There was a time when we were all exhorted to ’go to work on an egg.’ Well we now know that the woman who became arguably Britain’s most successful post-war Prime Minister did more than that when she launched her bid for 10 Downing Street. Recently released documents show that Margaret Thatcher ate 28 eggs a week ahead of the 1979 election.
The eggs were part of the Mayo Clinic diet, a predecessor of today’s Atkins diet, which was intended to help her shed 20lbs in two weeks ready for her first photocall on the steps of Number 10. She went on to serve as Prime Minister until 1990 and is still the only woman to have ever held the office. Details of her diet were found amongst papers released by the Margaret Thatcher Foundation. The diet was typed on a sheet of yellowing paper folded up and tucked inside her personal diary for 1979.
The diet included a daily breakfast of grapefruit, one or two eggs, black coffee or clear tea. Two eggs were served in each weekday lunch, whilst steak, lamb chops and fish were the staple of most dinners. She is not the only well known figure to have recognised the value of eggs in helping to control weight. In 2008 the art guru Charles Saatchi, who is married to celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, apparently lost 60lbs by eating nine eggs every day for 10 months.
The dietary benefits of eggs come as no surprise to those in the industry, of course, but Lucy Egerton of the British Egg Information Service said, "Margaret Thatcher was obviously ahead of the game by knowing that eggs can help with weight loss back in the seventies.
"Research from the last few years has found that eating eggs at breakfast time is a great slimming aid – two studies have shown that it can both help cut calorie intake by up to 415 calories per day, and increase weight loss, as eggs keep you feeling fuller for longer."
Research published in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition followed overweight and obese women to see whether what they ate for breakfast had a bearing on the amount of calories they ate for the rest of the day. The researchers, from the Wayne State University, Detroit, found that when the women were given either an egg or bagel-based-breakfast of equal calories the women eating the eggs felt fuller and had less desire to eat other foods within the following 24 hours.
In a second study published in 2007 a research team from the Louisiana State University found that by eating two eggs a day for breakfast, overweight and obese women lost more weight than women eating a similar breakfast without eggs. The women in the study were asked to follow a low calorie diet while eating either a bagel or egg-based breakfast. Each breakfast contained equal calories. The researchers believe it was the satiating quality of eggs that led the egg-eating women to lose 65 per cent more weight than the bagel group. Not only did they lose more weight, but the egg group also felt more energetic.
The research supported the long-held view of nutrition experts that eating eggs at breakfast time provides a wealth of nutrients and promotes well being. "These results add to a growing body of research showing that we should all be eating eggs on a regular basis. We used to ’go to work’ on them and as a nation we were healthier for doing so. But with cooking skills lacking in most households, pre-packaged foods have taken over from natural, fresh ingredients. This research shows that our grannies knew best and that going back to basics will keep us all healthier, and slimmer," said Cath MacDonald, nutritionist for the British Egg Information Service.
The revelations about Margaret Thatcher’s diet should also reinforce the evidence that consumers should feel no need to limit their weekly intake of eggs. The Foods Standards Agency has confirmed that there is no limit to the number of eggs you can eat in a week, as part of a healthy balanced diet. And the British Heart Foundation abandoned a suggested limit following research that showed there was no medical basis for such a limit.
The research, which was published in the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin, revealed that the misconceptions around eggs and cholesterol arose largely from incorrect conclusions drawn from early research. Later studies have been able to separate the cholesterol-raising effects of dietary cholesterol from saturated fat, which often exist together in the same foods. Eggs are not high in saturated fat. This evidence has led to major world and UK health organisations like the British Heart Foundation and the American Heart Association revising their guidance.
Prof. Bruce Griffin, professor of nutritional metabolism at the University of Surrey and joint author of the paper, said, "The ingrained misconception linking egg consumption to high blood cholesterol and heart disease must be corrected. The amount of saturated fat in our diet exerts an effect on blood cholesterol that is several times greater than the relatively small amounts of dietary cholesterol. The UK public do not need to be limiting the number of eggs they eat - indeed they can be encouraged to include them in a healthy diet as they are one of nature’s most nutritionally dense foods."
Lucy Egerton said she was sure the former Prime Minister would be pleased by the research. "Mrs Thatcher will be heartened by the news that limits on eggs have been lifted by health experts. Concerns linking eggs to fears about high blood cholesterol levels and heart disease have been proven to be unfounded."
