Which came First?
“EGG OR CHICKEN?”. A known Scientist answered this question that chicken came first. But there is a trending question in a common man’s mind that how an egg should be eaten! As a whole or only egg white? Despite many pieces of research and facts people are still clueless about Fats & Protein in Egg White & Egg Yolk. That is why you must read my blog, “Importance of Protein And Amino Acids” to avoid confusion.
In the fitness industry, this statement is very peculiar. I will try my best to answer this question with some facts and logical statements. I hope that you find it informative and interesting as well.
We often hear the statement that egg is a nutritious and complete food. A medium-size whole egg contains about 6 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat. By 6 grams of protein, I mean about 3 grams of protein in egg white & 3 gram of protein in Egg yolk. Upon calculating the number of kilocalories
Protein in 1 Egg White:
One gram of protein gives 4 kcal,
1 gram of carbohydrate gives = 4 kcal
One gram of fat gives = 9 kcal (more than double the amount of the carbohydrate)
So,
6 gm of protein = 6*4 = 24 kcal
6 gm of fat = 6* 9 = 54 kcal.
In totality, one medium-sized whole egg will provide you with 54 kcal +24kcal = 78 kcal. Isn’t it a good number! Yes, it is. but people nowadays like to consume egg white at most. This is in trend due to their thought of having protein through egg white. Nobody wants to eat egg yolk because of this notion about avoiding fat present in egg yolk. You must be thinking that yolk contains bad fat bad for health.
Why should you eat Egg Yolk?
Why should you eat it? First, Egg yolk also contains the same amount of protein as its white portion do, around 3 to 3.5 gm. Second, the fat which it contains is very much crucial and essential for our body. I would like you to read my earlier blog, “Know about Good Fats vs Bad Fats” which will solve this query to a maximum extent. I have beautifully mentioned in it that fats produce sex and stress hormones in our bodies.
It is responsible for the transfer of messages from nerve to the organs. Without fat, our cells cannot make or maintain their structure as it accounts for 47% to 49% there. Third, let me enlighten you with the fact that egg also contains all vitamins and minerals absorbed with the help of the fat present inside an egg. Hence making this fat essential and worthy!
Egg without yolk is not at all efficient.
I would like to ask you one question on the basis of numbers, facts and logic. And it may help you find the answer on your own. The question is, “what type of food you would like to consume? High in quality and less in quantity or High in quantity and less in quality?”. You may choose “High in quality and Less in quantity”, as no one wants to fill their stomach with useless food sources. So, this is the logic that flies away when it comes to real-life applications.
For example, you choose to eat 5 whole eggs and your friend goes with 10 egg white portions. The difference is clearly visible in terms of caloric density and quality. Hereby quality I mean, the methods using which any food is assessed known as “ biological value“.
Biological Value of An Egg:
This test shows that how good a particular food is with respect to absorption in the body post-eating. You get an idea if its absorption is maximum or the major portion is coming out as a waste. On this biological value scale, whole egg scores 100 out of 100 and egg white scores 70-75. These numbers clearly indicate that the whole egg is maximally absorbed by our digestive system and egg white is slightly down in this aspect. Think twice before throwing the yellow portion of an egg!
Upon consuming 5 whole eggs, you will get 5*78 kcal = 390 kcal of energy. At the same time, when your friend chooses to eat 10 egg white portions, he gets less energy as 10*24 kcal = 240 kcal. We can observe without a doubt that you ate less food which is high in quality. Because biological value of whole eggs is 100 making its absorption near to 100 percent. In your friend’s case, he consumed a large quantity of egg white portions having less caloric density. The quality of food is also low as the biological value is 75. That means it is less absorbed and less available for its function in the body.
The above classic example and facts related to it are good enough to prove that an egg must be eaten as a whole.
Chicken Breast or Chicken Leg?
I will move ahead establishing a sense of eating further. There are various nutrients that come in nature together. Foods present in nature are meant to be eaten as a whole and not selectively. A little stress is good for your brain. So now think about our ancestors when they used to hunt an animal for food. Did they use to eat that animal selectively? Having only the leg piece or the lean cut?
Not at all! They always utilized their hunt maximally or optimally from bone to skin and from blood to each and everything. But in today’s era, you smartly eat selective food without giving a thought that if nature has kept it in conjunction, then why are we separating it? This tendency is not only present with respect to an egg, it persists in mostly all food groups. For instance, milk! You drink milk mostly after the removal of its cream. To give another example, breast of a chicken is preferred over the leg piece. As everyone believes that its breast contains less fat than leg piece.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, I conclude that you should never be selective in natural food items. Consume them whole and see the results. This is the main reason that before the introduction of selective eating, people were more powerful and healthier than us, free from all metabolic disorders!
