But there is one major caveat: “A person needs to look at their total diet to see where they’re getting their saturated fat from,” says Gans. “It’s totally healthy to get two eggs a day, but if you like your eggs scrambled with cheese on them, then you’ve just upped your saturated fat and calories by a lot.”
For me, an egg-based meal typically involves frying two eggs in a little olive oil with salt and pepper and sliding them onto a plate with a handful of mixed greens, a few slices of avocado, and a piece of farmers’ market whole-wheat toast. But if you want to swap out that side salad and whole-wheat toast for a couple slices of cheese and bacon, you’re going to be getting an overdose of calories and fat. And switching from whole eggs to egg whites may not cut it if you’re trying to compensate.
“There are certain nutrients in the egg yolk that you’re not going to find if you just have egg whites,” says Gans. “All the fat soluble vitamins are found in the yolk, so if you remove that, yes, you are removing the fat, but you also remove a lot of nutritional value.” Not great if you’re going for a quick but healthy meal.
The bottom line, according to Gans, is that the right amount of eggs is totally dependent on the rest of your diet. A single large egg has about 80 calories, five grams of fat, and six grams of protein. So, if you’re already getting plenty of protein and fat from other meals, eating a five-egg cheese omelet for breakfast every day is not a good idea. But if you know you’ll be on the go and don’t know where your next solid source of protein will come from, go a head and crack an extra egg into the frying pan before you head out the door.
This article was originally published by our partners at Women’s Health.
