I have read many articles, recipes and diets promoting the use of egg whites and excluding the yolk. Much of my diet is vegan and excludes milk, butter, cheese however I have never had any problems with egg so do often make dishes including egg. Not only do I love the taste and versatility of cooking with an egg, but they are also a great source of protein to my diet. I recently read a recipe for an egg white omelette and wanted to try making an egg white breakfast myself and to share with you all, that then got me thinking what are the health benefits of a dish like this so I began some research in to the whether egg whites alone are really healthier.
An average egg contains approximately 72 calories, 55 of those calories come from the yolk and only 17 from the white. There is 4.5 grams of fat in the yolk compared to 0.1 grams in the white and on another seemingly positive side the white contains 5 grams of protein and the yolk has the other 2.7grams. Now if you were on a weight loss or high protein diet this would make excluding the yolk seems like a good option as its high protein and low fat.
Looking in to the vitamins and minerals from an egg, the egg white alone contains 80% of the magnesium and 75% of the potassium content which is good for the heart and blood. However, the yolk contains 90% of the calcium and 93% of the iron content from the whole egg, meaning you lose close to any calcium or iron content you would have gained from the egg when you exclude the yolk.
One of the most common reasons people use egg whites alone is to reduce the amount of fat and calories they would get if eating the whole egg. The egg yolk contains 4.5grams of fat but it is a GOOD fat, the body needs fats to survive and an egg is a healthy way to get the healthy fats in to your diet. The fat that an egg contains is a long chain Omega 3 fatty acid DHA, which is good for a healthy brain along with being known to promote healthy hair and skin.
Another negative myth surrounding egg yolks is they contribute to heart disease and other heart related problems due to the yolk containing 210mg of cholesterol and 0.0mg in just the egg white. However cholesterol itself does not cause heart disease and there is no evidence been found to prove that the yolk can contribute to heart disease.
After reading in to all the facts about egg yolks vs whites, I would have to say that I don’t agree with using just the egg white for a ‘healthier’ alternative. Yes, it is a lower calorie and lower fat alternative but while you’re saving yourself these calories and fat you are losing out on nutrition such as calcium, iron and essential fatty acids which are good for the brain and what better way to start your day than by knowing you’re feeding your brain with your breakfast. I think that using the egg white alone is a good alternative if you are trying to lose weight or you are on a short term high protein diet but from a health point of view in short, you lose the yolk and you’re losing the majority of the nutrition.
With all this in mind I thought I would create an egg white breakfast to try for myself what the taste was like, if any different! I personally couldn’t taste much difference besides the slight lack of taste in my opinion compared to when I use the whole egg, it also didn’t cook as easily as the whole egg and I had to leave it in the pan for much longer than I normally do with scrambled egg so if you do begin to cook and it looks like it’s not going anywhere, persevere as it will eventually scramble. It made a nice breakfast and filled me up but I’m not convinced that egg whites are the way forward for me and I’ll be sticking to using the whole egg in future to get all that good nutrition!
Recipe:
serves 1
Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites
- 3 tbsp. of rice milk
- 1 ½ diced tomato
- 2 sliced mushrooms
- 2 Ryvita Original Crackerbreads
- A sprinkle of Lea and Perrins to top (optional)
Method:
- In a bowl mix the whisk the egg whites with the rice milk and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste, leave aside.
- Slice the mushrooms and dice the tomato. Grease a frying pan with low cal spray and add the mushroom and tomato, leave to cook for five minutes.
- Pour the egg white mix over the veg in the frying pan and keep everything moving to avoid any egg sticking to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes until golden brown.
- Move on to a warm plate and season with Lea and Perrins. Enjoy with some lightly buttered Ryvita Crackerbread.
