HEALTH : BENEFIT OF EGG TO THE BODY

Every second Friday in October is World Egg Day and Nigeria is one of the seven countries in Africa that celebrate it. Funtuna eggs, the first to introduce the concept of branded and packaged eggs to the Nigerian food industry, is the ambassador for the International Egg Commission (IEC) in Nigeria.

The concept of ‘World Egg Day’ was created by the IEC in order to promote nature’s vitamin pill. The day is seen as an opportunity to ensure that everyone knows that egg is an excellent and affordable source of high quality protein, with the potential to feed the world.

This day is celebrated in the form of omelet cooking competitions, donation of egg recipe booklets, boiled egg donation, radio and TV advertisements and round table discussions.

We are regularly told how important it is to eat a balanced diet; we need protein and plenty of vitamins and nutrients.  Fruit, vegetables and meat naturally spring to mind, and when combined can provide all these. But one food contains them all – egg.

Egg is an excellent source of high quality protein, rich in amino acids, calcium, sodium, iodine, selenium, choline and vitamins A, B, D & E; described by nutritionists, as a large vitamin pill – a mineral cocktail, they contain all the essential vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet.

Egg lower the risk of heart disease, the risk of breast cancer and age-related eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration, while at the same time reduce muscle loss and promote healthy growth and aging.

Egg is packed full of goodness, from vitamin A, which is needed for the healthy development of the body’s cells, helping to maintain healthy skin and eye tissue and assisting in night vision, vitamin B₁₂, which is necessary for the formation of red blood cells, important for the immune system to function properly, and helps protect against heart disease, right through to choline, vital for nerves and muscles to function correctly, and proven to lower the risk of heart disease, prevent age related memory loss and reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 40 per cent.  Egg really is a large vitamin pill, in 100 per cent natural package.

Health organisations around the world are actively encouraging people to eat more egg to ensure that they benefit from nature’s natural vitamin pill.  The Australian Heart Foundation recommends that people should eat at least six eggs a week.  In Canada, egg carry the country’s health check mark, and the Irish Heart Foundation has coined the phrase, an egg a day is ok.

Funtuna eggs is a part of the global celebrations that are in place for the 20^th anniversary of World Egg Day on October 9, 2015