{"id":37464,"date":"2019-07-08T15:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T20:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.incredibleegg.org\/?post_type=nutrition_article&#038;p=37464"},"modified":"2023-06-27T15:25:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T20:25:54","slug":"animal-sourced-foods-how-much-do-we-need","status":"publish","type":"nutrition_article","link":"https:\/\/www.incredibleegg.org\/nutrition\/articles\/animal-sourced-foods-how-much-do-we-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal-Sourced Foods: How Much Do We Need?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Healthy dietary patterns recommended by the&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/health.gov\/dietaryguidelines\/2015\/resources\/2015-2020_Dietary_Guidelines.pdf\">Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;can include a variety of plant-sourced and animal-sourced foods to meet nutrient needs.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<p>Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy foods, protein foods, and oils are key to healthy dietary patterns.&nbsp; Although some animal-sourced foods (such as eggs) are placed in the \u201cProtein Food Group,\u201d these foods are more than just protein and have unique nutrient profiles important for health, as discussed at a&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nasfc.ucdavis.edu\/\">recent conference<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<p>Animal-sourced foods provide high quality protein<sup>1<\/sup>, meaning these foods have all the essential amino acids the body needs.&nbsp; In the U.S., appropriately planned vegetarian and vegan diets can also provide sufficient protein to maintain health<sup>2<\/sup>.&nbsp; However, both plant-sourced foods and animal-sourced foods provide more than protein.&nbsp; Foods from different food groups provide a good or excellent source of various essential nutrients:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Brussels sprouts: vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate (B<sub>9<\/sub>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oranges: fiber, vitamin C, and thiamin (B<sub>1<\/sub>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Beans: protein, fiber, iron, thiamin, folate, phosphorus, and magnesium<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eggs: protein, riboflavin (B<sub>2<\/sub>), vitamin B<sub>12<\/sub>, biotin (B<sub>7<\/sub>), pantothenic acid (B<sub>5<\/sub>), iodine, selenium, and choline<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<p>These examples illustrate that eating a variety of foods can help ensure intake of essential nutrients.&nbsp; However, at this point, there is not a clear answer as to how much total animal-sourced foods we need for optimal health.&nbsp; Each animal-sourced food is different in its composition and there is not consensus of what outcome would indicate adequacy.&nbsp; Growth, anemia, or functional outcomes are possible indicators of nutrient\/food adequacy.&nbsp; Some indicators, such as micronutrient inadequacy, are not always immediately obvious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<p>Vitamin B<sub>12<\/sub>, a nutrient important for red blood cell formation, neurological function, and DNA synthesis, is naturally present in animal-sourced foods or may be obtained from fortified foods.&nbsp; Fortified foods are readily available in the U.S., but this may not be the case throughout the world.&nbsp; Choline, a nutrient critical for cell structural integrity, signaling, and neurocognitive development, can be found in small amounts in plant-sourced foods like wheat germ, soybeans, and broccoli.&nbsp; A significantly greater concentration of choline can be found in beef liver, chicken liver, and eggs.&nbsp; Considering approximately 90% of Americans do not consume adequate amounts of choline<sup>3<\/sup>, foods rich in this nutrient are a critical part of healthy dietary patterns.&nbsp; Eggs also provide lutein and zeaxanthin (252 mcg\/large egg), and importantly, the carotenoids in eggs are readily absorbed and utilized<sup>4<\/sup>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eggnutritioncenter.org\/articles\/healthy-dietary-patterns-brain-health-children-emerging-role-lutein\/\">New research<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;is exploring the importance of lutein during early years and throughout the lifespan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block\">\n<p>While consumption of plant-sourced foods is essential to healthy dietary patterns, plant-sourced foods are not interchangeable with animal-sourced foods.\u00a0 Nutritionally, they are not the same, and research continues to show the value of nutrient-dense animal-sourced foods as part of healthy eating patterns in the U.S. and around the world.\u00a0 Please see our\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eggnutritioncenter.org\/\">website<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for additional information about egg nutrition, including information about\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eggnutritioncenter.org\/science-education\/health-professional\/healthy-sustainable-eating-patterns-importance-big-picture\/\">healthy, sustainable eating patterns<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eggnutritioncenter.org\/science-education\/nutrition\/sustainable-nutrition-women-children-eggs-part-global-solution\/\">eggs as part of the global solution<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to sustainable nutrition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"references-block-block_56ed61fdf17fc1455da9e04cfeda0cb2\" class=\"content-block references-block \">\n\n  <h3><a class=\"references__toggle\" aria-controls=\"references--block_56ed61fdf17fc1455da9e04cfeda0cb2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" href=\"#\">References<\/a><\/h3>\n  \n  <div class=\"references__ol text-block\" id=\"references--block_56ed61fdf17fc1455da9e04cfeda0cb2\"><ol>\n<li>Schaafsma, G.,\u00a0<em>The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score.<\/em>\u00a0J Nutr, 2000. 130(7): p. 1865s-7s.<\/li>\n<li>U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture,\u00a0<em>2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans<\/em>. 2015.<\/li>\n<li>Wallace, T.C. and V.L. Fulgoni,\u00a0<em>Usual Choline Intakes Are Associated with Egg and Protein Food Consumption in the United States.<\/em>\u00a0Nutrients, 2017. 9(8).<\/li>\n<li>Chung, H.Y., H.M. Rasmussen, and E.J. Johnson,\u00a0<em>Lutein bioavailability is higher from lutein-enriched eggs than from supplements and spinach in men.<\/em>\u00a0J Nutr, 2004. 134(8): p. 1887-93.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Healthy dietary patterns recommended by the&nbsp;Dietary Guidelines for Americans&nbsp;can include a variety of plant-sourced and animal-sourced foods to meet nutrient needs. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy foods, protein foods, and oils are key to healthy dietary patterns.&nbsp; Although some animal-sourced foods (such as eggs) are placed in the \u201cProtein Food Group,\u201d these foods are more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37465,"template":"","nutrition_article_tag":[29],"class_list":["post-37464","nutrition_article","type-nutrition_article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","nutrition_article_tag-nutritious-dietary-patterns"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Animal-Sourced Foods: How Much Do We Need? - American Egg Board<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.incredibleegg.org\/nutrition\/articles\/animal-sourced-foods-how-much-do-we-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Animal-Sourced Foods: How Much Do We Need? - American Egg Board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Healthy dietary patterns recommended by the&nbsp;Dietary Guidelines for Americans&nbsp;can include a variety of plant-sourced and animal-sourced foods to meet nutrient needs. 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