A question which is frequently asked by people when trying to figure out what is allowed on their carnivore diet is around eggs. While the egg has been a staple of most breakfasts for our entire lives many aren't able to place what they are and if they fit in the carnivore diets meat only dogma.
Are Eggs Meat? Eggs are not the meat of an animal and are actually a byproduct of the reproduction cycle of the hen. Typically, meat is considered as flesh from animals. They are included in the meat section of the nutritional guides due to the very high protein levels as a nutritional decision.
So if a carnivorous diet is "meat only" doesn't this mean that eggs are technically off limits? Today I want to speak more about eggs and just explain why they are a very good fit for the carnivore diet and how they help you get all the high quality nutrition you need.
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Eggs are a superfood unlike many other plants which we are told are superfoods. They contain and are everything required to establish life and to allow perfect growth if they were to be fertilized.
Unlike the other plant "superfoods" which may have one magical component that in isolation may have some benefit.
On the whole most eggs are about half protein and half fat with a super small amount of carbohydrate included. This makes them a super source for your daily protein needs as it is packaged with fat which can be used for energy.
While many people focus on the egg whites for their protein values they are missing the nutrition boat that the yolks contain. The majority of each egg’s nutrients are found in the yolk.
For many people the eggs they buy are around $3 per dozen and up to $5 per dozen.
This cost makes them a very inexpensive form of protein for your daily diet needs, on average an egg has 6 grams of protein so a dozen would give you 72 grams.
If you look at price to gram this means the cost per gram of protein is about 4 to 5 cents per gram.
Per the USDA, all fluid milk products and most foods made from milk are considered dairy products. This would include foods made from milk that keep their calcium content, like yogurt and cheese.
In almost all cases the foods that are created from milk that don’t have a lot of calcium, like cream cheese, cream, and butter are not considered dairy.
Since eggs aren't a milk product then they aren't considered dairy products. Since they don't qualify as a dairy product are they then a poultry product?
While many may then come back to deciding that eggs then are poultry as they come from a hen, this isn't correct either. Since it isn't a fertilized egg then they aren't poultry which is how this gets more complex.
An egg is everything necessary to take a fertilized egg into a animal while inside the shell. This makes them not a poultry product either, they are more a one off that we lump in as meat.
For those who don't know, being a vegetarian means you don’t eat any meat, poultry, or seafood. Your primary nutrition is met by eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, seeds, and nuts.
I would never remove eggs from my diet even though they aren't meat, they are one of the most nutritious foods that you can get for their cost. I love to always keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge for a snack if hunger hits out of nowhere, love them with bacon in the morning for breakfast.
If you were to remove eggs then you will need to look at what you cost yourself in nutritional value and what you would have to add or supplement to help keep you at top functionality.
I would prefer instead to focus on the whole food from the egg which comes in a nice easy to process nutritional container.
If you read this far you are amazing! I would love to hear from you in the comments below if I helped you gain knowledge and useful information, additionally I would like to know if I got anything incorrect that you believe should be researched more and updated. As always to get the word out please join our new Carnivore Rx group on Facebook and share this out on social media!
