http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_(food)
Nutritional value
| Egg, whole, cooked, hard-boiled Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Energy 150 kcal 650 kJ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eggs provide a significant amount of protein to one's diet, as well as various nutrients.
Chicken eggs are the most commonly eaten eggs, and are highly nutritious. They supply a large amount of complete, high-quality[7] protein (which contains all essential amino acids for humans), and provide significant amounts of several vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, iron, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. They are also one of the least expensive single-food sources of complete protein. One large chicken egg contains approximately 7 grams of protein.
All of the egg's vitamin A, D and E is in the eggyolk. The egg is one of the few foods which naturally contain Vitamin D (although, since this nutrient is naturally produced in humans when their skin is exposed to sunlight, other foods' lack of natural Vitamin D is not necessarily detrimental to their nutritional value). A large egg yolk contains approximately 60 Calories (250 kilojoules); the egg white contains about 15 Calories (60 kilojoules). A large yolk contains more than two-thirds of the recommended daily intake of 300 mg of cholesterol (although one study shows that the human body does not absorb much cholesterol from eggs[8]). The yolk makes up about 33% of the liquid weight of the egg. It contains all of the fat in the egg and slightly less than half of the protein and much of the nutrients. It also contains all of the choline, and one yolk contains approximately half of the recommended daily intake. Choline is an important nutrient for development of the brain, and is said to be important for pregnant and nursing women to ensure healthy fetal brain development.[9]
Recently, chicken eggs that are especially high in Omega 3 fatty acids have come on the market. These eggs are made by feeding laying hens a diet containing polyunsaturated fats and kelp meal. Nutrition information on the packaging is different for each of the brands.
Eggs may have different nutritional content depending on the feed and living conditions of the chickens who lay them. Mother Earth News compared eggs from "battery" chickens and eggs from pastured chickens, and found that when compared to the battery eggs, the pastured eggs contained, on average, four times as many omega-3 fatty acids, twice as much vitamin E, half the cholestrol and between two and six times as much beta carotene.[10]
