Healthy Ways to Eat Eggs
Eggs are foods rich in protein and can be eaten every day, even by children. An eat eggs or two during breakfast suffices major part of Protein needs of a person on a given day.
An adult can have two – three eggs a day and a child can have one.
So how to eat eggs – cooked or raw?
Definitely, the cooked eggs are healthier.
Reasons?
- Raw eggs contain avidin, a protein that binds the biotin quite strongly. When eggs are cooked, the binding gets denatured to a good extent letting the biotin to be available in higher amounts.
- Salmonella is a bacteria which can be found in the egg as well as its shell, can cause bacterial stomach infections. Even clean, uncracked shells of store-bought eggs may contain this bacteria, so cooking them at high temperatures is the safest option.
- Finally, proteins in cooked eggs are easily digestible than raw eggs.
Brown Eggs vs White Eggs vs Country Eggs
Country Eggs are the healthiest, no doubt and come in off white colour. That is it.
Then, there comes the confusion between brown eggs and white eggs sold in grocery stores/supermarkets. Basically, they are the same. And the color of the shell just tells the breed of the hen. Brown hens lay brown eggs and white hens lay white eggs, that is all.
Easy and Healthy Ways to Cook Eggs
Boiled Eggs
Boil eggs in water for 6 minutes for fully set white yolk and liquid yellow yolk for half boiled eggs and full 12 minutes for hard boiled eggs.
Poached Eggs
- Heat water and bring it to a boil (mild).
- Crack open the egg and drop it into the water.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Poached eggs are ready.
Note – Don’t add salt to the water. Instead, sprinkle salt and pepper over the poached egg and eat it.
Fried Egg
- Sprinkle or spray oil/ghee or rub a little butter on the frying pan.
- Heat it over low flame for about not more than 30 seconds.
- When it is just becoming hot, simmer the flame, break open the egg or two in the skillet and pour the yolks on the oil.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle pepper and salt as per your taste. Fried egg, also known as, ‘Sun side up’ is ready.
- You can also flip it over and cook the other side as well, for say a couple of minutes.
Other methods
Two other common methods of cooking eggs are vegetable filled Omelet and Scrambled eggs.
Omelet and Fried eggs are great choices as a breakfast meal and Fried eggs are a traditional breakfast in many countries.
Points to Remember
- Poached, runny eggs are still undercooked.
- Do not overheat the oil while preparing fried eggs.
- Store bought eggs may appear clean and Salmonella free, but still, they may contain the bacteria.
