This article has been Fact-Checked by Kendall Kennedy MS, RD, RYT
Some people claim eggs give you heart attacks. Others say it’s one of the most healthy foods there is. Are eggs good for weight loss?
Eggs are a relatively cheap food, available to most people. On top of that they are pretty tasty too.
Calories in eggs
The source of calories in food still matters for goals like losing weight and health.
That being said, how many calories eggs contain can still offer some valuable information about how weight-loss-friendly this food option is.
100 grams of boiled eggs, around 2 large eggs, contains about 155 calories (1).
Food categories like vegetables and fruits tend to be lower in calories. Even a few types of lean meat and fish contain fewer calories.
At the same time, the number of calories in eggs is still medium to low compared to many other foods.
Only 4.5 of the calories above come from carbohydrates. This makes boiled eggs a good food option for low-carb diets.
As will be discussed more in-depth, the fats and proteins that are the sources of these calories in eggs tend to be relatively filling.
Micronutrients in eggs
The first thing to look at is the amount of micronutrients in eggs.
Micronutrients are a group of nutrients your body absolutely needs to survive and thrive. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. These are involved in basically every aspect of your health, including weight loss.
100 grams of egg provides you with approximately (1):
- Selenium: 44% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Riboflavin: 30%
- Vitamin B12: 19%
- Vitamin B5: 14%
- Vitamin A: 12%
- Folate: 11%
And a few other micronutrients in smaller amounts. The amount of micronutrients in eggs is very nice. Eggs are a pretty nutrient-dense food. 100 grams comes down to about 2 large eggs.
Protein in eggs for weight loss
Another thing in food that can help you on your weight loss journey is the amount of protein in it.
Eggs contains about 12.6 grams of protein per 100 grams. To compare, there are about 25.4 grams per 100 grams in salmon (2).
Eggs are a decent source of protein. Certainly for vegetarians who have trouble finding good protein sources.
Protein is considered to be the most filling of the 3 macronutrients. Hunger and cravings can be a big pitfall for people trying to lose weight, so avoiding this is a big plus.
Eating enough protein will also help you prevent muscle loss. Since, muscle helps you burn extra calories throughout the day this is a big plus for protein and eggs for weight loss.
Do keep in mind that overdoing it with protein isn’t good either.
Should you add eggs to your weight loss diet?
By now, you understand that eggs are not that high in calories and contain valuable protein, vitamins, and minerals.
This combination makes eggs relatively good for losing weight.
By eating more of them, you will likely consume smaller portions of foods that are less helpful for losing weight.
Additionally, the muscle mass eggs can potentially help you build or preserve can be helpful in the weight loss process.
Besides that, you can also consciously use eggs as a replacement for certain foods that are less helpful for losing weight.
Something you do want to keep in mind is that just adding weight-loss-friendly foods like eggs to your diet without making any other changes can lead to weight gain.
Additionally, you typically don’t want to go all the way to crazy eating plans like the egg diet.
How many eggs can you eat a day to lose weight?
For most people it is ok to consume up to 3 eggs a day to lose weight without any problems.
It’s true that for a long time eggs were considered to be bad for your heart because of their cholesterol content. However, the more this gets investigated, the less researchers are certain about dietary cholesterol playing any part in heart disease (3).
If you or members of your family have a history of high cholesterol you might want to avoid eggs anyway.
How do you cook eggs to lose weight?
The way you prepare eggs can have an impact on the amount of calories too.
Cooking them or baking them with cooking oils can add extra calories to your diet, even if it comes from healthy oils like for example olive oil.
If you want to avoid adding extra calories to your eggs while preparing them, boiling or poaching them are the recommended methods. This way you get all the boiled egg benefits without the extra calories.
Relevant studies
One study with 30 women compared how filling an egg breakfast was compared to an equal calorie and weight bagel.
This study found that the egg breakfast was more filling. The women also automatically consumed less calories during the day (4).
Another study did the same comparison but with 152 men and women. They had to consume the breakfasts for at least 5 days a week. This time they were also divided into people on a calorie deficit and people not on a diet.
This one found a weight loss difference between the diet groups but no significant difference between the non-diet groups (5).
There are other similar studies that confirm that an egg breakfast is more filling than other common breakfasts (6, 7).
