- Most healthy adults can eat 1-2 eggs per day or up to seven eggs per week. Eggs are a great source of protein and are packed with vitamins and minerals.
- Every morning for 30 days, I consumed two eggs a day to track any improvements in alertness throughout the day.
- Eating eggs daily helped me to feel more energized and full throughout the majority of the day. Still, I did not see any major improvements in my energy levels in the evenings overall.
If you're fitness-obsessed like me, you've probably had about enough of the word "protein." The macronutrient is having a moment, and eggs seem to be the star of the show at six grams (g) of protein a pop.
I'm no stranger to eggs—I tend to consistently eat them for breakfast on Sundays, a tradition that started at my grandma’s house. She would make scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, sausage, and biscuits. As you can imagine, the gym was the farthest thing from my mind at this time.
However, my 20s have brought changes in my health that have prompted me to pay more attention to what I eat. As a teen, I could eat sugary cereal for breakfast and snack cakes for lunch and still give 100% to my tasks throughout the day. Today, I need to eat at least one daily vegetable to feel like I have enough energy to get to bedtime.
When I started updating my diet, I tried eating different kinds of breakfast and lunch foods to avoid feeling sluggish in the late afternoon and evening. I switched my sugary breakfasts for fruit and granola alongside my coffee and abandoned my lunchtime chicken tenders and fries for rice or salad bowls.
Frustratingly, these smaller, healthier options left me still feeling hungry—and by the time my days were officially over, I'd end up craving (and eating) fast food.
I soon realized how I start the day sets the tone for how much energy I have at the end of it, when my body is fighting its hardest to stay alert and active. Because eggs are packed with protein and nutrients, I tried eating them for breakfast every day for an entire month to see if I'd feel full for longer and if they'd give me enough energy to get through my entire day.
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As a young adult, it’s recommended that I eat 1-2 eggs daily. Studies suggest that up to two eggs a day is a healthy amount for most adults without high cholesterol and certain chronic conditions.
Breakfast is the first energy source your body receives when you wake up. Starting your day with eggs packed with vitamins, minerals, and high-quality protein means giving your body the nutritious boost it needs to get going.
| Nutrition of Eggs | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 71.5 |
| Fat | 4.76 g |
| Sodium | 71 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 0.36 g |
| Fiber | 0 g |
| Added Sugars | 0 g |
| Protein | 6.3 g |
Having more protein and vitamins in your first meal of the day makes it more likely that you will have more energy to burn. Consuming more eggs can also help to prevent protein and vitamin deficiencies.
For those who are vitamin D deficient, like myself and most of my family, egg yolks are also a good source of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is common, especially in people living in major cities like New York City where sunlight may be harder to come by. This can be especially true during colder months.
Risks
I wanted to include more nutrient-dense foods in my diet, but there are still risks that come with eating too many eggs. Eating more than 1-2 eggs daily can put you at risk for high cholesterol, especially if it runs in your family.
My dad and grandparents have high cholesterol, so I don’t think eating eggs every single day is ideal for me. However, I think having them every couple of days and opting for egg whites occasionally could help me still get those nutrients without putting my health at risk.
A balanced breakfast that includes egg whites with other nutrient-dense foods like whole grains and nuts may be ideal if you are at risk for high cholesterol.
Additionally, egg allergies are one of the most common food allergies among children, though most (70%) go on to outgrow the allergy later on. People who remain allergic to eggs should avoid eggs and foods made with eggs.
It's also important to always cook eggs thoroughly—undercooked or raw eggs can put you at risk for salmonellosis, an infection with the Salmonella bacteria that can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-eggsandbiscuitsonplate-Destine-Mason-resized-aad8f50db9ac4fec97c36a87e07902a3.jpg "I Ate 2 Eggs for Breakfast Every Day for a Month—Here's How My Diet (and Mornings) Changed (2)")
Breakfast is the meal I use to get myself excited for the day, especially when I work from the office and need to wake up earlier.
For this experiment, I stuck to eating approximately 2 eggs per day, a recommendation that most healthy adults can follow. I also chose to eat my eggs for breakfast, which meant having them within an hour or two of waking up—between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.—since I can't start the day in a good mood without something in my stomach.
Most days, I scrambled my eggs in about a tablespoon of olive oil, added spinach to the pan, and ate them alongside two frozen biscuits I cooked in the oven. On other days, I ate my spinach-scrambled eggs as a sandwich between a wheat roll, or I had a simple fried egg—always seasoned with some black pepper and a pinch of salt.
Results
I went into this challenge hoping my egg breakfast would help me feel more satiated and energized throughout the day, and it did, to a degree.
Starting my day with a protein-forward breakfast helped me feel full for longer, which in turn helped me feel more focused and alert and less distracted by feelings of tiredness—all necessary things for long days of work and dance. Interestingly, I also noticed I was drinking more water with my meals.
However, I didn’t see any major differences in my energy levels near the end of the day—after 5 p.m. I still felt mentally exhausted from my routine. Nevertheless, I refrained from grabbing any quick sugar fixes.
The real change from this experiment came from revamping my breakfast routine. Eating eggs every morning encouraged me to be more intentional about my meals, and my generally well-balanced breakfast (protein and healthy fats from eggs, carbohydrates from a bagel or biscuits, and other nutrients from spinach) helped me start the day on a good note.
Cooking at home also meant controlling how my food was prepared. Because I was concerned about potentially raising my cholesterol levels, adding my own seasoning to my breakfast meals helped me control my sodium intake.
Eggs are also relatively cheap (one dozen costs about $3, or 25 cents per egg); I also felt like I was able to save money by focusing on one thing for breakfast.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-EggsandTots-Destine-Mason-resized-v2-86b101c5a33741eb835999c100542768.jpg "I Ate 2 Eggs for Breakfast Every Day for a Month—Here's How My Diet (and Mornings) Changed (3)")
Eating eggs every morning was a great way to break up the monotony in my morning routine, and it gave me something to look forward to because of how I was able to play around with different breakfast combinations.
While I can't give eggs all the credit for my boosted energy levels (I think drinking more water and eating other nutrient-dense foods helped), I still think they had an effect. I also enjoyed the flexibility this experiment gave me with my meals.
I plan to keep making myself a hearty breakfast in the morning, though I probably won't continue to eat eggs every day. I may try to stick with every other day. Overall, I realized that little acts of self-care like this can help you make it through a taxing workday.
Destine Manson is an associate editor at Health. As a full-time editor and part-time dancer, she wanted to find ways to eat more meals that increase her energy throughout the day through food. She tried eating eggs for breakfast every day for a month.
Edited by
Destine Manson
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/DSC00324.01-3-47d3d32d4c4d466b92a3a66bc24756c6.jpg "I Ate 2 Eggs for Breakfast Every Day for a Month—Here's How My Diet (and Mornings) Changed (4)")
Destine Manson
Destine Manson is the Associate Editor for Health.com. Destine is originally from Atlanta, Georgia where she first started her career as a student journalist for VOX ATL.
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7 Sources
Health.com uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
U.S. Department of Agriculture: FoodData Central. Egg, whole, raw, fresh.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans: 2015-2020.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Salmonella.
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U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject. Eggs, grade A, large, per doz. in U.S. city average, average price, not seasonally adjusted.
