Embrace eggs for extra protein and nutrition

Eggs are an excellent, inexpensive source of high-quality protein. In fact, egg protein is the gold standard nutritionists use to rank other proteins. We'll teach you more about eggs and why you should have more.

• What makes the protein in eggs so superior? It contains all of the essential amino acids (the ones your body can't make on its own) in just the right proportions.
• Because they're all protein and fat, eggs have no impact on your blood sugar, making them a much better breakfast choice than sugary cereal or pancakes. And like all protein foods, they may help control your appetite by keeping you full longer.
• One study found that women who ate two eggs with toast at breakfast felt less hungry before lunch and ate significantly fewer calories during the rest of the day than those who ate a bagel and cream cheese that provided the same number of calories.
• Egg yolks are one of the few foods naturally rich in vitamin D, a much-needed vitamin that few people get enough of. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and has recently been linked with lower risks of various cancers.
• Eggs are also a surprisingly good source of bone-building vitamin K. Plus, they're loaded with lutein, which helps protect against macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older folks.
• Eggs contain choline, a compound that animal studies suggest could help improve your memory as you age. Some studies found that giving extra choline to pregnant rats created better-functioning brain cells in their babies.

Eggs have developed an undeserved reputation over the years for being bad for your health. Let's reveal the realities.

• It's true that eggs have a lot of cholesterol (about 213 milligrams) in the yolk. It's also true that if you have diabetes, your heart health should be a top priority. But dozens of studies have found that it's saturated fat, not cholesterol, that has the greatest effect on blood cholesterol, so eating eggs in moderation is just fine.
• For people with elevated cholesterol or those who are especially sensitive to the cholesterol in foods, experts recommend eating no more than three or four egg yolks a week. Egg whites, which contain no cholesterol, don't count.
• A large egg serves up about 75 calories and five grams of fat, less than two grams of it saturated.
• You can enjoy a two-egg omelet with a piece of whole-grain toast, and your breakfast will still be reasonably low in calories as long as you don't load it up with butter and cheese.
• Studies find that even two eggs a day have no effect on cholesterol in most people. Replace one of the eggs with two egg whites if you like.
• Environmental and ethical issues of chicken housing and feeding aside, eggs vary little in nutrition from one brand to the next, with two exceptions. One is eggs fortified with heart-smart omega-3 fatty acids. Usually, this is accomplished by adding flaxseed to the chickens' feed. Each egg typically provides 150 to 200 milligrams of omega-3s. This is a small fraction of the amount you'd get from eating a piece of fish, but some is better than none.
• The other exception is reduced-cholesterol eggs, which contain 25 percent less cholesterol than regular eggs. These eggs are usually produced by feeding the chickens a vegetarian diet high in canola oil.

Eggs truly are a superfood, and they're one that's both easy to prepare (in a variety of tasty ways!) and very inexpensive. Versatile and delicious, healthy and simple, eggs deserve to be a staple of your diet.