Dr. Eric Berg is a chiropractor who specializes in weight loss through nutritional and natural methods and is a world-renowned ketogenic diet expert, published writer, and author of the bestselling book “The 7 Principles of Fat Burning”. His goal is to help people take control of their bodies through a healthy keto diet and intermittent fasting. Drberg.com.
Read the other posts in Dr. Berg's series on the advantages of eating eggs.
Generally, I eat 4 eggs per day. Of course those eggs are not consumed at breakfast, they're actually at my first meal between one and three o'clock in the afternoon because I'm an intermittent faster.
One of the key reasons that I consume eggs on a regular basis is not only do I enjoy it, but eggs have the greatest anabolic effect out of all the food options around.
48% of egg actually turns into your body tissue and that's pretty much the highest, not counting breast milk. Moreover, cholesterol and fat in the yolk actually help in the anabolic effect.
You're gonna have to consume more meat to get the same anabolic efficiency as for eggs and much more whey or soy:
Eggs are very high in nutrients and pretty much have every single vitamin and mineral. They’re loaded with B vitamins and healthy fats like DHA and EPA.
Egg whites have really low amounts of essential fatty acids, while egg yolk contains most of the nutrition.
Egg yolks are loaded with Vitamin K2, which makes your bones very strong. They also remove calcium from the arteries and the joints by acting as a transporter, keeping it out of the wrong place.
Egg yolks also have 10 times more choline than broccoli. Choline is amazing for brain support, for making sure you don't get a fatty liver and if you do have a fatty liver, choline will strip the fat off. Choline is also good for the nerves that connect to the digestive system. People that are constipated actually get improvement when they consume choline.
| Food |
Milligrams per serving |
|---|---|
| Beef liver, pan fried, 85g | 356 |
| Egg, hard boiled, 1 large egg | 147 |
| Beef top round, separable lean only, braised, 3 ounces | 117 |
| Soybeans, roasted, ½ cup | 107 |
| Chicken breast, roasted, 3 ounces | 72 |
| Beef, ground, 93% lean meat, broiled, 3 ounces | 72 |
| Fish, cod, Atlantic, cooked, dry heat, 3 ounces | 71 |
| Potatoes, red, baked, flesh and skin, 1 large potato | 57 |
| Wheat germ, toasted, 1 ounce | 51 |
| Beans, kidney, canned, ½ cup | 45 |
| Quinoa, cooked, 1 cup | 43 |
| Milk, 1% fat, 1 cup | 43 |
| Yogurt, vanilla, nonfat, 1 cup | 38 |
| Brussels sprouts, boiled, ½ cup | 32 |
| Broccoli, chopped, boiled, drained, ½ cup | 31 |
| Mushrooms, shiitake, cooked, ½ cup pieces | 27 |
| Cottage cheese, nonfat, 1 cup | 26 |
One of the top nutrients for the brain is called phosphatidylcholine. This healthy fat is a major part of all cell membranes that help to build the outside of the cell. It's an awesome nutrient to support brain function, to improve memory, concentration and overall focus. It is also good for liver repair especially for chronic hepatitis type A, B and C.
You can get phosphatidylcholine in soybeans but the problem is that most soybeans are GMO. You can also find it in Atlantic mackerel and herring, but I usually get it from egg yolks.
Choline, found in egg yolks, is also intimately involved in brain function, so if you don't have enough choline, your memory and your mental acuity can suffer. If a woman is pregnant and she is deficient in choline, it can cause problems with the brain development in a child.
If you're afraid about consuming eggs, just realise that it will not increase your bad cholesterol, only the good cholesterol. It's very therapeutic for your nervous system, your brain and a lot of other conditions.
Egg yolks are one of the healthiest things you can consume to provide the nutrients, the protein and the healthy fats on a healthy ketogenic diet.
Grass fed beef liver or any liver for that matter, and egg yolks have choline. If you are deficient in choline, that could actually cause a fatty liver, since choline is very essential to keep the fat out of the liver.
There are other things that can cause fatty liver: consuming too much sugar, refined carbohydrates, especially fructose and alcohol. Vegetable oils can cause a fatty liver as well, but the second most common cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a deficiency of choline.
These are two other B vitamins: folate and B6. If you have enough folate and Vitamin B6, the need for choline will be less, but if you are deficient in folic acid and Vitamin 6B, you'll need more choline.
In this case, you want to start consuming foods high in choline like egg yolks.
If you don’t like liver or you are vegan, cruciferous vegetables and peanuts could be a good source of choline as well. However, I do not recommend consuming a lot of peanuts, as they have some other issues. In addition, dairy products, for instance grass-fed cheese, also have choline.
It seems a bit counter-intuitive because we were taught that consuming all these fatty foods would turn into fat in the liver. But as long as you don’t eat them with sugars and refined carbs, there will be no problems. Moreover, in the absence of sugar and carbohydrates, these fatty foods are going to improve your choline levels and decrease fat in your liver.
On an April 2024 episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, Gary discussed a host of interesting biohacking and healthspan ideas, including his daily routine.
