Eggs, whether raw, boiled, coloured or chocolate, are a firm feature of Easter. But what do hens’ eggs contain, and how healthy are they really?
The supermarkets are currently full of delicious looking, brightly coloured eggs. But eggs aren't just for Easter. More than a billion are consumed in Switzerland every year, including those used to make other foods such as pasta.
High in cholesterol – is this a problem?
For a long time, eggs had a bad reputation and were thought to be a cause of high cholesterol. It's true that a medium-sized egg contains around 220 milligrams of cholesterol, enough to cover two- thirds of an adult's daily requirement (300 milligrams), and for this reason it was often said that you shouldn't eat more than three eggs a week. But new research suggests that healthy people shouldn't worry about eating eggs, and that one egg a day is perfectly okay.
This is because if you're healthy, your blood cholesterol level regulates itself. If you consume cholesterol in your food, your body compensates by producing less. If a healthy person eats more cholesterol than their body needs, there's a mechanism to temporarily stop it being absorbed by the intestine, which means that dietary intake has little effect on cholesterol levels.
Who should be careful about their egg consumption?
People with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, elevated cholesterol levels, problems with their lipid (fat) metabolism or conditions such as diabetes should go easy on the eggs.
Healthy and packed with nutrients
Eggs are a rich and varied source of important nutrients that the body needs to grow and develop. In fact they're one of the most nutritious foods of all. The average egg contains protein, healthy fats and a whole variety of minerals. Eggs also contain the entire range of vitamins, with the exception of vitamin C.
Our tip for Easter
If you want to use healthy, natural dyes to decorate your Easter eggs, you can make them out of store cupboard ingredients you may already have in your kitchen. To get different colours, simply add the following to boiling water, adjusting the amount to vary the intensity of the colour.
Yellow: onions, saffron, chamomile blossom
Red: beetroot, red hibiscus tea
Blue: elderberries, blueberries
Green: spinach, parsley, nettles
Brown: coffee, black tea
