This is the best way to store and cook eggs to make the most of all the vitamin D they contain.

Without a doubt, the egg is one of the most versatile foods in gastronomy. This food has been eaten since ancient times as excellent source of protein and essential nutrients. Although they also contain high amounts of cholesterol, they do not seem to raise cholesterol levels like other foods such as trans and saturated fats. Additionally, it prevents eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataracts; promotes brain development; prevents cardiovascular diseases; promotes pregnancy due to the high content of folic acid and reduces possible pathologies or malformations of the embryo; promotes the formation of muscle mass and stimulates growth in children; improves the health of hair and nails; It is an excellent liver protector; It even reduces the incidence of breast cancer.

Egg is food high nutritional value, and with a not very high energy contribution – about 84 Kcal/unit. for a medium sized egg. Moreover, this one of the few foods containing vitamin D

natural shape, which makes it a more than recommended product in winter, when opportunities to obtain it from sunlight are reduced. Vitamin D is known to help keep our bones, teeth and muscles healthy and is also important for a strong immune system. Some studies also show that people with low vitamin D levels have a higher risk of developing seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is especially common during the winter months.

Given the lack of sunlight in countries such as The United Kingdom, where vitamin D deficiency affects 50% of the population, Researchers from Newcastle University conducted a study to find out how best to store and cook eggs to get the most out of their nutritional value.

The first thing they looked at was Where was the best place to store them? since they are usually stored in the refrigerator. However, they found that placing them on the counter at room temperature is ideal if they want to preserve the “sunshine vitamin” contribution. “We found that if you want to retain more vitamin D in eggs, it’s best to store them out of the refrigerator at room temperature, e.g. on the kitchen table” indicates that Tom Hill Professor of Nutrition at Newcastle University who led the study.

On the other hand, they explored five different ways to prepare them: scrambled, poached, poached, poached and fried.

Cooking food is known to reduce nutrients. But it has also been proven that short cooking times, even at high temperatures, retain more nutrients compared to longer cooking times. For example, baking an egg for 40 minutes can lead to a loss of up to 61% of vitamin D. Scientists have noticed that The best way to cook them is to scramble them, then boil them (in the microwave), boil them, boil them, and finally fry them.

After storage and preparation by the tested method, batches of eggs were freeze-dried and analyzed for vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 content. The scientists used actual retention to measure the proportion of vitamin D remaining in cooked foods relative to the vitamin D originally present in a given weight of food before cooking. They found that this rate ranged from 78% to 109%. When comparing eggs fortified with regular eggs (not fortified)The vitamin D content was found to be 22–132% higher, depending on the preparation method used.

“Our previous research has shown how we can successfully fortify eggs with vitamin D through chicken diets, which could provide a valuable source of feed to help tackle the widespread problem of vitamin D deficiency in the UK. So now we know that It’s not just the diet that chickens receive that can significantly increase the amount of vitamin D.

in the egg, but how you cook it affects how much you’re going to eat,” Hill explained.

Researcher who published his work in a journal Food, stressed that the study demonstrates the benefits of working with industry over the long term to develop real food solutions that address problems nutritional deficiencies among the UK population, an issue that is of great concern to the country’s health authorities. “This is particularly relevant as we await the outcome of the government’s call for evidence in 2022 to inform policy to improve vitamin D status in the UK population,” Hill said.