Cool Hand Luke ate 50 eggs—and as a ZeroPoint™ food, you may wonder if he had the right idea. (For the record, we don’t recommend it.) Whether you like them poached, scrambled, or hard-boiled, they're a quick and easy option for a light lunch or a healthy snack.
Are eggs really a ZeroPoint food?
Yes, eggs—including the yolk!—are a ZeroPoint food. (As long as they're prepared with a 0 Points® value cooking spray or sauce.)
I'm worried about cholesterol. Is it okay to eat eggs?
Cholesterol isn’t all bad. In fact, we need it for important jobs like manufacturing vitamin D and hormones and keeping cells and tissues healthy. But LDL cholesterol—what most people consider the “bad” kind—can build up in your arteries, raising your risk for heart disease. So how do eggs fit into a healthy diet?
Turns out, the notion that dietary cholesterol—the kind found in eggs, shrimp, and other animal proteins—can raise your body’s cholesterol is a myth. As the Dietary Guidelines for Americans puts it, “cholesterol is not a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” Your liver makes the bulk of it, so for most people the amount you eat has little bearing on your heart health.
I'm focused on losing weight. Will I gain if I can eat as many eggs (or other ZeroPoint foods) as I want to?
Foods on your ZeroPoint foods list were chosen because they are much less likely to be overeaten than other foods. (It's a lot harder to eat six hard-boiled eggs than six chocolate-chip cookies.)
It is of course possible to overeat ZeroPoint foods so we recommend that you let your weight loss be your guide and adjust how much you're eating, if necessary.
If I use the barcode scanner in the WeightWatchers app on a packaged meal, like an egg and turkey bacon breakfast sandwich, will it automatically remove the ZeroPoint ingredients?
Yes. If we have the packaged food in our database, the Points value shown will show up with the ZeroPoint ingredients removed, assuming they actually have 0 Points value. (For example, pre-made scrambled eggs with milk and butter are not a ZeroPoint food.)
Eggs such as duck, goose, quail, turkey, and chicken have different nutrition profiles. How are they all ZeroPoint foods?
Duck, goose, quail, and turkey eggs were designated as ZeroPoint foods for some members for the same reason as chicken eggs—they are much less likely to be overeaten than other foods. (Imagine trying to eat a dozen hard-boiled eggs in one sitting...) In a carefully monitored clinical trial, members still reported great weight loss, regardless of what type of egg they chose.
Is there a limit to the number of eggs I can eat?
Eggs are a good source of high quality protein and provide essential vitamins and minerals for a healthy diet. Six to seven eggs per week is the general recommendation, however this has more to do with aiming for variety in the protein sources you're getting rather, than limiting your egg consumption.