Niki Bezzant: Eggs - The foolproof foodstuff

They're quick, versatile and nutritious and the Ministry of Health says we can eat eggs every day. Photo / File

COMMENT: Throw a dart at the calendar and, on any given date, it'll be World Something Day. Last Monday, for example, you could take your pick from World Coffee Day, World Vegetarian Day and World Sake Day.

Many of the days are not official; most are invented by industry marketing groups to promote their product. But that doesn't mean some aren't worth celebrating.

A day I'll be celebrating is Friday's World Egg Day (this one was established 20 years ago by the International Egg Foundation). I celebrate Egg Day most days, in fact, since they're a daily part of my diet. If I don't eat them for breakfast I'll very likely include them in another meal; they're almost always on my essentials shopping list. I'll often eat a dozen a week.

The old caution about eggs needing to be limited is long gone. There's no need to be confused: the Ministry of Health says we can eat eggs every day.

I love eggs - as the old campaign slogan said, when you have an egg in the house there's a meal in the house (and a super-quick one, at that).

I'm a bit outside the norm; Kiwis eat on average 4.7 eggs each per week; about the same as Aussies and Canadians. We are - perhaps surprisingly - well below the Japanese, who have 7 eggs a week; maybe because a traditional Japanese breakfast includes egg alongside rice, fish and miso. But globally, egg consumption is on the rise.

There are good health reasons to include eggs in your life.

As an inexpensive (eggs cost on average 46c each), meat-free protein source, eggs are hard to go past. Two eggs give us around 13g of protein - more than other breakfast foods such as cereal. And as a base for a lunch or dinner meal, an egg will get you off to a good start, protein-wise.

Eggs also offer useful vitamins and minerals. They're a good source of vitamin B12, which is essential for the functioning of our brain and nervous system and blood formation. B12 is only found in animal foods, so eggs are particularly useful if we choose not to eat meat.

Eggs also provide vitamin A and lutein for eye health; and selenium, zinc and iron, all of which we need for important bodily functions. They're low in calories, fat and carbs, if you're concerned about those things.

There's a long list of healthy nutrients in eggs - they're like a natural multivitamin, except far more delicious. Any time of day, I'd much rather eat a creamy omelette with asparagus, broccoli and parmesan, say, than pop a pill.

And that's really the point about eggs. Like most foods, we don't choose them for their nutrition properties. We choose them because they're good value, easy to cook, versatile and delicious.

• Niki Bezzant is editor-at-large for Healthy Food Guide www.healthyfood.co.nz