Eggs are considered to be a good source of protein and minerals. Bodybuilders eat eggs mainly for protein. But many people are often concerned about the carbs that an egg contains. Are these carbs healthy? Can an egg be used in a keto diet? Or, how many carbohydrates in egg are there? Let us find out.
Nutritional composition of eggs
Eggs are just not proteins and carbs. Their benefits are far beyond these two macronutrients. Eggs are rich in calcium. They also have good traces of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc. Eggs are also rich in good cholesterol. They are also a major source of Vitamin A.
Eggs are also a good source of essential amino acids. These are amino acids that your body cannot produce but they are required to manufacture protein in your body.
Having said that let us understand the number of carbohydrates in eggs. What are the benefits and what are the drawbacks? We will also discuss the pros and cons of eating eggs regularly.
| Egg nutrition information | Per 100 grams |
| Energy kcal (calories) | 131 |
| Energy kJ | 547 |
| Fat (g) | 9.0 |
| Saturates (g) | 2.5 |
| Monounsaturates (g) | 3.4 |
| Polyunsaturates (g) | 1.4 |
| Carbohydrate (g) | trace |
| Sugars (g) | trace |
| Protein (g) | 12.6 |
| Salt (g) | 0.39 |
How many carbohydrates in an egg?
One large egg contains only 0.6 grams of carbohydrates. This means that if you are afraid of carbs then you should include eggs in your diet. Although, eggs contain cholesterol too. The National Institute of Health strictly recommends not to consume more than 4 eggs per week.
Many people think that carbohydrates are not good for your body. They are often called non-essential macronutrients. But, this perception about carbohydrates has originated from the consistent promotion of low carb food to control obesity, heart diseases and diabetes. These are the major ailments that are killing people in millions.
But, we should not forget that there are billions of people for whom carbohydrates are the main source of energy. Especially in poor countries. Carbohydrates are easily digestible when compared to protein and fats.
The body also requires carbohydrates to function properly. Your daily diet should contain around 45 to 65 per cent of carbohydrates for a healthy body. This has been suggested by the Institute of Medicines. The requirement increases for pregnant women when it is advised to have more than 175 grams of carbs daily.
Good Carb, Bad Carb
Recent studies have clearly indicated that not all carbs are bad. Some carbs are good for your body and all nutritionists advise people to eat the “good carb” more often. Then there are the bad carbs that shoot up your sugar levels and are also responsible for obesity.
Good carbs are complex carbohydrates with long chain of sugar. These are good for the gut bacteria as well as they do not get digested too quickly. Thus they have a low glycaemic index as compared to bad carbs. A fascinating example is a banana. When a banana is green the carbs in it are the complex carbs. They are good for guts and the banana has a low glycaemic index. But as it ripens, the quantity of simple or bad carbohydrates increase. The glycaemic index too rises. The amount of fructose also increases.
Thus, carbohydrates are not bad as they are portrayed. And a small number of carbohydrates in eggs won’t harm you either. Thus after knowing how many carbohydrates are in the egg it is time to understand the different ways eggs can be consumed.
Are eggs healthy?
Some people consider eggs to be harmful due to cholesterol content. Consumption of eggs is directly related to heart diseases and other related problems. But, many recent studies have clearly shown that there is no direct correlation between egg consumption and cardiovascular diseases.
A recent study on egg consumption concluded on many Chinese adults concluded that daily (egg) consumers were less likely to have prevalent hypertension compared with non-consumers. It says in its concluding remarks
“Among the eligible 461 213 participants, the mean age was 50.7 years; 41.0% were men; 42.3% resided in urban areas; about half of them consumed eggs 1–3 days per week. Participants consumed an average amount of 0.47 eggs per day. Table 1 shows age-, sex- and site-adjusted baseline characteristics of the participants by category of egg consumption. Compared with non-consumers (those who never or rarely consumed eggs), daily consumers were more likely to have a higher level of education and household income, to have a new affluence dietary pattern, and to take multivitamin supplementation. Daily consumers were less likely to have prevalent hypertension compared with non-consumers.”
How to eat eggs?
Eggs are consumed in various ways. There are thousands, if not millions of recipes related to eggs. But, let us focus on some best ways to eat eggs for a healthy body. And the best part is that you can separate the yellow and white parts of the egg depending upon your nutritional requirements.
This is the most popular way to eat eggs. You boil the egg for 10-20 minutes. After it cools down the white shell is removed and the remaining egg is consumed. A boiled egg has all the nutrients including calcium.
Another way is to make different types of recipes from eggs. The recipe might use just the egg yolk or the entire egg. Some recipes only use the white part. The white part of the egg contains calcium. It doesn’t contain cholesterol. Therefore, most people think that by consuming just the white part they will be safe. Although, as mentioned earlier there is no evidence that shows that eggs are responsible for health problems if consumed in limits.
The powdered white egg is another great form in which you can consume eggs. This power contains almost zero cholesterol and a high quantity of calcium. It is easy to store egg powder for a long.
Precautions
People allergic to eggs should avoid eating any part of the egg. You should cook the egg properly and completely to avoid any infection. Bird flu is one such example.
Don’t eat more than 1 egg per day if you have a sedentary lifestyle. If you are active then you can have a maximum of 3 to 4 eggs per day. But, we advise you to consult and certified nutritionist before planning a diet with eggs.