Breakfast: Bagel vs Eggs
Health magazine selected Lender's 100% Whole Wheat Bagel as one of their Best Breakfasts of 2007.
Just last week I happened to browse through a small study comparing eggs and bagels that showed how eggs are a more satisfying food.
This particular research (from 2005) concluded:
Compared to an isocaloric, equal weight bagel-based breakfast, the egg-breakfast induced greater satiety and significantly reduced short-term food intake.
The lead researcher has taken the study one step further by looking at weight loss. The results were presented at a conference.
Overweight and obese women who consumed a breakfast of two eggs a day (for five days a week or more) for 8 weeks, as part of a low-fat diet with a 1,000 calorie deficit: lost 65% more weight, had 83% greater reductions in waist circumference, reported greater improvements in energy levels than their dieting counterparts who consumed a bagel breakfast of the same calories.
Note: It appears this study had some funding from the American Egg Board.
Anecdotally - I must agree. When I occasionally have eggs for breakfast I seem to go a very long time without thinking about food. Somewhere along the line we got so obsessed with the cholesterol and saturated fat content of an egg - that we missed the bigger picture.
Enjoy your eggs - just be aware of battery chicken farms.
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I have to agree that I feel fuller for a longer period of time when I eat eggs for breakfast. I've learned to skip bagels, toast, cereal, etc for my breakfast, and do feel better for it.
Brian
ReplyI like oatmeal or cereal for breakfast, and then some fruit mid-morning. I often have a hard-boiled egg or two for my afternoon snack.
ReplyY'know I've heard this too... but it's so odd, bagels work better for me. I avoided bagels for the longest time, but recently got some because I wasn't getting enough carbs on my longer run (10-20 mi) days... and quickly realized a buttered bagel can keep me full all morning.. no other breakfast can do that.
ReplyI like whole-wheat bagels for breakfast, but I combine it with a protein (like one egg or some organic peanut butter). Breakfast tacos with hot sauce and no cheese are also good. I learned a while back that carb-only breakfasts just make me hungry two hours later.
ReplyEggs definitely work better for me...
ReplyI THINK EGGS WORK GREAT, I MAKE ME AND MY TWO IN HALF YEAR OLD SON JACKSON; EGG WHITES WITH CHEESE OMLETTE WITH A WHOLE WHEAT ENGLISH MUFFIN AND IT KEEPS US BOTH GOING TILL LUNCH. HE HAS NEVER HAD A REGULAR EGG ONLY EGG WHITES AND THAT KID COULD EAT THEM WITH EVERY MEAL, HE LOVES THEM..WE BOTH TRY TO EAT VERY WELL AND THAT HAS GOTTAN ME TWENTY POUNDS LIGHTER AND BACK TO MY PRE BABY WEIGHT. I CAN RUN 4 MILES WITH OUT STOPPING AND I COULD NEVER DO IT BEFORE.EATING EGGS HELP GIVE THAT EXTRA BOOST OF ENERGY WITH OUT WEIGHING YOU DOWN.
ReplyEnjoy your eggs - just be aware of battery chicken farms.
Can someone explain that last part?
ReplyFarms in which the birds are treated very badly, kept in tiny cages, not allowed out ever, beaks cut off, etc.
http://www.downthelane.net/battery.html
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Why is this an either/or thing? I would think a great breakfast would be an egg with some fibre-rich cereal or bread and some fruit. That's what I do although some days I have yoghurt instead of an egg. Any reason not to have both?
I'm a fan of hardboiled eggs because:
Mess-free cooking!
You can make several at a time and keep them in the fridge, ready when you're in a hurry. When you're in a rush and have no time to eat, they're quick and easy to eat in the car (okay, peel them first!!)
Great for a snack with a v8 juice
Great chopped up on top of a lunch salad
The farmer's market in our town has great local, free run, organic eggs year round.
ReplyA bagel is considered food? You can't live on them... I'll take the egg please!
ReplyPlease, please do not just eat egg whites. All of the good stuff in the egg is in the yolk. Kids should be eating higher fat diets.
ReplyPaula Peters at Kansas State has been trying to educate people about the risks of low-fat diets for children. You can read a press release here.
ReplyI'm with those who say do a bit of both: for me breakfast is usually some fruit, a whole grain (toast or cereal or whatever) and some lean protein, which is usually some nonfat milk or yogurt and a hardboiled egg.
As to the battery chicken farm issue, I hate to even read the linked article 'cause I'm a wimp and animal abuse stuff is so upsetting to hear about. Does anyone know if Egglands Best is okay in terms of how the chickens are treated? I like their eggs and appreciate the bit of omega 3 in them.
ReplyI don't espouse a diet heavy in grains and starches (particularly refined ones) but I'm with sooziequeue - things don't always have to be either/or. It depends on your metabolism, health, weight, goals, etc. I personally don't eat a lot of grains and starches, but I think a healthy meal means a mix of protein, fat and carbohydrate. However, I personally recommend vegetables in place of bread or bagels, because vegetables typically are much lower in calories, contain more vitamins and antioxidants, and are easier to digest (as well as being lower on the glycemic index). These are all significant health and weight management issues. Just as an example, an omelet with tomatoes and spinach is a great breakfast item.
ReplyI don't eat any baked grain foods. Really unhealthy. Just Google "acrylamide" if you want to learn more.
ReplyI've noticed that when - say - poaching an egg, the free range ones take longer to cook. Maybe they are fresher - I'm not sure. For a few years I kept chickens, and where possible we always buy free range eggs.
It's worth doing the research on this.
ReplyI am totally in favor of taking eggs in the breakfast. Whenever I take eggs in the breakfast, I feel more satisfied, more energetic and fuller for longer time with great satisfaction.
ReplyAgreed. I love eggs in the morning. I'm a vegetarian who spends a lot of time at the gym and I like the extra protein from the egg far more than the empty calories from the bagel. Plus I feel fuller than if I ate a bagel. I did a recent post about breakfast choices and I think my favorite ended up being an egg with a bit of tomato and cucumber on the side.
GJ
http://www.60in3.com
ReplyI'm on an egg white kick. fricken love the things. eat five a day. satiety like woah :)
ReplyAs any of you who know me would guess, I would prefer the eggs over the bagels. High quality protein, high quality fat, the fat soluble vitamins, lots of good stuff. I use eggs, dessicated liver, and kelp to keep my glands and hormones in order. Currently, I'm eating between 12 and 24 eggs a day.
ReplyNo i think it means that they are not organic eggs....the eggs end up being too process as the chickens do, so they would call it Battery chicken farms because they pretty much loose their organic sense after all chemicals...
Reply
In The Omnivore's Dilemma Pollen writes about visiting Polyface Farms. They raise chickens and sell eggs and chicken. They welcome visitors to see how the chickens are raised - and are slaughtered. If more consumers demanded to be able to see this kind of detail, battery farms would vanish overnight (as would most commercial pig farms, and veal farms, ...)
ReplyEspecially if you are on a low-fat-diet, wouldn't it make more sense to eat just a bowl of fresh and raw fruits?
no fat, lots of vitamins, low calories, low GL, no cholesterol ? At least i feel better when eating fruits and not eggs
@ryan, dont you have a problem with cholesterol?
ReplySo, first of all, your cholesterol does not go up from eating dietary cholesterol. It's not like your body just absorbs it through some effortless process. It's actively digested and processed. If your body does decide to pick it up, it will also decide to make less cholesterol in response. Your cholesterol level is what your body needs it to be. You could argue about eating saturated fat, but dietary cholesterol isn't a problem.
Second, your cholesterol level rarely means much. Certain people with genetic conditions that cause them to make tremendous amounts of cholesterol (like above 350) might want to worry about lowering cholesterol, but that's very rare. Cholesterol and saturated fat just do not get magically stuck in arteries. Arterial clogs contain very little cholesterol, and the fat in them is only 26% saturated; most of the unsaturated fat is polyunsaturated. They are scar tissue, due to improper diet. If you want to save yourself from heart disease, avoid excessive/refined carbohydrates and vegetable oil.
For various health reasons, I try to make at least half of my calories from fat and as much of my fat saturated as possible. I consider low-fat diets to be very unhealthy. So, in short, I don't have a problem with cholesterol. It's probably one of the most important substances in your body.
ReplyMy breakfast is usually brown rice with one or two raw eggs mixed in. I also add in fresh crushed garlic if I'm not running late for work. I have been eating raw eggs since I was 14 with no ill affects.
ReplyI just personally do not like eggs nor bagels. I have to have a bowl of oatmill in the morning.
ReplyI'm also a cereal guy in the morning, unless it's the weekend. During the week it's a bowl of GoLean Crunch and skim milk...
ReplyI eat soup for breakfast!
Really. I know I'm weird and most people can't stomach it in the morning, but I mostly like"non-breakfast" foods when I wake up. Soup with veggies,leftovers, slices of turkey and tomato juice, tuna on crackers (not tuna salad,just regular tuna). I don't eat ramen anymore, but in high school I would eat a packet of ramen for breakfast at 7 am.
Reply[...] From the Diet Blog, an article comparing eggs and bagels for a breakfast choice [...]
ReplyThe grepefruit diet recommend to have for breakfast 2 eggs, two slices of bacon and 8 oz.of grapefruit juice. Has anyone tried this and lost wt.? I am doing this and feel no hunger usually until 1PM. This works great. I am a bit concerned about the fat in the bacon though, but I am working out five days a week for about two hours which may help reduce the fat of the bacon. Any comments?
ReplyLillian, fat is not bad for you. 2 slices bacon if you grill them, to reduce fat, has about 160 calories, that is way less than a bagel would have. Carb is not superior to fat when it comes to weight loss, right the opposite, I'd say protein and fat, because of the satiety, are superior, for the same amount of calories.
ReplyDoes anyone else find themselves completely unsatisfied if they eat any meal (particularly breakfast) without some combination of starch, protein, fat, and fruit/veggie?
I've played around different ways, but without protein and fat, I'm hungry within an hour, without carbs (almost always whole grain) I never get full while eating, and without fruit or veggies, I feel dried out and sluggish.
My typical breakfast is oatmeal or whole grain cereal with an apple (or other fruit if I'm lucky enough to have it on hand), and two hard-boiled eggs, one yolk thrown away. Though eaten right after a morning workout, I still only get 2-3 hours satiety out of it...
Unfortunately, I've found nothing short of an entire dinner will keep me full until lunch.
ReplyAn egg or two, over easy please, with whole grain toast is a great breakfast. I can't just have the eggs...I need my toast to mop up the yummy vitamin rich yolk!
...though I couldn't eat the same thing every morning (boring!). I also like yogurt with some wild blueberries and 1/2 a banana, sliced up, and just a sprinkle of granola.
ReplyThis is a very late response to an interesting topic but I have to address some points which Ryan brought up. I agree that dietary cholesterol, for most people, is not a cause for concern so you should never limit your egg consumption. (people with Heart Disease, Diabetes, or familial hypercholesterolemia may want to limit them though). However, Ryan's assertion that arterial "clogs" are not cholesterol related it totally bogus. LDL cholesterol plays a very significant role in formation of these plaques in your arteries and SATURATED fat and trans fat have been unequivocally implicated in LDL infiltration. Just wanted to clear that up...
Reply