Hard Boiled Eggs Nutrient Facts

Eating eggs, such as hard boiled eggs, instead of carbohydrate-rich breakfast foods like bagels, for breakfast may help you lose weight, according to a study published in "Nutrition Research" in February 2010. Eggs' high protein content helps fill you up so you aren't tempted to overeat at your next meal. Hard boiled eggs are also good sources of essential vitamins and minerals.

Calorie and Macronutrient Content

Eat a large hard boiled egg and you'll be consuming 78 calories, 6.3 grams of protein, 0.6 grams of carbohydrate and 5.3 grams of fat, including 1.6 grams of saturated fat. This is just 8 percent of the daily value for fat and saturated fat, but 13 percent of the DV for protein.

Cholesterol Content Concerns

While people with high cholesterol shouldn't make a daily habit of consuming eggs due to their relatively high cholesterol content, a study published in the "British Medical Journal" in 2013 found that for healthy people, eating up to one egg per day didn't increase the risk of heart disease or stroke. Saturated fat affects your cholesterol levels much more than dietary cholesterol, and eggs are relatively low in saturated fat. However, aim to keep your daily cholesterol intake within the recommended limit of 200 milligrams per day for people with high cholesterol or 300 milligrams per day for healthy people. Each large egg provides 186 milligrams of dietary cholesterol.

Vitamin and Mineral Makeup

Eggs also provide significant amounts of essential micronutrients. You'll get 11 percent of the DV for vitamin D, 10 percent of the DV for vitamin B-12 and 9 percent of the DV for phosphorus each time you eat a large hard boiled egg. You need vitamin D for healthy immune function and absorbing calcium to form strong bones. Vitamin B-12 and phosphorus are both essential for forming DNA and healthy red blood cells to transport oxygen around your body.

Options for Optimal Nutrition

If you eat eggs regularly, you may want to invest in true free-range eggs, which come from chickens that spend most of their lives outside in the grass instead of in cages or inside buildings, as is the case with most chickens raised for eggs. A 2007 article published in "Mother Earth News" reported on a study which determined that these eggs contain more of the healthy nutrients omega-3 fats, vitamins A and E and beta carotene and less unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol than conventional eggs.