The Word on Weightloss

I bet you didn’t know that eating eggs could help you lose weight. In fact, I didn’t realize it until recently reading and researching the best foods for weight loss. Eating whole eggs is vital because the goodness of eggs is found in both parts: the white and the yolk. At the yellow center of an egg, the yolk contains over 90 percent of an egg’s calcium and iron. The white contains almost half the egg’s protein.

This news came as a surprise to me. For years I thought eggs were unhealthy because they contain bad cholesterol. Although eggs do contain cholesterol, it’s “dietary cholesterol”—different from the “blood cholesterol” in your body. Despite the health recommendations of the past, there's really no evidence that eating eggs will increase your blood cholesterol levels.

A study carried out by the Rochester Center for Obesity Research in Minnesota found that eating eggs for breakfast helps limit your calorie intake all day. The study compared 30 overweight or obese women who ate either an egg-based breakfast (2 eggs) or a bagel-based breakfast, making sure that both breakfast choices contained the same amount of calories and almost identical levels of protein. After recording the women’s eating habits, the researchers found that just before lunch, the women who ate the eggs for breakfast felt less hungry and ate a smaller lunch as a result. Better still, over the next 36 hours the group eating the egg-containing breakfast consumed, on average, 417 calories less than the bagel-eating group. This equates to losing three pounds or more per month.

So I’m sure your next question is "why?" An egg-centric breakfast may contain the same or similar amounts of protein as a bagel, but eggs have far less carbohydrates, which are burned quickly potentially causing you to feel hungry faster. This study shows us that eating eggs at breakfast could help you eat less throughout your day, and that’s important for any diet and weight loss program!

As a quick snack boil a few eggs and eat one as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. They’re easy to carry, and can help you lose weight as they contain an excellent amount of protein to keep you feeling full and help your muscles recover after an intense workout.

My favorite egg recipe is Eggs Benedict, which isn’t usually the healthiest brunch selection for dieting or my weight management because of the ham or bacon and a rich butter sauce. But here’s a great recipe that uses a yogurt and chive hollandaise sauce to contrast with the richness of poached eggs. Use lean prosciutto instead of bacon to make it more diet-friendly.

Eggs Benedict with Yogurt and Chive Hollandaise

Ingredients
1 teaspoon vinegar
4 eggs
4 whole-wheat English muffins, halved
4 slices prosciutto, about 50 g in total, trimmed of all visible fat
pepper to taste
paprika to garnish
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives to garnish

Yogurt and Chive Hollandaise Sauce
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
6 oz plain Greek-style yogurt
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
pepper to taste

Directions

1. Hollandaise sauce: whisk together the egg yolks, mustard and yogurt in a heatproof bowl. Set over a saucepan of barely simmering water and cook for about 12–15 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick—the sauce will become thinner at first, but will then start to thicken. Stir in the chives, and season with pepper. Remove from the heat and keep the sauce warm over the pan of hot water.
2. Poach the eggs using these directions.
3. Lightly toast the muffin halves for about 1 minute on each side. Top each with a slice of prosciutto, crumpled slightly to fit. Season with pepper.
4. Place a poached egg on each prosciutto-topped muffin half.
5. Spoon the warm hollandaise sauce over the eggs, and sprinkle each serving with a pinch of paprika and the chives.
6. Serve immediately with the remaining toasted muffin halves.