Eggs
Why eggs are anti-inflammatory
Eggs are anti-inflammatory, and almost all of the reason sits in the yolk. The yolk holds nearly all of the vitamins and minerals, along with lutein and zeaxanthin, two yellow pigments that act as antioxidants. The white is mostly protein and water.
Trials that added eggs to people’s diets for several weeks found no change in the inflammation markers measured in blood. That is why eggs score 3 out of 10 on the inflammation scale. They do not appear to raise inflammation, and they have not been shown to lower it either.
The proteins that people react to sit in the white rather than the yolk. Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, and most of them grow out of it. It is also why the Autoimmune Protocol, an elimination diet used for autoimmune conditions, takes eggs out whole in its first phase. The yolk is usually one of the first foods put back.
Fry an egg in oil that has been reused many times and serve it with bacon, white toast and a hash brown, and the plate is inflammatory. Little of that comes from the egg.
Poach, boil or scramble them gently, and keep the yolk. An egg-white omelette keeps the protein and leaves out the vitamins and the pigments, which are the parts that count here.
Eggs on the AIP diet
Eggs come out during the elimination phase of the Autoimmune Protocol, whites and yolks alike. The reason sits in the white, where the proteins people react to are concentrated, and the worry is that one of them helps other food proteins slip across a struggling gut wall. The yolk is the milder half and usually one of the first foods put back. Start with a single cooked yolk and give it a few days.
Benefits
- The richest everyday source of choline, a nutrient most people fall short of
- One of the very few foods that supplies vitamin D without being fortified
- Carries lutein and zeaxanthin in the fat that lets you absorb them
- Weeks of eating them leaves the inflammation markers in a blood test unchanged
Watch out for
- Egg white protein is one of the more common things people react to, which is why AIP removes eggs
- Egg-white-only cooking throws out the yolk, where almost all of the value sits
- What the egg is fried in often matters more than the egg
- If you have been told to watch your cholesterol, agree your intake with your doctor
Get the inflammation score of any meal
Just snap a photo or describe your food to get its inflammation score and uncover hidden patterns that may be affecting your well-being.
Frequently asked
Are eggs inflammatory?
No. Eating eggs for weeks leaves the inflammation markers in a blood test roughly where they were, and the yolk brings choline, vitamin D and the pigments lutein and zeaxanthin along with it. What tends to be inflammatory is the fried breakfast built around the egg rather than the egg.
Is the yolk or the white better for inflammation?
The yolk, by a distance. Almost all of the vitamins, the choline and the pigments are in there, and the fat is what lets you absorb them. The white is mostly protein and water, and it is also where the proteins people react to are concentrated.
Do eggs cause joint pain?
For most people, no. A minority do react to egg protein, and when that happens it is far more often the white than the yolk. The way to find out is to take eggs out for a few weeks and put them back, rather than guessing.
Are eggs allowed on the AIP diet?
No, not during the elimination phase, whites or yolks. Egg yolks are usually one of the earliest foods reintroduced once that phase is over, and many people tolerate them from then on.
Anti-inflammatory recipes with Eggs
The easiest way to follow an anti-inflammatory diet.
Identify inflammatory foods in seconds, log your symptoms and discover what’s inflaming you. Includes hundreds of recipes.
