Small, large, extra large; buying eggs use to be such an easy process. All you needed to decide on was the size you were after. Now, with so many egg varieties on the supermarket shelf, how do you know what the healthiest option is for you? 

Firstly, forget caged or free-range terms painted all over an egg carton. They’re not going to tell you any nutritional value whatsoever about an egg, but rather how the chicken was raised. And given that there is no standard for the terms, free-range doesn’t always mean a chicken will see the light of day. It just confirms that a chicken gets time out from being imprisoned in a barn cage.

We need to be clear that how a chicken lives doesn’t affect the nutritional value of their eggs. Sure it will impact their welfare and quality of life, but it does not improve an egg. The chicken’s diet is what determines an egg’s nutritional content.

One factor which improves the nutritional quality of eggs is giving a chicken access to pasture. This is where they can thrive on natural green plants and insects so omega-3 acids, vitamin D and beta-carotene properties in their eggs are increased.

Another great way is for farmers to incorporate added nutrients to their hen’s feed. For instance, including flaxseed in the mix will give any chicken (organic, pastured or caged) added nutrients such as vitamin E and omega-3 acids which are found in egg yolks.

This is why omega-3 eggs are an extremely nutritional option. The hens are fed a diet high in vitamin E and omega-3 fats to boost the content levels in each egg; regardless whether the hen is caged or free range.

Many people think vegetarian eggs are very healthy, but they’re not as nutritional as other eggs. This is because they are fed a strict animal-free diet that restricts them from roaming freely outdoors where they can access insects and worms. Therefore, they’re predominately a caged chicken.

At the end of the day, choose an egg where the hen’s laying them consume a highly nutritious diet. Eggs can be consumed raw, but are more popularly eaten cooked. All of the egg can be eaten or separated into the yolk or egg-whites only for optimum protein. Poaching an egg is a good cooking technique because you don’t have to add any fats. It’s also quite quick to prepare. Remember, when you add extra to your egg such as butter in scrambled eggs or cheese in an omelette, you are increasing fat properties.

Why too many coffees can even cause irregular heartbeats for healthy people.

Coffee. It’s a miracle drug when we need a burst of energy to pull us through an enduring day. But what are the negative impacts of having too much caffeine?

Caffeine is classified as a stimulant drug that increases blood sugar levels, elevates heart rate and blood flow and raises body temperature. It is a diuretic which lowers your water intake, causes you to urinate more frequently and can lead to dehydration. And although small doses can reduce fatigue and increase alertness, large consumptions can trigger not so beneficial side effects.

Rapid heartbeat, medically known as Tachycardia, is one of the most widespread complaints associated with the heart. Patients often seek medical attention for the symptom and find that it is caused by excessive amounts of caffeine; regardless of how healthy a person is. Even in small doses, caffeine can severely affect people who are prone to panic attacks. It can interfere with medications taken to calm down their system and even induce panic attacks and cause mood swings.

One of the worst, but overlooked side effects of coffee is caffeine addiction. Scarily enough, the smallest amounts of daily caffeine intake can form a physical dependence which can quickly turn into a vicious cycle. Most of the time regular coffee drinkers need a caffeine-packed beverage in the morning to get a kick start. If the person misses a daily hit of caffeine, they may even be subject to experiencing withdrawal symptoms such as excessive sleepiness, fatigue and headache. This is where it all begins and it may even be that coffee drinkers need a caffeine boost in the morning in the first place because they are already experiencing insufficient sleep which can lead to chronic insomnia.

But these side effects are considered to be quite moderate negative impacts of caffeine. There are more serious symptoms people in high risk medical categories, and even healthy people, may suffer from. People with certain physical conditions need to minimise their intake if they are known to experience high blood pressure and diabetes. It doesn’t end there, though because healthy people can experience problems such as stomach discomfort, anxiety and rapid heartbeats if they drink high levels of caffeine.

The recommended dosage of caffeine is 500mg per day. Think about how much caffeine you are consuming through coffee beverages, certain teas, soft drinks and other beverages. While one serving may be beneficial in the morning, consider reducing caffeine amounts in the evening to prevent over consumption, sleeping disorders, prolonged depression and rapid heartbeats.

The marketing industry is one of the fitness industry’s biggest and most competitive rivals – marketing ploys are created on a daily basis to try and hide the hidden demons in foods.

Low fat foods, which are adorned with logos and slogans promoting ‘99% fat free’, ‘the healthy choice’,  etc, may be low fat but they’re usually packed with carbohydrates that we’re never openly told about – carbs which are so well hidden under scientific terminology, that most consumers don’t know how many grams they in actually consuming.

Take for example, a popular health cereal by a well-known cereal brand – it promotes low fat, in fact virtually no fat almost at only 0.6g per 45g serve. Many would think, ‘great!’ and start snaking on bowls of cereal all day long, however, per 45g serve, there is also 33.7g of carbohydrates – an incredible amount, which if not burnt off will turn straight into sugar and then fat.

It’s extremely important for parents of young children to look out for this. Parents especially try and do the right thing by their children by buying low fat foods, but simply end up piling them with masses of carbohydrates which cause their sugar levels to rise and fall very dramatically.

Other serious offenders are all the vitamin-enhanced drinks, which claim to be incredibly good for you due to their added vitamin levels, but are packed with sugar. On one hand, yes, it’s great that they are packed with so many vitamins and nutrients – often things that you wouldn’t take in sufficiently through diet alone, but on the other hand, they are full of so much sugar that the negatives outweigh the positives. If you’re really concerned about your vitamin intake then the best thing to do is buy vitamin tablets and take these with water – by far the healthiest of options.

When tempted by the low fats and the healthy choices, make sure you read all of the stats – the marketers will obviously want to push the goodness and ignore everything else.

Well we are in the thick of the Christmas and New Year period – a month of partying and liquid lunching. It’s almost impossible to completely behave yourself during this period. Drinks with your boss, your colleagues, your partner’s boss and colleagues, your friends, your family… there’s almost not enough time for it all. And it’s extremely difficult to turn people down – especially when so many people are talking you into making an exception ‘just this once’… The pitfall is, that during Christmas and New Year, we don’t just make ‘one’ exception, we make the whole month an exception… and before we know it our bodies feel completely destroyed. It’s important to remember how easy it is to over-drink compared to over-eating… the intake of kilojoules in alcohol is reached extremely quickly. Just one long lunch time spent drinking and you could have taken in the recommended amount for a whole week. Even replacing alcohol with soft drinks can be dangerous. According to the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA) in America, since the late 70s the soft drink consumption in the United States has doubled for females and tripled for males. In fact, 21% of the sugar in the average American’s diet comes from soft drinks! An alarming statistic that is reflected in Australia through our astonishing obesity rates. For these people, cutting out this sugar alone could completely transform their entire bodies and health. As with every aspect of your life, your diet is about moderation and balance. Enjoy the Christmas period and allow yourself a few things that make you happy. Just remember how easy it is to over drink – and not just from the ‘being far too drunk’ perspective but from the kilojoules point of view. It takes an incredible amount of hard work to burn off excess kilojoule intake, so give yourself a present over Christmas – moderate and save yourself the extra work!