Covid-19 update: WFC sessions remain closed during this time, but please keep in touch with us via social media and the WFC WhatsApp group. We are here for you during this time, despite not being able to run our weekly sessions for you in person. If you're not on the WhatsApp group, email info@winchesterfitclub.co.uk with your mobile number and we will add you.
For now, enjoy April's blog post from Toni as she brings us another informative offering, to add to our nutritional repertoire!
Hi everyone! I hope you are all coping okay with the lifestyle changes that have been put upon us during this lockdown. Spring is here and we can all enjoy the brighter mornings, albeit from our windows, gardens or while outside for our daily exercise. This Easter is certainly going to be one of a kind, but I do think it’s important that we try and keep our eating patterns as normal as possible. On that note... what do you normally find the shop shelves full of at Easter? Obviously I’m talking about Easter eggs! Now, whilst I won’t recommend eating tons of chocolate (sorry chocoholics!), I would like to talk about eggs this month!
Your average hens’ egg contains around 6.4g of protein, 60-90 kilocalories and 5g of fat. The protein quality of an egg is about as good as you can get (with the exception of human breast milk!). This is due to its amino acid profile – it just has everything we need, making it the perfect post-workout snack or meal component.
Eggs have been given a real mixed reputation by the media over the years, mostly due to their high cholesterol content. Having high blood cholesterol can result in heart disease amongst other things, and so many people have drawn the connection that eating high cholesterol foods must increase our own cholesterol levels. Evidence which supports this is murky at best – there is far more research which suggests that a diet high in saturated fats is what raises our cholesterol. There is no actual recommendation on how many eggs we should (or shouldn’t) be consuming in a day; if you like eggs, and your GP or dietitian hasn’t advised you to avoid them for any reason, crack on (see what I did there!).
Ever heard of choline? It’s an essential nutrient that we can make some of ourselves in our liver, however we can’t meet our own requirements and so we need to gain the remainder via dietary sources. The body needs choline for optimum liver function, brain development, muscle movement, and metabolism – sounds pretty important right?! One egg provides 30-36% of your daily requirements, but bear in mind that this nutrient is found in the yolk of the egg – you can’t just eat the egg white!
On that note, many people often only eat egg whites to reduce their intake of fat. By not eating the yolk you do reduce the caloric value and fat content of an egg, but you also drastically reduce its nutritional value - many vitamins and minerals are held within the yolk! If you are looking to reduce the fat content of an egg based product, such as an omelette, try removing just 1 of the yolks rather than all 3. That way you still get plenty of the nutrients – best of both worlds!
Aside from nutrition, its worth mentioning that many eggs come from chickens which are kept in poor conditions, also known as battery hens. Please consider choosing eggs which are organic and/or free range (or better yet, fresh from a farm where you can see them roaming around!) to help ensure the eggs you eat have come from chickens living normal, comfortable lives. You may have noticed that shop bought eggs have numbers printed on them; it’s worth taking note of these. The first number printed on an egg is the classification of the conditions the chickens have been kept in. 0 is for organic (which incidentally also means the chickens are kept free range and fed an organic diet), 1 for free range, 2 for chickens which are kept in a barn and 3 is for caged hens. See this website for further information:
Stay safe, and keep an eye out for my next blog and any other nutrition bulletins I fire out!
Here's a handy infographic for those of you who are egg shy and don't know where to start! If you're an egg-a-holic and you have recipes you can share, why not snap your next brunch and tag it on social media with #wfcblog and share it on the WFC WhatsApp group for all to see for inspiration.
Don't forget to practice social distancing when exercising once a day, as per national guidelines. Please remember not to travel in your cars to exercise, and follow current guidelines for use of green spaces as found here.
