Certain everyday foods allow you to maintain a sufficient intake of vitamin D. This is the case with eggs. But the way they are stored and cooked can affect their content. A study reveals the best way to consume them to benefit from maximum vitamin D.
Vitamin D plays an essential role in the quality of bone and muscle tissue as well as in strengthening our immune system. But unlike other vitamins, D is only synthesized by the skin under the action of the sun’s rays. And 10% to 20% of its intake still comes from our diet, in particular fatty fish (herring, sardines, salmon and mackerel), offal (notably liver), dairy products enriched with vitamin D, cheese or even eggs. You still need to know how to store and cook them to benefit from them.
Cool or at room temperature: where to store your eggs?
Researchers from the University of Newcastle wanted to answer this question: first, they examined eggs, stored in a refrigerator or placed on the kitchen worktop to answer this question which is often debated. And they have an answer, regarding vitamin D:
“We found that if you want to retain more vitamin D, it is best to keep eggs out of the fridge at room temperature, for example on the kitchen counter”noted Tom Hill, professor of nutrition and lead author of the study.
So no more storing them in the refrigerator door!
Which cooking method is the most profitable?
Secondly, the scientists wanted to check whether the cooking method had an impact on the vitamin D content. They therefore cooked the eggs before freeze-drying them and determined the vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 content. . In order to measure the proportion of vitamin D remaining in cooked eggs, they used actual retention. They then compared their results with the vitamin D initially present in a given weight of the food before cooking.
According to the conclusions of the study, the best methods of cooking eggs (i.e. kept at room temperature), which allow vitamin D concentrations to be preserved are:
- Scrambled eggs (109%);
- Eggs cooked in a microwave oven (109%);
- Poached eggs (93%);
- Hard-boiled eggs (80%);
- Fried eggs (78%).
For the author, having more precision on the cooking method can concretely help to fill our vitamin D deficiencies.
“Our previous studies have shown how we can successfully enrich eggs with vitamin D through chicken feed, which could provide a valuable food source to help address the widespread problem of deficiency. We now know that- Beyond the chickens’ diet, the way you cook eggs influences the amount of vitamin D you will consume.
And that’s a good reason to eat more scrambled eggs for breakfast!
Slide: What foods are richest in vitamin D?
