Eat your yolks! They are considered the perfect food and the healthiest part of the egg! They provide so much more than what is found in the whites. The yolks provide valuable vitamins such as A, D, E & K, omega-3 fats, folate, antioxidants and choline! It is also not the demon of what is associated with high cholesterol levels in your blood or heart disease. Your liver actually makes about 75% of your body’s cholesterol so whether you are eating it in your diet or not you are still producing it. One the reasons your body produces it is because it needs it. Every single one of your cells produces cell membranes made from cholesterol.
One of best reasons we need to eat the yolks is that it contains choline! Which has been identified to be an essential nutrient that we do not get enough of. Choline functions like b-vitamins so it’s often grouped in this category because it promotes optimal health in the liver, nervous system, decreases heart disease, helps support cell structure and metabolism.
The source of your eggs makes a huge difference in quality of the nutrients it provides. You want to eat “pastured” eggs from organic chickens! Once you have eaten pastured organic eggs you will never want to eat commercially raised eggs again. You will notice the difference in the color of the yolk! An organic pastured egg has deep rich orange color where as a commercial raised egg lack color mainly because they are not exposed to sunlight and have a diet that is depleted in nutrients.
Eating the whole egg helps lower blood pressure which most people think the complete opposite as well as helps individuals with diabetes 2 and is rich in brain fats so it’s great for neurological function too.
Eating raw eggs is actually more nutritious than eating cooked eggs. Make sure if you are eating raw they are from a high quality source you trust as well as organic and pastured. There is a warning for food safety when consuming raw eggs. The risk is high if you are eating conventional eggs where Salmonella is more probable than a small organic farmer. Cooking destroys some of the nutrients of the yolk so if you cook them the best way would be soft boiled or poached where the yolk is still runny.
So let’s recap, most of the nutrition in the egg yolk not the white which is merely protein. The yolk is loaded with nutrients, like bioflavonoids, brain fats like phosphatidyl choline, powerful antioxidants and sulfur. Eat your yolks and not just 1 or 2 a week! It’s without a doubt better than eating cereal that is processed (no matter how healthy you think it might be) and probably will raise your blood sugar.
Try eating the whole egg for a nutrient dense meal! Let me know in the comments if you love eating yolks or are you a die hard egg white person!
