I have gotten a lot of questions about egg whites vs egg yolks and “what should I eat?”

We get a lot of mixed information on a daily basis about cholesterol, and I think most of the blame gets thrown on the egg yolk. Poor egg yolks. The bias against saturated fat and cholesterol has become so strong that we often forget that in nature foods like egg yolks contain the most nutrients.

I wanted to take a moment to debunk the theory that egg yolks are bad for you (and even that all cholesterol is bad for you), so you can stop throwing away those beautiful yellowish orange globs of goodness.

First, a (simplified, quick) note on cholesterol: Your body NEEDS cholesterol to function, to thrive, and to survive, even. It is one of the most important components of your entire makeup, it metabolizes hormones and essential vitamins like A, D, E, and K, and to honest, without it you would die. By consuming cholesterol, your body will no longer compensate, creating its own and causing some problems.

There are two kinds of cholesterol – LDL (bad) and HDL (good). LDL becomes oxidized and causes problems due to inflammation from chronically high levels of insulin (caused by LOTS OF SUGAR), and that is when we see a problem. HDL is good because it carries the bad stuff away from the arteries and back to the liver to be passed from the body, slowing buildup and keeping us healthy.

Guess what egg yolks have a lot of…. Yep, GOOD cholesterol!

In addition, the yolks contain fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K (the same vitamins good cholesterol helps to metabolize), as well as carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin (found in B6 and B12). On top of all that, eating the yolks gives you a good dose of calcium, iron, phosphate, zinc, thiamin, and folate.

There is a reason why solid protein sources like grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork (bacon!), eggs, etc. also contain these healthy fats.  Cholesterol is essential and needed by the chick to grow into a chicken, and it’s important for us too.

This is me 20 lbs lighter, when I was a vegetarian, avoided all saturated fats and cholesterol, and ate lots of low fat grains, cereals, and dairy. I only wish you could see my legs in this picture, but imagine zero ass and tiny quads. My triglycerides were super high, and my cholesterol was through the roof, with high LDL, which my body was working overtime to create to makeup for my poor diet.

This is me now, 20 lbs heavier, eating grass fed red meat, cooking with ghee, and ALWAYS eating the yolks. My current blood markers are great, but more importantly I feel awesome, have more energy, and am healthy enough to prepare to start a family. My whole outlook on health has changed and my life along with it.

Next time you consider throwing away those yolks or purchasing a carton of egg whites, reconsider. Think of all of the amazing health benefits your missing out on. Eat the yolks, your body, mind, hormones, skin, hair, teeth, and health will thank you. Plus, whoever got excited to eat a bunch of egg whites?? Not me, that’s for sure. I’ll take a sunny side up runny egg yolk any day.

Notes:

• always try to find eggs from pasture-raised chickens to reap these health benefits! These will be loaded with nutrients and will come from happy chickens. More information on the importance of this can be found here.
• more information on the health benefits of eggs can be found here.

Now for a quick and easy recipe. The BEST way to get the MOST nutrients from eating eggs is actually to have the yolk raw (or as close to raw as you can handle). More on why this is a great idea here.

So, here is a quick recipe for soft-boiled eggs. They taste great anytime of day, and you can get the gooey goodness of a almost raw egg yolk!

Happy Friday! Go enjoy some yolks with the ones you love….

♡ Laura