The Healthiest Ways to Cook Your Eggs

There are many different ways that eggs can be cooked, including boiling, poaching, frying, baking and scrambling.

One of the main reasons why you should cook eggs is that it makes them safer to eat and also makes some of their nutrients such as the protein and biotin easier to digest.

Studies show that the protein in eggs is easier to digest when it’s been cooked. One study found that the human body could use 91% of the protein in cooked eggs, compared to 51% in raw eggs.

Eggs are a good source of biotin, which is an important nutrient used in fat and sugar metabolism. It’s also known as vitamin B7, or vitamin H.

Avidin a protein in raw eggs binds to biotin making it unavailable for your body to use. When the eggs are cooked the heat causes structural change to avidin, making it less effective at binding to biotin hence making it easier to absorb.

On the other hand, high cooking may damage vital nutrients found in eggs such as vitamin A. It is reduced by 17-20%. Cooking eggs by microwaving, boiling and frying  reduces the amount of antioxidants  the eggs by 6-18%.

Shorter cooking times (even at high temperatures) have been shown to retain more nutrients.

Eggs baked for 40 minutes may lose up to 61% of their vitamin D, compared to up to 18% when they are fried or boiled for a shorter amount of time.

Though cooking may reduce some nutrients in eggs, they are still a very rich source of vitamins and antioxidants.

The cholesterol in eggs cooked at high temperatures may become oxidized and produce compounds known as oxysterols.

Oxysterols may be a concern for some people, as oxidized cholesterol and oxysterols in the blood have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease.

Five cooking tips to eating healthier eggs:

1. Choose a Low-Calorie Cooking Method: If you are trying to reduce calories in your diet, choose poached or boiled eggs.
2. Combine Them With Vegetables: Eggs go really well with vegetables.This means that eating eggs is a great opportunity to boost your vegetable intake and add extra fiber and nutrients to your meal.
   
3. Fry Them in an Oil That’s Stable at High Temperatures: If you do fry eggs, always use extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil or pure butter.
   
4. Choose the Most Nutritious Eggs You Can Afford: In general, pasture-raised and organic eggs are thought to be nutritionally superior to caged and conventionally-produced eggs.
5. Don’t Overcook Them: The longer and hotter you cook your eggs, the more nutrients you may lose.

In conclusion, shorter and lower-heat cooking methods cause less oxidation of cholesterol and help retain most of the nutrients in the eggs. Hence poached and boiled (either hard or soft) eggs may be the healthiest way to eat your eggs.

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