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An employee works at a state poultry farm on the outskirts of Minsk, November 11, 2013. The biggest farm in Belarus, it produces more than 35 millions eggs every day for the domestic market and for export, mostly for neighboring Russia. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

Eating an omelette made of three eggs a day makes you a kinder person, a new study finds. The study was conducted by researchers from the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition in The Netherlands. Researchers found that eggs contain tryptophan or TRP, which reacts on brain chemicals, making people donate twice as much to charity.

“For the first time, we investigated whether the administration of a compound contained in food such as fish, eggs, soy and milk, can promote charitable donating,’’ The Independent quoted the Dutch research team as saying. “Our study is the first demonstration that charitable donating can be enhanced by serotonin-related food supplements.’’

In the study, a group of 32 men and women were taken through a number of examinations and tests. Half of the participants were given TRP in amounts equal to that found in three eggs, while the other half were given TRP in lower amounts. Researchers noted that the first half of the group donated twice as much money to charity than the second half.

Though researchers were not able to confirm the mechanism behind this effect, they speculate that it could be the “cuddle hormone” oxytocin that promotes this behaviour.

The study supports the saying “you are what you eat.”

"[This is] the idea that the food one eats has a bearing on one's state of mind," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted the authors as saying. "The food we eat may thus act as a cognitive enhancer that modulates the way we deal with the 'social' world."

The findings of this study may be especially helpful for charity organizers and in places like prison “where food supplements containing TRP might help increase harmony among inmates.”

For people who are sceptical about eating too many eggs because of previous studies stating that it is bad for health and cholesterol levels, there’s good news! A set of new studies has found that three eggs a day may actually be good for health as they are rich in iodine and phosphorus, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth.

According to current government guidelines, a person can eat between one to three servings of eggs a day, where one serving is equal to two large eggs.