AM Eggs Aid Satiety and Weight Loss

For the bulk of Americans, as dawn breaks each morning, the first order of the day is breakfast. According to the “2008 Food & Health Survey” from the IFIC Foundation, Washington, D.C., 94% of adults believe breakfast is the most-important meal of the day. However, in light of the obesity rising rate, consumers increasingly desire foods that help them manage—and lose—unwanted pounds. The IFIC survey found 75% of people are concerned about their weight, up from 66% in 2006.

To help improve weight management via the morning meal, the American Egg Board (AEB) points to a growing body of research showing that eating eggs for breakfast can help consumers better manage their weight and shed unwanted pounds.

“Egg Breakfast Enhances Weight Loss,” published online in Aug. 2008 ahead of print in the International Journal of Obesity, found that eating two eggs for breakfast, as part of a reduced-calorie diet, helped overweight adults lose more weight and have more energy than those who ate a bagel with cream cheese of equal caloric content. Increased satiety and energy levels helped those eating the two-egg breakfast lose 65% more weight and have a 61% greater reduction in body-mass index. Researchers found that the subjects’ cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not impacted during the two-month study.

These results support the findings of the 2005 study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (24(6):510–515) where researchers concluded that “compared to an isocaloric, equal-weight bagel-based breakfast, the egg breakfast induced greater satiety and significantly reduced short-term food intake.”

This effect is due in part to the high-quality protein delivered by whole eggs, which rate a 1.19 protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS). In May 2008, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a special issue on the value of protein in the diet. A major finding was that getting too little high-quality protein may contribute to obesity, muscle loss and increased risk of chronic disease.

AEB reminds formulators that eggs are available in a variety of formats for easy use in breakfast products. “Frozen, precooked egg products are not only convenient, but they have excellent flavor stability,” says Glenn Froning, Ph.D., food technology advisor, AEB. “We seldom have the warmed-over flavor sometimes associated with some meat products. Eggs have natural antioxidants—e.g., ovotransferrin and phosvitin—that minimize rancidity problems.” When freezing precooked egg products, citric acid is commonly added to minimize iron sulfide formation—a reaction that can lend a green tint to the food—during microwave heating. “In addition,” he says, “gums—e.g., xanthan gum—may be added to prevent weepage, or syneresis, during the reheating process.”