There’s a lot of confusion around eggs, and whether or not they’re a good food to help you lose weight.
The short answer is yes…they can help you lose weight. But they can also make you gain weight.
Let’s dive into this a little deeper.
If you want to lose weight, there’s ONE main thing you have to do: you must burn more calories than you eat. It doesn’t really matter where the calories come from. Eggs, Oreos, protein, carbs, fat, whatever: as long as you are eating less than you are burning, you’ll lose weight.
Some of those calories could come from eggs, but they don’t have to. Strictly speaking, it doesn’t matter. Eggs do not have any special properties that cause you to gain or lose any extra fat.
So the real question is, are eggs HELPFUL in a weight-loss diet? Practically speaking, do they make it easier or harder to eat less?
And from that perspective, eggs ARE a good food for weight loss. And the main reason I say that is because eggs are filling. They keep you feeling full.
There are 3 different nutrients that you can have in your food that will help you feel full. Those are: Fiber, Healthy Fats, and Protein. Those 3 things will make your food more satiating. They will slow down the digestion of your food and make you feel full.
Eggs have 2 out of the 3. Healthy fats and protein. They are relatively low in calories, around 70 calories per egg, which is also important for weight loss.
So yes, eggs are good for weight loss, mainly because they help keep you feeling full.
A 2008 study published in the International Journal of Obesity backs this up. This study came to the conclusion that a breakfast with eggs “enchances weight loss when combined with an energy-deficit diet, but does not induce weight loss in a free-living condition.”
There you have it. Eggs are helpful for weight loss, but there’s nothing super special about them. You still have to eat fewer calories than you burn.
So if you like eggs, go ahead and include them in your diet. They will help make weight loss a little easier. If you don’t like eggs, skip ’em. And replace them with a nutritious alternative, like yogurt, lean meat, fruits and veggies, and so on.