Egg diet

The Egg Diet is a high-protein, low-carb, low-calorie diet.

In essence, the egg diet is a kind of Atkins diet - a lot of protein and significantly limited carbohydrate intake.

There are reports in the media about people who have lost 20 or more kilograms in a month following this diet.

I even heard such nonsense as: "The egg diet is not based on calories, but on chemical reactions in the body," so you should not mix up the order of eating, or swap meals. It would be interesting to hear what these special reactions are and how exactly they occur 😊.

Nutritional value of eggs

Eggs are a good source of protein. One medium-boiled egg weighing 44 grams contains 78 calories, about 6 grams of protein (about 10-12% of the recommended daily allowance for adults), 5 g of fat, 0.6 g of carbohydrates and 0 g of fiber.

Eggs also contain several vitamins and minerals that are important to us, including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, choline, vitamins A, B9, B12, D, and several antioxidants.

Types of egg diets

There are several versions of the egg diet, but in all of them, eggs are the main part of the meal.

Foods to eat:

• Soft or hard-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs;
• Water and calorie-free drinks;

Other ingredients depend on the particular version of the egg diet.

Foods to avoid:

• Butter or oil, also in cooking;
• Starchy foods such as potatoes, rice, bread, pasta...
• Sweets, dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt), and products containing a lot of sugar, for example - fruit juices, sweetened carbonated drinks, alcohol...

The traditional egg diet

In the traditional egg diet, you can eat not only eggs but also other foods containing proteins. This is probably why the traditional egg diet is the most popular version of this diet because eating only eggs is pretty boring.  

In addition to eggs, you can eat:

• Lean proteins such as beans, peas, tofu, skinless chicken fillet, lean white fish...
• Vegetables with low carbohydrate content, for example - celery, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms...
• Fruits, usually 1 to 2 fruits per day.

Foods high in carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, and rice are prohibited.

The diet plan could be as follows:

• Breakfast: two eggs and a low-carb vegetable;
• Lunch: lean protein with green salad;
• Dinner: eggs or lean protein and low-carb vegetables.

Egg and grapefruit diet

Also called the egg-orange or egg-citrus diet.

The main recommendations are the same as with the traditional egg diet, with the difference that you also need to eat half a grapefruit with each meal.

The diet plan could be as follows:

• Breakfast: two eggs and half a grapefruit;
• Lunch: lean protein with spinach and half a grapefruit;
• Dinner: lean protein and half a grapefruit.

The extreme egg diet

This version of the diet allows only eggs and water at each meal. It is a very restrictive mono diet - therefore, this diet is particularly difficult to follow, not only because of the uniformity, but also because of the rapid onset of a deficiency of various nutrients (those which are either absent or insufficient in the eggs), which in turn leads to a deterioration in well-being and appearance, and in the long term also health problems.

"Medical" egg diet

This version of the egg diet requires you to eat one egg and one slice of bread at each meal. You can eat as many permitted fruits and vegetables as you want.

Allowed drinks are water, black coffee, and other non-caloric drinks.

Eggs can be cooked in any way as long as no calories are added (you can't use fat, butter, or oil to cook eggs).

Some believe that this version of the egg diet is used to reduce the patient's weight before surgery - hence the name, but there is no evidence to support this rumor (In some cases, doctors actually advise their patients to diet before surgery. But, usually, they are on liquid diets (meal replacement shakes) and a doctor or other medical professional supervises the program).

Keto Egg Diet

The ketogenic diet is based on an increased intake of fats and a drastic restriction of carbohydrates (which is necessary to bring your body into a state of ketosis).

This version of the egg diet recommends eating eggs with butter and cheese to help your body produce ketones. The most popular egg/fat ratio advertised on the internet for this diet is one egg to one tablespoon of fat.

Does the egg diet help you lose weight?

The egg diet consists mainly of low-calorie products - eggs, non-starchy vegetables, and low-carbohydrate fruits.

If you take in fewer calories your your body's energy consumption will exceed the amount of energy you take in with food, and the deficit will be compensated from "internal reserves". Therefore, yes, you will definitely lose weight.

But.

You will lose weight not because you eat eggs (which supposedly cause some special chemical reactions), but because with the food you get fewer calories than your body consumes.

One large boiled egg contains about 78 calories, but a 170 cm tall, 30-year-old woman weighing 65 kg needs 1600 to 1700 calories to maintain her current weight (depending on the proportion of muscle mass).

Calculate how many eggs you should eat, and then these constipations - 😊.

Research on the effects of low-carb diets is conflicting. It is also not clear whether the weight loss resulting from the diet can be maintained in the long term.

Most likely, the lost weight will return when you return to your previous eating habits.

Therefore.

The egg diet is definitely not the best solution for stable and long-term weight loss.

Is the egg diet healthy?

On the one hand, studies of short-term low-carbohydrate diets (compared to high-carbohydrate diets) in overweight or obese people find reductions in levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, weight loss, and improvements in several heart disease risk factors, such as blood pressure.

On the other hand, the egg diet is very restrictive. It allows only certain foods and excludes entire groups of foods that pose a risk of nutrient deficiency and may contribute to unhealthy eating habits. Especially if the diet is followed for a long time.

The following are excluded:

• Whole grain products, which are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals necessary for the body;
• Starchy vegetables (such as potatoes), which are excellent sources of vitamins, potassium, and magnesium;
• Dairy products.

Prolonged calorie restriction causes serious side effects that can harm your health and appearance because:

• It May cause calcium deficiency. An egg diet does not provide adequate calcium intake, as dairy products are not allowed. The strictest versions of the egg diet also exclude high-calcium vegetables. Adults need 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams of calcium per day, but:
  • One large egg contains only about 24 milligrams of calcium;
  • One serving of cooked, non-starchy vegetables or greens has less than 100 milligrams of calcium.
• Insufficient calcium intake can reduce bone density. This is especially important for postmenopausal women;
• Inadequate calcium intake can affect the development of cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer;
• Cholesterol levels may increase. Although the effect of eggs on cholesterol levels is not significant, it is still recommended that individuals at high risk of heart disease limit egg consumption to one egg per day;
• Your energy level will decrease and fatigue will increase because the calories consumed will be too low to meet all the needs of your body (all permitted foods are low in calories);
• Due to the fact that eggs do not contain fiber, stomach upset and constipation may occur. Women should consume at least 25 grams of fiber per day, and men — 38 grams per day. Following an egg diet, it is almost impossible to reach this level – even if, in addition to eggs, you will also eat some permitted fruits and vegetables;
• Hair can start to fall out and/or become brittle, just like nails, because they don't get all the nutrients needed for healthy hair and nails.

Key takeaways

Eggs are one of my favorite foods, and although they do have a lot of nutrients, many of them are also lacking. And if our body does not get everything it needs, various health and beauty problems begin.

And while following the egg diet will probably make you lose weight by following it for a long time, you will probably also damage your health and lose your beauty.

The weight loss associated with the egg diet is due to the low-calorie content and not to any other special effect of eggs on our body.

If you really want to try it - try it, but preferably no longer than one week (so that there is not too much shortage of "forbidden" nutrients). You will probably lose weight, but when you start eating "normally", the weight will probably return and become even more than before you started following this diet.

Respectively – within 3 to 4 weeks, you will be able to learn not from the research results and experience of others but to make sure of everything yourself.