Eat Eggs for Weight Loss
By Dietitian Juliette Kellow BSc RD
Going to work on a couple of eggs might be the way forward if you want to shift those pounds.
According to research from the Rochester Centre for Obesity in America, eating eggs for breakfast can help to limit your calorie intake throughout the rest of the day, by more than 400 calories.
In the study, 30 overweight or obese women ate either an egg-based breakfast (2 eggs) or a bagel-based breakfast, containing the same amount of calories and almost identical levels of protein.
The researchers recorded the women’s eating habits and found that just before lunch, the women who had eaten eggs for breakfast felt less hungry and ate a smaller lunch as a result.
Better still, over the next 36 hours the group eating the egg-containing breakfast consumed, on average, 417 calories less than the bagel-eating group.
Reasearchers pointed out that within food groups, there may be as much as a twofold difference in satiety values, suggesting that certain foods promote greater satiety independent of macronutrient content or energy density.
An egg is an example of such a food that has a 50% greater satiety index compared to white bread or ready-to-eat breakfast cereal.
Weight Loss Resources says…
This study suggests that eating eggs for breakfast makes you feel fuller for longer so that you eat less at your next few meals.
This is great news if you’re trying to lose weight as it means you may find it easier to cut calories without feeling hungry.
Eggs are packed with a variety of nutrients including protein, zinc, iron and vitamins A, D, E and B12, but contain just 85 calories each.
Old advice to limit eggs to just a few each week has also been abandoned. According to the Food Standards Agency, there’s now no limit to the number of eggs you can eat in a week as part of a healthy balanced diet.
If you fancy starting the day with eggs we suggest you avoid frying them and combine them with wholemeal toast and a small glass of vitamin C-rich unsweetened orange juice, which will help the body make the best use of the iron in the eggs.
Take a look at some of our favourite quick and easy calorie counted egg recipes:
Deliciously Simple Mushroom Omelette
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