Alright, the punchline first: eggs are super healthy and eating them can help you lose weight. But my initial thought when I read the tagline for Evolution Living's The Boiled Eggs Diet was "Seriously? A diet of just eggs?" It reads (literally, in all caps):
NUTRITIONISTS AND HEALTH EXPERTS ALL OVER THE WORLD CLAIM THAT THE BOILED EGGS DIET WILL HELP YOU TO LOSE 24 POUNDS FOR ONLY TWO WEEKS.
I imagine these words blinking in an unwanted electronic pop-up window or written as an alarming headline on the weather channel. The diction alone is appalling not to mention the idea so overly simple, eat boiled eggs for two weeks and lose weight, that I presume my peers will just as quickly roll their eyes and move along. But this story came to me by way of a smart, professional athlete whose share on Facebook collected quite a few thumbs up from friends, peaking my own interest in the details of this egg-centric diet.
Here are the first first five days of a 14-day boiled egg regimen.
Monday:
Breakfast – fruit and 2 boiled eggs
Lunch – fruit and 2 slices of meal bread
Dinner – Salad and cooked chicken
Tuesday:
Breakfast – fruit and 2 boiled eggs
Lunch – green salad and cooked chicken
Dinner – 2 boiled eggs, salad and an orange
Wednesday:
Breakfast – fruit and 2 boiled eggs Lunch – low-fat cheese, a slice of meal bread and one tomato Dinner – Salad and cooked chicken
Thursday:
Breakfast – fruit and 2 boiled eggs Lunch – fruit Dinner – salad and steamed chicken
Friday:
Breakfast – fruit and 2 boiled eggs Lunch – streamed vegetables and 2 boiled eggs Dinner – barbequed fish and salad
The remaining nine days look strikingly similar to the first five: eat 2 to 4 eggs per day, lean protein (chicken and fish), low carbohydrate containing vegetables (salad greens), and the occasional piece of fruit or bread. And yes, you will lose weight. This diet is low in calories, low in carbohydrates, and high in protein, a trifecta for weight loss. But why?
First of all calories are a measure of energy; the energy that is stored in the chemical parts of food and the energy that is required to carry out all essential molecular processes in our body. Calories fuel our beating heart, our brain's control of our systems, our muscles' contractions, and a million other vital effects. Daily calorie requirements are based on a person's metabolism, the sum of energy use in a body. The younger you are, the more active you are, the larger your body frame... these factors all increase your energy requirement and therefore the fuel needed to support it. On average adult women and men use 1600-2400 and 2000-3000 calories a day, respectively, for survival and activity (see Dietary Guidelines for Americans).
The Boiled Eggs Diet represents approximately 1200-1600 calories of food per day, significantly less than what most of us need. In this case, the body draws internally on energy reserves; molecular storage forms of carbohydrates and fats stored in liver, muscle, and adipose tissues. Energy reserves play an important role in the absence of dietary carbohydrates and fat, supplying energy and regulating blood sugar when food is scarce. When caloric intake is less than need as in the Boiled Eggs Diet, energy stores are utilized and a person will lose weight.
While dieting by calorie restriction will result in weight loss, it is not sustainable for long periods of time nor is it conducive to an active, healthy lifestyle. Caloric intake must meet one's daily biological need, especially once carbohydrate and fat stores are depleted, otherwise protein will be metabolized for energy. Protein is a last resort for energy production; it is a highly inefficient process and yields toxic byproducts. Furthermore, the primary source of protein in our body is muscle tissue, namely skeletal and heart. As such, protein catabolism literally means the body consumes its own muscle, leading to life-threatening outcomes like body wasting and heart attack.
The Boiled Eggs Diet is also low in carbohydrates. It limits carbohydrate rich foods to fruits, vegetables, and the occasional slice of bread, equaling approximately 50 grams of digestible sugars per day. This is less than one quarter of the recommended daily minimum for carbohydrate consumption. Carbohydrates in the form of glucose are our body's most ready source of energy and the preferred source for our brain. When a person limits carbohydrate intake, as in the Boiled Eggs Diet, the physiological effect is usage of stored carbohydrates followed by metabolism of stored fat to meet energy needs. Sound familiar? These are the same effects as in calorie restriction! Many 'Low carb' diets replace lost carbohydrate calories with calories from fat - think Atkins from the early 2000s when everyone touted their bacon and burger heavy weight-loss plans - but the Boiled Eggs diet limits both carbohydrates and calories, a double whammy for weight loss.
Finally, the Boiled Eggs Diet is high in protein, rounding out the trifecta. Daily meals include 1 to 2 eggs, lean chicken, fish, and/or cheese, providing approximately 30% of a day's total calories. While the average diet contains only about 10% protein by calories, studies have shown that people who consume protein at 25-30% of their total calories feel markedly more satiated and take in fewer total calories. High protein diets make us feel full because proteins require longer to digest than fats and carbohydrates; they physically stay in our stomach and small and large intestines longer. Furthermore, proteins do not offer us energy and they are not stored. Rather, their component parts, amino acids, are used to build new proteins in our body and excess amino acids are excreted as waste. While eating excess carbohydrates and fats (above what is biologically required) results in storage of these molecules for energy production, excess protein does not have the same immediate increase on a person's body mass.
So what exactly is unique about The Boiled Eggs Diet? Well, clearly its the crazy number of eggs it suggests you eat: 2 to 4 boiled eggs per day is a lot of eggs! You may never want to eat another egg in your life. That being said eggs are exceptionally unique in their nutrient profile. Eggs are rich in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates and calories, a winning combination for weight control. Also consider that eggs biochemically represent the potential for a whole, living animal! Eggs provide us with over 24 unique vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants including vitamins A, D, B12, B6, folate, riboflavin, and thiamin; minerals calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, selenium, phosphorous; molecules choline, betaine, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Furthermore, one egg supplies 19 of the 20 amino acids that build our body's proteins. Eggs are in essence a perfect food.
Have I tried the Boiled Eggs Diet? The short answer is no. While I do love eggs and appreciate their nutritional value, I'd rather add one to my pancake batter than be peeling shells all day. I also am not a fan of feeling hangry (the result for me on a low calorie, low carb diet), especially when I need to show patience and love toward my children, husband, and the world. But I do believe if you have the stamina and discipline to follow The Boiled Eggs Diet for 2 weeks you will absolutely lose weight.