1 Food, 5(+) Ways: EGGS
Longevity and brain health are trending, but they are not a trend, they are here to stay. With so many searching for the perfect longevity routine right now, I want to talk to you about how to simplify it all.
Because remember this:
The more complicated it is, the less likely it is to actually stick.
This post is posted in partnership with the American Egg Board.
Why Eggs Are My Go-To:
Eggs are one of the easiest ways to simplify meals without sacrificing nutrition.
They’re:
Quick to make
Affordable
Versatile
Easy to pair with other foods
Family pleasers (for me with a picky eater, eggs are one of the only foods my whole family agrees on!)
NUTRITIOUS in so many ways beyond protein, but protein is great too1
The Brain Health Connection: Choline
Eggs are rich in choline, a nutrient that plays a role in (2,3):
Mood
Memory
Overall brain function
And here’s something most people don’t realize:
About 90% of Americans aren’t getting enough choline. (4)
That’s a big gap for a nutrient that’s so important for your overall health how we feel and function day to day.
Just two eggs provide (1):
12 grams of high-quality protein
50–70% of your daily choline needs
Eggs also contain antioxidants like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are commonly found in fruits and vegetables and are being studied for their potential role in cognitive function. (5)
How to use them:
First off I want you to start to think about eggs outside of just a breakfast food. They are such an easy high-quality protein source to use any time of the day, snack included.
Linking the video HERE where I featured these fun new ways to use eggs outside the box.
And here are the details of the examples that need more explanation!
Easy Egg Salad:
for people that don’t usually like egg salad aka me! PS this is an individual portion but you can meal prep this!
2 hard boiled eggs
¼ avocado
1-2 tbsp Greek yogurt or mayo
drizzle to your preference chili crunch sauce
green onions, preference
1 cheese stick chopped up
s&p
Mash and mix and pair with veggies and chips or eat as a sandwich!
To ensure food safety, always cook egg dishes to 160⁰ F
Leftovers made BETTER:
This isn’t a recipe, its just an idea that I hope you use. Take your leftover pasta dish that doesn’t have quite enough protein and put an over easy egg over it and you just added 6g protein (add 2 for double!) and some choline too! You can also put a soft boiled egg on top of a salad and use that yolk as part of your dressing. It is so easy and a great way to boost nutrient density of the meal.
Egg Pizzas!:
This meal idea is right off of incredible egg’s blog and so easy and fun! Great for kids and adults too!
https://www.incredibleegg.org/recipe/mini-breakfast-pizzas/
Meal Prep Egg Bake:
this is so customizable and fun and honestly holds up well in the fridge! You can add in or take out any veggies you like, you can also add in breakfast meat like bacon or sausage or chicken sausage OR you can add in cottage cheese OR you can add in both! Play around with combos and use this skeleton as a template for you!
INGREDIENTS:
1 chopped bell pepper
1 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 cups packed baby spinach or kale, chopped
12 eggs
2 cups cottage cheese
salt, pepper, garlic and any other seasonings you love, to taste
1-2 cups shredded cheese
Optional: breakfast meat cooked first and chopped up and added in! Think bacon, chicken sausage, sausage etc
DIRECTIONS:
Get a 9×13 pan or what is available and pre heat oven to 350
This is a preference but you can pre cook your veggies OR put them in raw - if you pre cook, add some oil to a pan and add chopped veggies in to soften them up before mixing with eggs, again this is optional.
Crack and whisk all 12 eggs into a bowl, add seasoning and cottage cheese and mix well.
If you dont want the cottage cheese chunks you can use a hand/immersion blender to get the mix smooth! Do this before adding in the veggies
Add in the veggies and cheese
BAKE! For 25-35 mins, I would check at 25 mins to see if it is cooked all the way through, if not go the extra 5-10 until fully cooked through!
Should last about 4 days in the fridge, you can reheat in the airfryer too!
To ensure food safety, always cook egg dishes to 160⁰ F
Eggs are a food I never get bored of because of all the fun ways you can eat them and always make them feel new!
I hope this inspires you to enjoy eggs in new ways!
XOXO,
Jenna
References:
U.S. Department of Agriculture. FoodData Central SR Legacy -- Egg, whole, raw, fresh. 2019 April 1, 2019; Available from: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171287/nutrients.
National Institutes of Health. Choline: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. 2021; Available from: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Choline-HealthProfessional/.
Wallace TC, et al. Choline: The underconsumed and underappreciated essential nutrient. Nutr. Today. 2018;53(6):240-253.
Food and Nutrition Board and Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. 1998; Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK114310/.
Johnson EJ. Role of lutein and zeaxanthin in visual and cognitive function throughout the lifespan. Nutr. Rev. 2014;72(9):605-12.