Today we are going to the mailbag with an episode suggestion from Jess, and we are going to get extremely smart about eggs. What they are, why they’re good for you, and we will teach you a few ways to sneak more eggs into your daily nutrition. Huevos away!

WHAT IS AN EGG?

Let’s get existential for a moment. What is an egg? Specifically, what is a chicken egg, as that is the most common type of poultry egg eaten in the US.

1. Hi my name is Sadie and I spent half my childhood on my grandpa’s farm hanging out with cats and chickens, let me scientifically break down what we are going to be talking about today.
   • An egg is formed in a mature hen by a reproductive system composed of an ovary and oviduct.
   • A sign of a high-quality egg is a tiny air cell… which means the egg was collected soon after it was layed and was stored properly. The air cell is usually on the thicc end of the egg.
2. Eggs are made up of approximately two-thirds white and one-third yolk inside of that little shell.
   • Let’s get into the anatomy of a chicken egg real quick, because you should know as much as you can about the stuff you eat.
     • There’s the yolk, it’s worth about 55 calories per egg, then there’s all the other stuff. 
     • The other stuff is the albumen (egg white), it costs about 20 calories per egg. The little sprial thingies in the whites called the chalazae, they help keep the yolk stable, this is helpful if the egg is going to be fertilized.
     • For our application today, chalazae mean nothing… they’re totally safe to eat and you don’t really even notice them once you cook an egg.

WHY THEY’RE GOOD FOR YOU

If you did some quick math a moment ago, you already know that one egg contains 75 calories, for those 75 calories, you get: 5g of fat, 6g of protein, 0 carbs, 67mg of potassium, 70mg of sodium, and 210mg of cholesterol.

1. They’re a main source of dietary protein in the human diet.
   • They are also a great source of vitamins A, D, and B12… as well as choline, which is essential in a lot of your body’s metabolic processes.
2. They can help you improve your cholesterol. Did you know that your liver produces cholesterol? Now you do. So here’s the deal – your liver makes cholesterol every day, but the amount that it makes depends on how much you get in your daily food intake.
   • If you get a lot of cholesterol from food, your liver makes less. If you don’t eat cholesterol, your liver makes more… so as we say about most things on your fitness journey, use moderation and don’t be afraid to eat eggs.
   • Eggs help raise your HDL cholesterol, that’s the good kind… and they help change the LDL, the bad kind, to a subtype that isn’t as strongly linked to heart disease.
     • There have been multiple studies to examine how eggs affect the risk of heart disease, and they didn’t find any association between the two.
     • An important note: There were some studies that show an increased risk of heart disease in people with diabetes. They’re still trying to figure out exactly how though.
3. Eggs a full of choline, and important nutrient for your brain.
   • Choline is often clumped in with the B-vitamins, but it’s essential and needed for several processes in the human body.
     • It’s required to synthesize a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, and is a component of cell membranes… cell membranes are pretty important shit, so make sure you have enough choline!
       1. Low choline intake has been linked to liver disease, heart disease, and neurological disorders.
       2. If you’re pregnant, you want to make sure you get enough of it, low choline can raise the risk of neural tube defects and lead to decreased cognitive function in the baby. Eat your eggs, and you’ll make smart babies!
       3. Eggs are one of the best sources of choline, and one large egg has 113mg of it.
4. Eggs have a perfect amino acid profile. You know how much we have a hard-on for amino acids around here.
   • Eggs have all of the essential amino acids in all the right ratios.
   • Eggs are so good at being a protein source, that the biological value (a measure of protein quality) is often evaluated by comparing it to eggs, which have the perfect score of 100.

WORK MORE EGGS INTO YOUR DIET!

You can do so much more with an egg than just frying it or hard boiling it. I mean, those options are classic and delicious, but if you wanna get sexy with it… we are here for that.

1. Eggs can help you feel more full and that can help you eat less calories during the day, which is super helpful if you’re on a cut.
   • One 8-week study of people eating eggs for breakfast vs people eating bagels showed that the egg group lost 65% more body weight, lost 16% more body fat, and had a 34% greater reduction in waist circumference.
2. I’m a big fan of coffee mug scramble. They’re super easy and way cheaper than buying the pre-packaged ones at the store which usually have more sodium in them versus if you make them at home.
   • They’re silly simple to make: throw some frozen or fresh hashbrowns in the bottom of a mug, add meat and veggies of your choice, sprinkle a lil cheese in there because we are living our lives to enjoy food that tastes good, scramble an egg or two, and dump them on top. Microwave for a minute and a half or two minutes, depending on your microwave.
3. If you want to batch cook a bunch of eggs for breakfast, bust out your sous vide stick and make starbucks egg bite dupes!
   • In a blender zap ten eggs, ½ cup of cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons of ⅓ less fat cream cheese, ¾ cup shredded gruyere, ½ teaspoon salt. Get yourself 6 strips of bacon cooked and crumbled. Set your sous vide stick to 170F. Prep 10 4oz canning jars by spraying with cooking spray, then put the bacon crumbles in the bottom and dump the egg mixture in to each jar. Screw the lids on finger tight and put in the water bath for an hour. They’re fucking delicious.
     • When you’re ready to eat, run a knife around the edge, and serve. Per two egg bites: 249cal, 22g protein, 19g fat, 2g carbs. Buen provecho!

Now that you know way more about humpty dumpty and his people, you can think about them every time you crack an egg to reach your fitness goals! Grab some sick MTK merch to rep your favorite podcaster’s favorite podcast at the gym and on the Clock App or The Gram! Show notes, training templates, and personal training services are all at meathead test kitchen dot com. MTK OUT.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/chicken-eggs

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-reasons-why-eggs-are-the-healthiest-food-on-the-planet