The egg and skeletal muscle health
This protein food has the highest digestibility score of amino acids but also many other superpowers.
Eggs represent one of the most controversial foods in human nutrition. Unjustly accused of causing heart disease, they were finally vindicated in 2015 when the USDA raised the dietary cholesterol limit and specified that eggs do not pose a risk and can be consumed freely.
Several studies have concluded that eggs do not increase biomarkers associated with heart disease, and studies that have found that they do are suspect in the way they are structured and conducted.
Here are some of the "superpowers" of eggs and why it is good to include them often in your diet.
The egg and skeletal muscle health
The digestibility score of amino acids is the gold standard when it comes to measuring protein quality. It is a combination of the degree of digestibility and how well it satisfies amino acid needs.
Anything above 90% is a very good score. Meat and fish have high scores of 92-94%. Eggs? Well, eggs are more arrogant and have a fantastic score of 118%.
How do you get a score higher than 100%? Not only that the protein digestion rate in eggs is 97%, they also have an abundance of amino acids that exceed the usual needs of the human body. This results in the amazing mathematical score I was talking about.
But many who work with the digestibility score of amino acids do not accept values above 100, so they round down. So we will say about eggs that they are at the perfect score of 100%, being a perfect source of protein.
Multiple studies also show their anabolic power. When the consumption of egg whites was compared with the consumption of casein, the egg whites were clearly superior. It is assumed that this is due to the much higher absorption.
Eating whole eggs is even more anabolic than plain egg whites. Whole eggs create greater activation of the mTOR anabolic pathway. The higher the mTOR levels, the higher the protein synthesis. This can be up to 45% higher when whole eggs are consumed, than when only the whites are consumed.
Most likely, the cause is the micronutrients and phospholipids in the yolk.
The egg and weight loss
In general, protein foods have a higher level of satiety, but eggs also have the unusual property of suppressing plasma ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is a hormone associated with increased appetite: the less ghrelin you have in circulation, the better you resist food cravings.
Eggs also reduce lipid absorption, in addition to inhibiting lipase activity, both of which can lead to a reduction in abdominal fat.
One study compared eating eggs or bagels for breakfast. Logically, eggs were more filling than pretzels, but surprisingly, those who ate eggs had a lower caloric intake in the following 24 hours, showing that the effects of eggs on appetite are long-lasting.
As an aside, in the study with eggs for breakfast versus bagels, no differences were noticed in cholesterol levels between the two groups!
The egg and sarcopenia
Sarcopenia is the phenomenon of the degradation of muscle mass as we age. In addition to muscle mass, strength is also lost. This can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and even the risk of cancer.
There is also sarcopenic obesity, when a lot of muscle mass is lost and a lot of fat accumulates.
The consumption of any kind of protein helps the population exposed to this risk, but eggs in particular are more effective . Especially for the elderly, it is easier for them to eat eggs to meet their daily protein needs, than pieces of meat. Eggs are much easier to digest, but also to chew, swallow and prepare.
The egg, immunity and protection against diseases
By improving the health of skeletal muscles, eggs can increase insulin sensitivity, reduce the risk of prehypertension and high blood pressure, fight cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, and generally reduce mortality.
At the molecular level, chicken eggs are full of immunoglobulin Y (IgY), the avian equivalent of mammalian immunoglobulin G. IgY has been used to support passive immunity to treat and prevent diseases caused by hostile microbes.
Egg proteins also contain the enzymes lysosome, avidin, phosvitin and ovotransferrin, all of which end the life of various harmful bacteria.
It also offers protection against irritable bowel syndrome and suppresses colon tumors.
But how many eggs can I eat safely?
The evidence shows that whole eggs are superior in terms of health, but if you can't get the ghost of cholesterol out of your head, it's hard not to see eggs as something radioactive!
There are no studies that provide an exact figure, so use common sense. Do not exaggerate by eating 5 eggs daily, but do not avoid whole eggs either.
85% of cholesterol in the body is regulated by the liver and only 15% comes from food. Eggs also contain saturated fats, but only 1.6 g per egg, which is very little compared to a beef steak that has 21 grams!
So, eat damn eggs! Their nutritional values cannot be ignored. If you want to be healthy, big and strong, eat eggs!
15.11.2022