Eggs are not an unusually rich source of any single nutrient, but they provide substantial amounts of a wide variety of nutrients. Because the percentages of daily values for many of the nutrients provided by an egg are greater than the proportion of total daily calorie intake that the egg represents, an egg more than pulls its weight nutritionally. For good nutrition most of a person's daily food intake should consist of foods of high nutrient density. From an economic perspective, eggs are lower in cost than many other animal-protein foods that make similar nutritional contributions to the diet. If eggs are served occasionally as an alternative to meat, poultry, or fish, they can help keep the food budget under control.
Eggs are convenient to eat, especially for people who live alone.
They come in handy, single-serving packages. They can be prepared easily in a variety of attractive and familiar ways. Because most egg recipes involve short cooking times, eggs are convenient for people with little time to prepare meals. And because eggs keep well in the refrigerator for about three weeks, a single person can easily use up the dozen eggs in a carton before they spoil. Finally, eggs have several important physical and chemical properties that help make recipes work.