The Little-Known Health Benefit Of Queen Elizabeth's Notorious Egg Order

If eggs are part of your daily breakfast, you're starting your day with some quality protein to stabilize your blood sugar and help keep you full for several hours. Eggs are also quite versatile, so you can enjoy a different egg dish each day. You can chop some vegetables and add them to your eggs to make a frittata or omelet. You can scramble a few and top them with your favorite spices. You can even make hard-boiled eggs, poached eggs, or eggs sunny side up.

Although Queen Elizabeth II's chef told Marie Claire that Her Majesty typically ate Kellogg's cereal for breakfast, she enjoyed eggs from time to time. But she was particular about her eggs. She preferred brown eggs to white, and she wanted them cooked on low heat so they would be more creamy (per Supercharged Food). Rather than sprinkle a little salt and pepper on her eggs, she preferred two unique flavors — lemon zest and nutmeg. While Food Republic says adding a little acid from lemon zest can make eggs softer and creamier, nutmeg might seem like an unusual spice. Yet nutmeg has antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory power that might make it a worthy addition to your eggs and other foods.

Nutmeg might make you think of cold winters and the holidays, but it's used year-round in dishes around the world. According to a 2023 article in Cogent Food & Agriculture, a little pinch of spice has vitamins A, E, and C and minerals such as iron, magnesium, and potassium. Specific compounds in nutmeg such as myristicin, sabinene, and eugenol protect your cells from damage from free radicals. Nutmeg extracts can block the production of substances in your body that cause inflammation and produce lipids.

Lignans found in nutmeg can help fight cancer cells, and the phytochemicals quercetin and myristicin block the production of substances that help cancer cells grow. Rather than turn to antibiotics to treat infection, extractions from nutmeg might inhibit strains of streptococcus and other bacteria. Nutmeg also can be used to battle harmful fungi. Nutmeg has also been shown to protect the brain from the activity of enzymes that lead to Alzheimer's. Substances such as myristicin can work with the brain's neurotransmitters to possibly reduce depression and anxiety. However, much of the research on nutmeg has been on animals rather than humans, so more research is needed.

Nutmeg is great to sprinkle in desserts, curries, and eggs, but you don't want to go overboard like the cinnamon challenge. A 2019 article in Complementary Therapies in Medicine highlighted a case study where a 17-year-old male was found pacing back and forth in his house and talking to himself. It was determined that he overdosed on nutmeg. This wasn't such a unique case, according to a 2014 article in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. In just 10 years in Illinois, 15 people under age 20 intentionally overdosed on nutmeg, causing symptoms such as a rapid heart rate, hallucinations, agitation, and gastrointestinal distress. Some of them combined nutmeg with other drugs such as cannabis, amphetamines, or cough syrup.

Along with the health benefits of nutmeg, this warming spice can cause other health conditions if taken at high doses, according to a 2021 article in Molecules. Even though myristicin is one of the key compounds that makes nutmeg healthy, it's also partly responsible for its psychoactive qualities. When you eat too much nutmeg, it can cause harmful changes to your liver cells that increase enzymes that can damage the liver. How much is too much? According to WebMD, two teaspoons can be enough to become toxic, especially when combined with other drugs.