned out to be misguided though well intentioned) Here is a bit about the current view:
"Researchers say that the link between high cholesterol levels in the blood and heart disease remains strong. They also say that diets high in saturated fats – primarily fats from meat products and cheeses – have been conclusively shown to cause unhealthy cholesterol levels in the blood.
But the link between heart disease and cholesterol from the diet, and particularly from eggs and shellfish, has been progressively weakened. Researchers have found that individuals respond quite differently to cholesterol in their diets, and that only 15 to 25 percent of Americans have significant difficulty readjusting their blood cholesterol levels after eating foods high in cholesterol."
Yeah, eggs have a bad rap for sure. It’s an excellent whole food. The only thing I would add is to try to go free-range and/or organic if you can spare the $$. Just think of all the chickens being slaughted out here in BC and you can imagine why!