We all agree that eggs are nutritious, aren’t they? By integrating eggs to your diet, be sure that you will be serving your body with not only good food but also serving it with justice . In this post, we gonna learn about eggs, their sources, history of consumption, quality egg determination and health benefits of ingesting eggs.
Some people love eggs as scrambled, others love them boiled while others want them fried. Then there’s me, I prefer all. I am interested in all three types of preparation. Anyway, we are humans and human beings exhibit diversity. This is part of what makes our nature to be beautiful- the availability of variety in human characters. Talking of varieties, eggs too have varieties. Examples of egg varieties are-Standard brown eggs, standard white eggs, free-run eggs, organic eggs, omega-3 eggs, vitamin-enhanced eggs, furnished/enriched eggs and many others.
- Pasteurized eggs- heated to a temperature fairly below coagulation point in order to kill disease-causing micro-organisms(pathogens)
- Omega-3 eggs- chickens that lay this kind of eggs are fed a special diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids
- Free range eggs- laid by chicken that are not restricted to one environment
- Vitamin enhanced eggs- from chicken fed with higher amounts of vitamins( eg Vitamin E, D) and others
Sources
There exist several types of birds that lay edible eggs. These are the sources; sourced from:
- Chicken
- Duck
- Turkey
- Goose
- Quail
- Pheasant
- Ostrich
- Emu
Parts
Eggs commonly have ;
- Shell
- Outer and inner membranes
- White/ albumen
- Yolk
- Vitelline yolk membrane
- Germinal disk
Quality egg determination
Egg quality refers to several standards that are imposed upon eggs. Some of the standards are based on subjective measures of the egg quality and some are based on the more quantitative measures.
Exterior egg quality is based on;
- Colour
- Soundness
- Cleanliness
- Shape
- Integrity
- Texture
Recommended consumption per day
- 8-12 months; 3-4 eggs/week
- Children 1-2 years old; 3-4 eggs/week
- 3-17 years; 1 egg/day
- Adults; 1-2 eggs per day.
Nutritive benefits
- Vitamins – Fat soluble vitamins(A, D, E, K) and Water-soluble Vitamins B12, B2, B5
- Minerals such as Iron, phosphorous, Vitamin K(Note that lack of sufficient iron in body stores predisposes indiduals at risk to Iron deficiency anaemia)
- Choline- for liver function and brain health
- Healthy fats- omega 3 fatty acids
- Antioxidants- eg lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health
Conclusion
The nutritional profile of eggs makes them very useful for incorporation in human diet. They are a valuable part of a well balanced diet.