Who Else Wants to Know How Many Calories Are In An Egg?

Eggs are eaten everywhere around the world. Many start their day off with some variation of a cooked egg. This has been going for thousands of years. I can’t tell you exactly why that’s so, but what I can tell you is how many calories are in an egg, and a few other interesting facts about this versatile breakfast food.

The vast majority of eggs are laid between 7 and 11 in the morning. Add to that, the early morning crow of a rooster as the sun rises, and you have my best guess as to why the egg has become synonymous with breakfast.

Not only does an egg’s popularity extend across the world in many different cultures, it’s also a staple in many diet plans. You’ll find that a egg is equally popular amongst gym rats and professional bodybuilders trying to build muscle, as it is for those looking to get rid of that belly flab and lose weight.

It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to build muscle or burn fat, you need to know how many calories you eat per day to reach your desired weight. Knowing how many calories are in an egg is part of that equation. Eat too many calories, you get fat, don’t eat enough and all your hard work in the gym goes to waste. So to help you get your diet and your day started off on the right foot, I will tell you how many calories are in an egg.

How Many Calories in An Egg

The table below contains the calorie content and source for a raw egg of different sizes.

How Many Grams of Protein in An Egg

For bodybuilders and those those looking to lose weight, the egg is an excellent choice because of its high protein content, healthy fat and low carbohydrate count.

Eggs contain the most complete and highest protein rating of any food. Protein powder does get a higher rating, but it’s considered a supplement, not a whole food.

The average large egg will have approximately 6g of protein, at about a 51% bioavailability. Now if you cook that egg, you absorb about twice as much protein from it because a cooked egg is close to 91% bioavailable.

Interestingly enough, not only does the bioavailability of the protein increase, so does the calories in an egg. The calories jump about 10%, from 70 to 77 in a raw egg compared to a cooked egg.

How Many Calories In An Egg White

If you’re watching your calorie and carbohydrate intake, you will also be interested to know how many calories are in an egg white.

Because the egg white doesn’t contain any carbohydrates and very little fat, all the calories come from protein, accounting for 60% of the protein in an egg. The egg white from one large egg, about 1 1/4 ounces, is roughly 17 calories and has 4g of protein.

Because of it’s low fat and carbohydrate content, bodybuilders and those looking to burn body fat limit their egg consumption to just the albumen, or egg white. Or they will do some kind of mix, like 2 egg whites and 1 egg yolk. Eliminating one of the yolks cuts a few calories.

Eating just the egg white protein or albumen not only cuts out fat and calories, but also some nutrients. But not all are lost, in addition to the protein, the egg white delivers valuable nutrients such as…

• niacin (vitamin B3)
• riboflavin (vitamin B2)
• magnesium
• potassium
• sodium
• sulfur

If you’re just eating the whites, you can save the yolks in your freezer. But before doing so, add a tiny bit of salt or sugar to the yolks. Otherwise they will become rubbery and gelatinous, making them difficult to incorporate into any recipe.

How Many Calories In An Egg Yolk

The egg yolk only weighs in at about two thirds of an ounce, but packs the majority of the egg’s calories. That’s because the majority of the yolk is fat. There are approximately 5g of fat and 3g of protein in every large egg yolk. This adds up to about 59 calories.

For some time now, people have been talking about the cholesterol levels in eggs and how unhealthy it is for you. It’s true that egg yolks contain cholesterol, but this isn’t a concern. Research has proven that dietary cholesterol has next to nothing to do with serum cholesterol, the bad stuff that floats around in your blood. Researchers from Wake Forest University have reviewed more than 30 different egg studies and each finding was the same, there is no link between egg consumption and heart disease. It’s saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol that influences blood cholesterol levels.

That means as long as you are not worried about how many calories are in an egg, go ahead and enjoy the yolk. Or at the very least have one because they are so nutritious.

Egg Colour

Approximately 50% of eggs produced in the world are brown and the other 50% are white. The only thing different between the two is the breed of hen. The colour doesn’t affect the calories in an egg.

Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. US Rhode Island Red hens lay brown eggs. Brown egg layers usually are slightly larger and require more food, thus brown eggs usually cost more than white eggs. It’s not that they’re any better or taste any different. White leghorn hens, the most common breed in the United States lay white eggs.

White eggs are the colour preferred in most of the United States, but brown eggs are preferred in New England. There are no significant differences between eggs of different colours, according to the American Egg Board, an industry group.

Forget About The Calories In An Egg

Think About Its Nutrition

Eggs are jam-packed with nutrition. For those of you worried about how many calories are in an egg consider this…

• A whole egg contains more essential vitamins and minerals per calorie than virtually any other food.
• Egg yolks are one of few foods that naturally contain Vitamin D.
• Eggs are also one of the best sources of choline. This is important because choline is necessary in the breaking down of body fat into energy. High levels of choline can also help and reduce the risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, and type-2 diabetes. And the benefits don’t stop there, choline also helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system. Choline is only found in the yolk, but you don’t have to eat a lot. Eating just two yolks, will give you half of your daily recommended intake.

There has been an exhaustive number of studies done on eggs. Researchers out of the University of Alberta have found that eggs contain two amino acids,

1. tryptophan
2. tyrosine

both of which have high antioxidant properties. Two other antioxidants in eggs are,

1. zeaxanthin
2. lutein

These two antioxidants help prevent macular degeneration and cataracts, making them good for your eyes. Selenium is another antioxidant found in eggs. Selenium helps keep your body healthy.

Beyond How Many Calories in a Egg

Egg Cooking Tips

You want to cook with the freshest possible eggs, and the best way to do that is to keep them refrigerated. The ideal condition is to store your eggs at 40° F or 4°C with a relative humidity of 70 to 80%. Doing so will ensure your eggs keep fresh for a month or even up to 5 weeks.

Adding milk to egg enhances the flavor of the dish and makes them fluffier. Milk will give you a better flavor than using water.

How to Prevent Shells From Sticking to a Hard-Boiled Egg

If you ever had a hard-boiled egg before, you know how annoying and frustrating it can be when the shell sticks to the egg. If this is a problem you run into, there are a few things you can do to help eliminate this annoyance.

The 1st tip is to use eggs that are slightly older. Using an egg that is at least 1 week old is a good starting place.

Next, as soon as your eggs have finished cooking, immediately submerge them in ice cold water. Let your eggs rest there for at least 10 minutes, after that it should be a piece of cake to peel.

Even though a raw egg will keep its freshness for at least a month, once it’s been cooked, your hard boiled egg will only stay fresh for a week.

Poaching Your Egg

For the best poached eggs, you’ll want to keep the water at 160 to 180 degrees, not quite simmering. If you add a teaspoon of white or apple cider vinegar to the water, it will help keep the egg from separating.

The fresher the egg, the less it will separate. Eggs that are a week or less old works best.

For extra flavor, you can add spices into the water as you poach your eggs. If you want to get fancy, you can then reduce that liquid and use it as a sauce.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also try poaching your eggs in salsa.

Egg History

The chicken was one of the 1st animals to be domesticated. Though it’s not certain, Indian history suggests that people were raising chickens as early as 3200 B.C. There’re records of hens laying eggs for the Egyptians and Chinese in 1400 B.C. Then around 800 BC the chicken arrived in Greece, but that wasn’t the 1st time they ate eggs. Before that time, the Greeks had been eating quail eggs.

Hieroglyphics in the tomb of Haremhab, located in Thebes, Egypt, depict men carrying bowls of ostrich eggs and other large eggs as offerings. This tomb dates back to 1420 BC.

Not to be left out, the ancient Romans, started every meal with an egg dish appetizer.

Interesting Egg Facts

• Chicken eggs are the most common, though duck, goose, quail, and ostrich eggs are used as gourmet ingredients. The gull egg is considered to be a delicacy in England and some Scandinavian countries. Pheasant and emu eggs are perfectly edible, but less widely available.
• The egg carton was invented in 1911 by a Canadian to solve a dispute over broken eggs between a farmer and a hotel he supplied eggs to.
• Chickens are descendants of the red jungle fowl, gallus gallus spadiceus from Asia.
• Currently, there are about 150 different chicken species around the world.
• Due to the protein content in an egg, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) categorizes them as Meats within the Food Guide Pyramid.
• It’s the proteins in egg whites that allows it to form foams and aerated dishes.
• Ground egg shells are sometimes used as a food additive to deliver calcium. Even though most people trash the shell, every part of an egg is edible.
• The average hen lays 260 eggs a year. She lays one every 24 to 26 hours.
• Mexicans eat the most eggs per year at 355 per person. That is followed by China, Japan and the Czech Republic. The US rounded out the top 5, with a per capita consumption of 246 eggs per person per year.
• It is estimated that there are 4.93 billion egg-laying hens in the world.
• A fresh egg will sink in water, a stale one will float.
• As a hen ages, her eggs increase in size.  Small eggs come from young hens, while jumbo eggs are laid by older hens.
• China is biggest supplier of eggs, producing about 390 billion each year, about half of the world’s supply.

Spread the word, Tweet or give a Facebook Like. Then go enjoy this delicious omelette recipe now that you know how many calories are in an egg.