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Following a correct diet is necessary in maintaining health. In the case of athletes and people with high physical activity, an adequate diet is also essential to achieve maximum physical performance. Physically active people have higher energy expenditure, oxygen consumption and oxidative stress, and as a result of such physical effort, they suffer greater muscle loss. That is why their nutritional needs are different from those of sedentary people, and their diet must provide not only more energy but also a greater quantity and quality of other nutrients.
Eggs are considered as a super food thanks to their high content of essential nutrients, and bio-active substances. These are all easily absorbed and used by the body, and have positive effects on our health. Including eggs in the diet of anyone, and especially in that of those who are more physically active, provides clear nutritional and health benefits.
Nutritional value of the egg
Eggs are packed with nutritional value. Figure 1 shows the nutritional composition of a medium-sized egg, which is equivalent to about 50 edible grams, of which approximately 17 grams correspond to the yolk. Eggs contain significant amounts of protein, lipids, minerals, and almost all vitamins, except for vitamin C.
Figure 1.- Composition of a medium-sized egg and percentage of nutrients provided by the yolk and the white (*)
* Ortega RM, López-Sobaler AM, Andrés P, Requejo AM, Aparicio A, Molinero LM (2017). DIAL program for diet assessment and feeding calculations. Department of Nutrition and Food Science (UCM) and Alce Ingeniería, SA. Madrid, http: www.alceingenieria.net/nutricion.htm * Ortega RM, López-Sobaler AM, Requejo AM, Andrés P. The composition of food. Basic tool for nutritional assessment. Editorial Complutense, Madrid, 2010
To better understand the importance of eggs in adult diets, the percentage of recommended intakes (RI) of nutrients for adults aged 20 to 49 years that are covered by two medium-sized eggs (about 100 g edible portion) has been represented in Figure 2. Eggs provide high amounts of many nutrients: more than 15% of the average recommended intakes of protein, iron, selenium, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin A and E; and it is especially rich in phosphorus, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, biotin and choline, which makes it possible to cover more than 30% of the RI of these nutrients.
In addition to providing high amounts of nutrients, it’s worth ...
