When you eat a whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet, you make the decision to forgo all animal products. Sometimes people continue to eat a few eggs here and there. But, there are some really important reasons why eggs might not be very good for your overall health.

Here is a bit of information on the health risks of eating eggs as well as some great plant-based substitutes you can use for eggs in cooking and baking. You will also find several egg-free recipes below.

Why no eggs?

Cholesterol and Heart Disease – Each single large egg contains about 70% of the calories from fat (mostly saturated), no fiber at all, and approximately 275 milligrams of cholesterol.[1] That is even more cholesterol than what you find in a single piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken![2] The daily recommendation for cholesterol is 200 mg and while your body needs some cholesterol to function properly, it will produce its own. A person does not need to consume it from animal products.

According to one study of over 23,000 people, those who ate the most eggs had 80 percent higher coronary artery calcium scores (one measure of heart disease risk) than those who ate the least.[3] People who consume less cholesterol have a lower risk of heart disease.

Prostate Cancer – The more eggs you eat, the greater the risk of prostate cancer. Choline (found in meat, dairy and eggs), has been found to increase prostate cancer risk. One large study showed that men who ate 2.5 eggs per week had an 81% increased risk of developing prostate cancer compared to men who ate less than one-half an egg per week.[4]

Diabetes – The Atherosclerosis Journal reviewed 14 studies showing that people who ate more eggs had a 68% higher chance of developing diabetes than those who ate the fewest. [5]  And in the Physicians’ Health Study with 21,327 people showed of the risk of death for participants with diabetes who ate seven or more eggs per week was twice as high as those who ate less.[6]

Egg Whites – The egg industry promotes egg whites as being the perfect food. The trouble with eating too many of them is you are overloading your body with too much protein. An egg white is 100% protein. The human body only needs 5% of their calories to come from protein. When you eat an excess of protein it makes it difficult on your body, especially on the liver and kidneys. [7]

How can I bake or cook without eggs?

Okay, now you’ve decided not to consume anymore eggs. That is GREAT news! However, you probably still want to bake and cook foods that used to have eggs as ingredients. So, now what do you do? Simple substitutions!

Egg-free Recipes

Here are just a few recipes you can make without eggs!

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cake

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Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

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Cornbread

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Tofu Scramble

As you can see, there is no reason to stop cooking delicious foods after you’ve made the decision to discontinue eating eggs! When you stop eating eggs, you are doing a very good thing for your body. But it’s nice to know you don’t have to give up yummy treats or foods in the process! 😘

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21076725

[2] https://www.kfc.com/nutrition/full-nutrition-guide

[3] https://www.pcrm.org/news/health-nutrition/eggs-increase-risk-heart-disease

[4] https://www.drfuhrman.com/get-started/eat-to-live-blog/57/10-strategies-to-prevent-prostate-cancer

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23643053

[6] https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/87/4/964/4633437

[7] https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/march/050300pueastereggs.htm

Thank you for sharing! 💚