Boiled egg diet not all it’s cracked up to be

Boiled egg diet not all it’s cracked up to be


In the 1967 movie “Cool Hand Luke,” Paul Newman bets his fellow prisoners he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour. As any film buff knows, he wins the bet by somehow keeping down roughly 6 pounds of eggs.

You may have no interest in eating so many eggs, but some people – including actor Nicole Kidman — are losing weight and gaining attention through the boiled-egg diet. Let’s look at the pros and cons.

First, the diet is unbalanced and fad diets are not healthy over the long term. While the American Heart Association says one egg per day can be part of a healthy diet, they should not be your main food source.

Eggs are high in protein and low in calories. But they contain virtually no fiber, so your body loses out on that digestive aid.

Then there is the debate over dietary cholesterol. Conflicting studies have led to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines removing daily limits on egg consumption while advising people to eat as little dietary cholesterol as possible.

Eggs also have saturated fat, but experts say the simple carbohydrates and sugars in foods pose a greater risk of higher cholesterol and triglycerides. Also, if you have risk factors for heart disease or diabetes, or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your health care provider before trying the diet.

Like all fad diets, this one may work for the short term and help you drop some pounds, but it’s unlikely you’ll stick to this for very long. People need variety in their lives, and diets.

And in case you’re wondering, Cool Hand Luke is not the egg-eating champion. Competitive eater Joey Chestnut once devoured 141 eggs in eight minutes. That’s one egg stat that hard to beat.

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