Start the day off right with a protein-packed breakfast guaranteed to keep you energized throughout the day. Ditch the heavy grains and coffee, and enjoy a hardboiled egg with a cup of tea. The egg is full of vitalizing nutrients, and green or black tea gives you a caffeinated pick-me-up that won’t leave you jittery or facing an early afternoon crash.
A Little Bit of Egg Goes a Long Way
A hardboiled egg is a wonderful source of lean protein at just 70 to 80 calories per egg. With more than six grams of protein, an egg keeps you feeling fuller for much longer than most breakfast foods like cereals and baked goods. Protein not only energizes, but also helps to increase muscle mass, repair tissues, and build cellular walls.
The white of the egg houses the most protein, but that doesn’t mean you should skimp out on the yolk. Recent research has disintegrated the link between eggs and heart attacks, as well as egg yolks and cholesterol. Eating cholesterol doesn’t elevate blood cholesterol in your body! So enjoy the yellow!
The yolk of an egg contains nutrients like vitamins A, D, and B12, as well as calcium, folate and omega-3s. Vitamin A supports eye health by protecting the membranes around the cornea, and antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin reduce your risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration. Vitamin D builds strong bones, and supports healthy skin and nails.
Eggs are also low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like omega-3s. These fats help lower cholesterol in the blood and stabilize blood sugar levels by regulating insulin.
A hardboiled egg also gives you a healthy dose of choline, which is essential for brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular function. Choline provides structure to the brain cell membranes, which transmit messages from the brain to your nerves and muscles.
Tea vs. Coffee
We’ve got nothing against a cup of coffee, but we do encourage you to substitute in some tea every now and again. Whether green or black, tea has an even higher concentration of antioxidants than coffee, and delivers the same caffeine perk without the caffeine crash later in the day. Research suggests that green tea can also promote fat burning because of its naturally thermogenic properties—which aren’t simply due to the caffeine in tea.
Tea, especially green tea, has also been linked to a reduced risk of certain types of cancer. For example, one study showed that green tea lowers a woman’s risk of esophageal cancer by 60%.
While coffee dehydrates the body, tea actually replenishes fluids, while the catechins in tea keep your bones strong and fight oxidative damage caused by scavenging free radicals.
To prepare a hardboiled egg with a cup of tea, look for non-GMO eggs from pasture-raised chickens and organic loose-leaf or satcheled tea. Boil the eggs the evening prior and you have a 5-minute morning ritual not to be missed!
