Egg yolks have gotten a bad rap over the years. This is not entirely undeserved, because they are high in cholesterol and fat. This notwithstanding, there is a place for an occasional egg yolk in a healthy diet. The best approach is to use them sparingly. For example, one yolk can be omitted when making a two egg omelette.
Fats and Calories
The yolk of a large egg has 55 calories and 4.51 g of fat. With absolutely no fiber, the yolk is not particularly filling. Since the white of an egg does not contain fiber either, a serving of eggs should be accompanied by fruit, whole wheat toast or some other high fiber food.
Cholesterol
With 184 mg cholesterol in a large egg yolk, this food is avoided by people who are watching their cholesterol levels. The American Heart Association recommends limiting dietary intake of cholesterol to 300 mg per day. This limitation drops to 200 mg for people with heart disease. Eating even a single egg yolk makes it very difficult to heed these recommendations.
Vitamins
Although one large egg yolk meets less than 3 percent of the daily needs of thiamin, vitamin C and vitamin E, it satisfies between 5 percent and 10 percent of percent of an adults daily requirement of riboflavin, B-6, vitamin A and vitamin D 8, as well as 39 percent of the daily niacin requirement.
Minerals
With 22 mg calcium, one large egg yolk meets 2.2 percent of the daily requirement for adults. Moreover, it contains 0.46 mg iron, which satisfies 2.7 and 5.7 percent of the iron requirement for women and men respectively. Naturally low in phosphorus and potassium, egg yolks can be enjoyed by patients with advanced renal disease who must restrict their intake of these minerals. Lastly, with only 8 mg of sodium, egg yolks are one of the very few naturally low sodium foods.
Protein
One large egg yolk has only 2.7 g of protein. This is an insubstantial amount of protein in light of the USDA requirement that people consume 0.8 of protein per kg body weight. This requirement means that a 130 pound woman should consume 47.37 g of protein every day. This an egg yolk satisfies 5.6 percent of this requirement.
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