Eggs are one of the most nourishing foods that nature has provided us. Eggs contain many vital nutrients which your body needs to function properly. Here is the nutritional content of an egg - protein, carbohydrate, fat, sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, iodine, chlorine, sulphur, selenium, vitamins A, C, D, E, lecithin, cholesterol, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, folate, biotin amongst others. The iodine is essential for the good functioning of the thyroid and the selenium is a good antioxidant. Eggs also contain carotenoids notably the lutein and the zeaxanthin which helps vision. In addition, they can aid in weight loss as they limit muscle mass depletion and encourage fat burning.

Eggs are complete protein foods as they contain all the essential amino acids and according to the biological values of protein foods, they are one of the highest with a biological value of 100. An average egg has about 6.3 grams of protein and around 5.6 grams of fat. The albumen or egg white has 3.597 gram of protein and the yolk 2.696 gram of protein. Fortunately most of the fats in the egg yolk are healthy fats like monounsaturated(about 44%) and polyunsaturated(about 17%) and they are good for the heart and overall health. The rest is saturated fats(about 32%) which are the bad fats. The saturated fats are only about 1.7 grams per egg which is not much unless you consume many eggs.

One major disadvantage of consuming too many whole eggs is the cholesterol in the egg yolk which is about 210 mg per egg. The egg white or albumen does not contain any cholesterol. But no need to worry as egg yolks contain these healthy fats mentioned above which can help reduce cholesterol levels and also a fat-like substance called lecithin which can inhibit cholesterol absorption. Also it's important to note that cholesterol is something that our bodies need as well for the proper functioning of our body cells. But as all things in life, moderation is key. You can easily eat 1-2 egg yolks per day and along with strength training and cardio training, you really should not worry about eating 1-2 eggs everyday. If you intend to eat more than 2 eggs per day, it's wiser to remove some of the eggs' yolks and eat the whites only. Eg if you are eating 5 eggs everyday, eat 2 yolks only. Exercising can reduce the bad cholesterol(LDL) and increase the good cholesterol(HDL).

For bodybuilders and athletes, eggs are an inexpensive source of protein and can be eaten in a number of ways like poached, boiled, scrambled, omelette, fried. In this article, I am going to cover on the hard boiled egg diet. A major benefit of eating hard boiled egg is you can easily separate the yolk from the white if you want to cut down on your egg yolk intake. Also another advantage is when you hard boil eggs, you destroy salmonella in eggs which can be harmful to our bodies. Ever heard of salmonella poisoning? So it's safer to cook your eggs well before eating. Furthermore, the protein in eggs is absorbed in your body much better and easier when it's well cooked as compared to raw eggs. Hard boiled eggs are a great food for breakfast. I usually eat 2 hard boiled eggs including the yolks everyday from Monday to Friday for breakfast along with a big bowl of peanut butter oatmeal, 1 glass of fresh juice or 1 banana and 1 glass of low fat milk. So really a copious breakfast which can keep me full for 3 hours easily. You can also hard boil eggs and cut them in slices to mix them in a salad with tomatoes, lettuce, onions and some extra virgin olive oil. Or you can use hard boil eggs in mashed potatoes. So you just need to be creative if you follow the hard boiled egg diet. After water is boiled, a hard boiled egg can take around 7-10 mins on small fire.

Since I exercise, eggs are an important source of protein in my diet. And I usually eat it for my breakfast and sometimes in other meals. You can include hard boiled egg in your diet but be sure not to eat too many egg yolks as it's not healthy. Hardboiling, cracking eggs and separating the yolks from the whites can become a hassle for some bodybuilders and athletes as they consume lots of eggs everyday. Fortunately, egg white powders are available and these people can easily get their protein intake from eggs without all these hassles.

If you like hard boiled eggs but always worry about the cholesterol content which in turn dramatically reduces your egg consumption, don't be anymore. With this information in hand, you can be sure to eat and appreciate hard boiled eggs in your diet without constantly worrying about the egg cholesterol. If you tell some people you eat one hard boiled egg everyday, the first thing they might say is that it's not good at all and it's full of cholesterol. While they are right about the cholesterol, they don't know about all the egg yolk benefits. In fact, most of the egg nutrients are found in the egg yolks. For them, they only know egg yolk = cholesterol = bad. One thing that they don't know is that egg yolks contain mostly healthy fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated and only a small amount are saturated fats.

Of course, it's recommended to be active and even if you were not eating eggs, you should be active as well. If you lead an active healthy lifestyle with some physical activities, strength training or cardio training about 2-3 times per week, there is no reason why you should stay away from eating eggs.

About the author

Jean Lam is the webmaster of Body Building Resource which provides articles on weight training, nutrition and fitness, body building book and DVDs.