Research conducted by scientists at Purdue University has revealed that eating eggs alongside raw vegetables can help the body absorb more nutrients than eating veggies alone.
The study, which was published last month by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed the effects of eggs on the absorption of carotenoids, the pigment which gives many fruits and vegetables — such as tomatoes, carrots and radishes — their bright colors, and which act as powerful antioxidants for the body.
The study, funded by a grant from the American Egg Board's Egg Nutrition Center, examined the effect of dietary lipids (naturally occuring fats, such as those in eggs) on the quantity of carotenoids detectable in the blood for a period of 10 hours after eating.
Sixteen male participants were split into three groups. Each group consumed the same salad basic, made up of a variety of unspecified brightly-colored vegetables and three grams of canola oil. The control group ate salad with no eggs and the other two consumed one and a half or three scrambled eggs in addition to the raw vegetables. Blood was collected from the participants every hour for 10 hours in order to measure their levels of beta-carotene and lycopene, two carotenoids.
Those who ate three eggs with their salad had two times the amount of carotenoids present in their blood as those who had one and a half, and four times the amount of those who consumed no eggs at all.
Many past studies have found that certain vitamins and minerals can only be absorbed through the digestive process when eaten alongside dietary fats. The Purdue research adds to a growing body of research that shows the benefits of eating certain foods in specific groupings in order to best unlock their nutritional benefits. Other examples include whole wheat bread with hummus; leafy greens sprinkled with lemon; and dishes containing turmeric mixed with pepper.
