Eggs are delicious and extremely versatile.
They can be cooked in many different ways and are easy to combine with other healthy foods, like vegetables.
Cooking them also destroys any dangerous bacteria, making them safer to eat.
Here’s a breakdown of the most popular cooking methods:
Boiled
Hard-boiled eggs are cooked in their shells in a pot of boiling water for 6–10 minutes, depending on how well cooked you want the yolk to be.
The longer you cook them, the firmer the yolk will become.
Poached
Poached eggs are cooked in slightly cooler water.
They’re cracked into a pot of simmering water between 160–180°F (71–82°C) and cooked for 2.5–3 minutes.
Fried
Fried eggs are cracked into a hot pan that contains a thin layer of cooking fat.
You can then cook them “sunny side up,” which means the egg is fried on one side, or “over easy,” which means the egg is fried on both sides.
Baked
Baked eggs are cooked in a hot oven in a flat-bottomed dish until the egg is set.
Scrambled
Scrambled eggs are beaten in a bowl, poured into a hot pan, and stirred over low heat until they set.
Omelet
To make an omelet, eggs are beaten, poured into a hot pan, and cooked slowly over low heat until they’re solid.
Unlike scrambled eggs, an omelet isn’t stirred once it’s in the pan.
Microwaved
Microwaves can be used to cook eggs in many different ways. It takes much less time to cook eggs in a microwave than it does on a stove.
However, it’s usually not a good idea to microwave eggs that are still inside their shells. This is because pressure can quickly build up inside them, and they may explode.
Cooking makes some nutrients more digestible
Cooking eggs makes them safer to eat, and it also makes some of their nutrients easier to digest.
One example of this is the protein in eggs.
Studies have shown it becomes more digestible when it’s heated.
In fact, one study found that the human body could use 91% of the protein in cooked eggs, compared to only 51% in raw eggs.
This change in digestibility is thought to occur because heat causes structural changes in the egg proteins.
In raw eggs, the large protein compounds are separate from each other and curled up in complex, twisted structures.
When the proteins are cooked, heat breaks the weak bonds that hold them in shape.
The proteins then form new bonds with other proteins around them. These new bonds in the cooked egg are easier for your body to digest.
You can see these changes occurring as the egg white and yolk change from a thick gel to rubbery and firm.
The protein in raw eggs can also interfere with the availability of the micronutrient biotin.
Eggs are a good source of biotin, which is an important nutrient used in fat and sugar metabolism. It’s also known as vitamin B7, or vitamin H.
In raw eggs, a protein in the egg whites called avidin binds to biotin, making it unavailable for your body to use.
However, when eggs are cooked, the heat causes structural changes to avidin, making it less effective at binding to biotin. This makes biotin easier to absorb.
High-heat cooking may damage other nutrients
Although cooking eggs makes some nutrients more digestible, it can damage others.
This isn’t unusual. Cooking most foods will result in a reduction of some nutrients, particularly if they’re cooked at high temperatures for a long period of time.
Studies have examined this phenomenon in eggs.
One study found that cooking eggs reduced their vitamin A content by around 17-20%.
Cooking may also significantly reduce the number of antioxidants in eggs.
One study found that common cooking methods, including microwaving, boiling, and frying eggs, reduced the number of certain antioxidants by 6–18%.
Overall, shorter cooking times (even at high temperatures) have been shown to retain more nutrients.
Research has shown that when eggs are baked for 40 minutes, they may lose up to 61% of their vitamin D, compared to up to 18% when they’re fried or boiled for a shorter period of time.
However, even though cooking eggs reduces these nutrients, eggs are still a very rich source of vitamins and antioxidants.
Source: www.healthline.com
