Why Choose Eggs?
The health, economical and environmental benefits of eggs
The humble egg has impressive health credentials, as well as a lot to offer in economical savings and a low environmental impact. When compared to other proteins, eggs offer the best nutrition, as well as one of the lowest carbon footprints and the most affordable cost.
If you’re thinking of using eggs in your commercial food products, or you simply just want to eat more of them, here’s all the reasons why eggs make the best protein choice.
Health Benefits
Just one egg contains, on average:
Eggs also contain a huge range of vitamins, minerals and nutrients including:
Choline
supports brain development
Vitamin B12
boosts immune system
Carotenoids
improve heart & eye health
Amino Acids
for muscle development
Adding eggs to salads
US researchers at Purdue University have found that adding a hard boiled egg to your salad could be more beneficial to your health. The fat in the egg increases the absorption of carotenoids (these are antioxidants which are linked to good heart and eye health) from the vegetables [source]..
Eggs & Ageing
Eating eggs can help to prevent muscle loss caused by ageing. This is because they’re packed full of protein, which is essential to muscle health, and Leucine (an amino acid) which works specifically to preserve muscle [source]. Animal proteins, including eggs, are the best sources of high-quality protein and Leucine.
Eggs & Development
An egg a day could prevent stunted growth in infants. The first two years of life are critical for growth and development, but research shows that stunted growth is 47% less prevalent in children who eat one egg a day [source]. This is thanks to the protein and nutrients found in eggs.
Environmental Benefits
Eggs are one of the most eco-friendly sources of protein. They boast the following sustainability statistics:
How Proteins Compare
Kilograms of greenhouse gases per serving [source]
Waste and by-product
The egg industry produces very little waste. This is because the entire egg (apart from the shell) is edible. This means that each egg has just 0.12 kg of unused material (however this does not go to waste, as we recycle our egg shells into a component of plastic).
By comparison, proteins which come from livestock produce a lot of waste and by-product due to large percentages of the animal being inedible (up to 47% in the case of beef [source]). This waste must be disposed of, or transported to other facilities to be used as a by-product, which in turn contributes to CO2 emissions or landfill waste.
Agricultural Productivity
It’s a well-known fact that the meat industry uses a large amount of farmland. However, eggs have a high measure of usable protein per unit area of land compared to meat.
Eggs have a measure of 8 grams per square metre of usable protein, compared to 4 g/m² for meat (average) and only 1.7 g/m² for beef [source].
