If there’s one thing South Africans are good at, it’s scouting out the best ways to make our hard-earned rands stretch as farrrrrr as possible! This means having to get creative in the kitchen and sometimes finding delicious ingredients that are affordable too. Eggs are the one food that ticks both these boxes, as an affordable protein that can be cooked up any time of the day (or night!).
In recent years, eggs have moved firmly out of the breakfast realm of bagels and Benedicts to become something of an all-rounder, ready to be whipped up into practically any dish for any meal. In some cases, breakfast staples like scrambled and fried eggs have themselves been transformed into anytime-dishes (breakfast burrito or Spanish frittata, anyone?) all thanks to the incredible versatility of eggs.
This season’s favourites include the fold over omelette wrap, which is equally happy on breakfast, lunch and snack menus, and butter chicken with eggs, which makes for a quick and easy lunch or midweek supper meal.
Aside from all this, eggs have got one other major benefit going for them that not a lot of people know about – they are helpful for bone health. Typically, people first turn to calcium and Vitamin D when looking to build strong bones. But eggs are in fact right up there with the best bone-building nutrients around.
For a start, eggs are a renowned source of two important nutrients – protein and choline. Protein is essential for helping bones maintain their structure and flexibility while choline, a micronutrient, plays a role in the natural rebuilding process of bones.
Eggs are a high-quality source of complete protein, making them ideal for maintaining bones and preventing age-related bone loss. They’re also high in choline, delivering around 147 mg per large egg, which is about a third of an adult’s daily needs.
Wondering about vitamins and minerals? Eggs have both! They’re one of the few natural food sources of vitamin D, essential for helping your body use calcium to build bones, and phosphorus, which works together with calcium to give bones strength and structure, making them less susceptible to fractures. One egg supplies about 5% of your daily vitamin D needs.
Lutein and zeaxanthin and two lesser-known antioxidants found in egg yolk that may help counteract bone loss. Emerging research shows that oxidative stress and inflammation may contribute to bone loss, and that antioxidants – like lutein and zeaxanthin – might just be able to reduce the impact of this process.
Not only are eggs affordable, and ready to be incorporated into any meal at any time of the day, they’re also suitable for balanced diets for moms, dads, kids, grannies and grandads – all of whom have specific needs for growing and protecting their bones.
Whether you scramble, poach, boil or bake your eggs, these powerful little packages of protein (and more!) are an absolute must for your family’s all-day menu.
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