26 replies to this topic

[nushu]

I'm considering trying raw eggs, I know the schools of thought are divided on the issue. Link http://www.healingda...et/raw-eggs.htm
Anyone have experience eating raw eggs?

[spaceistheplace]

I'm considering trying raw eggs, I know the schools of thought are divided on the issue. Link http://www.healingda...et/raw-eggs.htm
Anyone have experience eating raw eggs?

One of the main arguments against eating raw eggs is that the egg white contains a substance called avidin, which binds biotin. However this isn't an issue if you eat the whole egg because the yolk is one of the richest sources of biotin found naturally.

I love the taste of fried eggs too much to eat raw slime unfortunately.

[ajnast4r]

i would avoid eating raw eggs for SURE, the possible detriments FAR outweigh and possible benefits... + scrambled eggs are so yummy :D

oh and mercola is pretty much a toolbag... a lot of yap and not a lot of science

Edited by ajnast4r, 29 January 2008 - 04:03 PM.

[rabagley]

i would avoid eating raw eggs for SURE, the possible detriments FAR outweigh and possible benefits... + scrambled eggs are so yummy :D

oh and mercola is pretty much a toolbag... a lot of yap and not a lot of science

Mercola doesn't hold all that much credibility for me either. But he does make a good point that I've heard in a few places now. Oxidized cholesterol and fats do appear to be atherosclerotic and a source of free radicals in the body until metabolized into other chemicals.

What I haven't been able to find out is: how much of the cholesterol and fat in an egg is oxidized with scrambling? Frying? Poaching? Soft-boiling? And just how dangerous is oxidized cholesterol and oxidized fat? If 50% of the cholesterol and/or fat are oxidized in scrambled eggs, that could be really bad. That's a lot of oxidized lipids heading into your body. If it's 5%? Can the rest of the cholesterol act as enough of an anti-oxidant to make it a net benefit?

Does anyone have any data?

I also love my scrambled eggs. And omelettes. And fried eggs. etc. I'd really like to know if I'm helping or hurting my cause by eating scrambled eggs.

[caston]

I'm considering trying raw eggs, I know the schools of thought are divided on the issue. Link http://www.healingda...et/raw-eggs.htm
Anyone have experience eating raw eggs?

When I was a teen I used to make milkshakes with raw eggs which other people seemed to frown upon. I guess there is a chance of gaining some kind infection like salmonella or perhaps even god forbid some kind of prion disease. If you still want to go ahead though eggs can be a fantastic source of nutrion especially raw.



"Always check the freshness of the egg right before you consume the yolk.

If you are uncertain about the freshness of an egg, don't eat it. This is one of the best safeguards against salmonella infection.

If there is a crack in the shell, don't eat it. You can easily check for this by immersing the egg in a pan of cool, salted water. If the egg emits a tiny stream of bubbles, don't consume it as the shell is porous/contains a hole.

If you are getting your eggs fresh from a farmer it is best to not refrigerate them. This is the way most of the world stores their eggs; they do not refrigerate them. To properly judge the freshness of an egg, its contents need to be at room temperature. Eggs that are stored in the fridge and opened immediately after taking them out will seem fresher than they actually are. Eggs that you want to check the freshness of should be kept outside the fridge for at least an hour prior to opening them.

First, check all the eggs by rolling them across a flat surface. Only consume them if they roll wobbly.

Open the egg. If the egg white is watery instead of gel-like, don't consume the egg. If the egg yolk is not convex and firm, don't consume the egg. If the egg yolk easily bursts, don't consume the egg.

After opening the egg you can put it up to your nose and smell it. If it smells foul you will certainly not want to consume it."


http://www.mercola.c...nov/13/eggs.htm

Edited by caston, 30 January 2008 - 11:06 AM.

[s123]

1) They contain avidin
2) They are rich in methionine

So I'm not a fan of egg white.

The yolk is better, it contains biotin, choline,...

[nushu]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I decided to give the raw eggs a go, ate 5 yesterday (stirred into my freshly ground golden flax and whey protein shake) and was surprised they didn't impart any taste. I plan on eating about 6/day, 3 in AM and 3 in PM. I like the idea of eating more raw foods. The raw eggs also felt like they digested easier than cooked, no heavy feeling. The experiment has begun, I'll post a follow up in a few months and again after I get my next blood work.

[ajnast4r]

we actually talked about this in my food sanitation class last night

salmonella DOES pass through the shell

[trevinski]

I might consider reducing the quantity of egg consumption down a bit if you're also eating the yolks. The recommended maximum for cholesterol daily is in the 300mg range, and a large hen's egg is roughly 215mg of cholesterol (all from the yolks).

Salmonella can- at its minimal effect- give you a quite memorable stretch of illness, and at its most severe- lead to fatality. Apparently sick hens can transfer the illness to the egg while it's in the oviduct. Though salmonella-infected eggs are rare( 1:20,000 roughly), it still would weigh on me a bit psychologically, and as others have mentioned-a finely cooked egg is quite a delight.

[ajnast4r]

I might consider reducing the quantity of egg consumption down a bit if you're also eating the yolks. The recommended maximum for cholesterol daily is in the 300mg range, and a large hen's egg is roughly 215mg of cholesterol (all from the yolks).

Salmonella can- at its minimal effect- give you a quite memorable stretch of illness, and at its most severe- lead to fatality. Apparently sick hens can transfer the illness to the egg while it's in the oviduct. Though salmonella-infected eggs are rare( 1:20,000 roughly), it still would weigh on me a bit psychologically, and as others have mentioned-a finely cooked egg is quite a delight.

i dont think dietary cholesterol is much of an issue for most people... most of the info ive read shows thats eggs have little to no effect on serum cholesterol.
i eat a buttload of eggs, and my cholesterol is perfect if not on the lower side.


even a mild case of salmonella will make you never want to look at an egg again... believe me. i really do not think there are any benefits to speak of from eating raw eggs, and theres plenty of risk.... i know people that do it, but i dont see why

[niner]

A friend of mine nearly died from salmonella. It is severely nasty sh*t. She had multiple organ failure. I guess that would qualify as a "bad case". She got it from organic veggies that she bought at a farmer's roadside stand. At least there were no pesticides that might have damaged her health... Low carbon footprint, too!

[ajnast4r]

A friend of mine nearly died from salmonella. It is severely nasty sh*t. She had multiple organ failure. I guess that would qualify as a "bad case". She got it from organic veggies that she bought at a farmer's roadside stand. At least there were no pesticides that might have damaged her health... Low carbon footprint, too!

thats nuts... my guess is she was immuno-compromised in some way?

Edited by ajnast4r, 14 March 2008 - 06:26 PM.

[niner]

A friend of mine nearly died from salmonella. It is severely nasty sh*t. She had multiple organ failure. I guess that would qualify as a "bad case". She got it from organic veggies that she bought at a farmer's roadside stand. At least there were no pesticides that might have damaged her health... Low carbon footprint, too!

thats nuts... my guess is she was immuno-compromised in some way?

As far as I know she was healthy. It was just out of the blue. Apparently vegetables are a major salmonella vector. They get contaminated from animal poop or something, and it doesn't wash off very easily. Sux...

[Dmitri]

I'm considering trying raw eggs, I know the schools of thought are divided on the issue. Link http://www.healingda...et/raw-eggs.htm
Anyone have experience eating raw eggs?

I've been using them in my protein/fruit smoothies for 8 years and nothing has happened to me. Although I don't add the eggs everyday because of the high cholesterol. I also used them because I figured the worst that could happen would be getting salmonella, but now that someone mentioned a prion disease, I think I’ll skip the raw eggs from now on.

[liorrh]

I've been eating 1-4 whole raw eggs for the last year, and several others I know too.. never been sick because of it
I did became sick because of chicken. beef and a slew of other things.
as long as you refrigerate the eggs, salmonela is far fetched.
PS my blood lipids only improved.

[Phoebus]

egg whites actually have b vitamin binding properties which can interfere with your ability to assimilate b vitamins. however the raw yolks are nothing but goodness. also heat can damage some of the delicate nutrients in the yolk such as the vitamin A, D, and omega 3 fatty acids. the whites on the other hand are mainly proteins and amino acids, heat will not damage them.

i eat raw yolks everyday and feel great, never had a problem. i love the raw yolks. i then add the whites to stir fry veggies with some curry. very delicious.

[EmbraceUnity]

Yeah, I'd rather eat artificial fertilizers than organic shit. When the spinach recall thing happened I wish they would have emphasized that it was organic spinach. Organic lovers might not see the connection.

That is simply not true. The salmonella was in multiple brands of spinach, some organic, some not organic. Yet, from a risk standpoint, the benefits of eating spinach (organic or otherwise) still far outweigh the remote chance of infection. Indeed, there is always a remote chance of infection from any crop. As long as you buy USDA-certified crops, your chances are quite low.

http://www.fda.gov/b...6/NEW01474.html

Edited by progressive, 29 September 2008 - 05:38 PM.

[Yann]

Restricting dietary cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day is not necessary if the cholesterol has not been damaged by heating. Eating 6 cooked eggs a day will likely increase your chance of cardiovascular disease, but 6 raw eggs should be no problem. Undamaged dietary cholesterol actually acts as an anti-oxidant in the body and is used in a myriad of protective processes. Cholesterol is actually a protecting substance that your body produces to protect against all sorts of damage. So by eating undamaged cholesterol you're just adding a bit to the pool of protecting cholesterol and your body will automatically produce less. The reason why dietary cholesterol and diets full of fat are linked to increased heart disease is because almost all of the fats and cholesterol people eat are damaged by heat in one way or another.

Take milk for example. Drinking large quantities of normal milk is bad for you because the milk has been pasturized, destroying the fats and cholesterol, plus destroying the enzyme it contains that helps break down the lactose in your body. Drinking raw unpasturized milk is the only healthy way to consume milk. This goes for all milk products like cheese, yogurt and butter.

The same misunderstanding exists for saturated fats. Saturated fats are not bad for you, in fact they are quite healthy. They too are needed in a large number of essential processes. As long as you consume unheated, undamaged saturated fats you will be fine. Problem is that almost all fat most people eat is damaged in one way or another. Ideally you should eat all your fats unheated and unprocessed. This also means that meat should be eaten raw to prevent fat and cholesterol damage. I'm not sure what the risks are of eating high-quality organic raw meat, but possibly not eating meat at all and getting the nutrients it contains from other sources like raw dairy and sups may be the best choice.

So eating high quality raw egg yolks is no problem when it comes to cholesterol. What IS a problem is that normal eggs from the supermarket have a very unbalanced n-6:n-3 ratio of sometimes as high as 20:1. This happens to eggs when the chickens are fed mostly grains like corn. The ideal ratio is 1:1 and eggs from chickens that were fed a healthy diet have a ratio very close to this ideal ratio. The diet for chickens to produce ideal 1:1-ratio eggs is mostly fresh insects, and possibly some added flax seed. So always try to get organic eggs and if you can contact the farmer and ask him what he feeds his hens. Same goes for cows. Cows fed on green grass (and hay and beets in winter) produce milk with a ratio close to 1:1. Cows fed on corn produce highly unbalanced milk. Ask the farmer to be sure.

Edited by Yann, 30 September 2008 - 06:03 PM.

[CasualObserver]

Restricting dietary cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day is not necessary if the cholesterol has not been damaged by heating. Eating 6 cooked eggs a day will likely increase your chance of cardiovascular disease, but 6 raw eggs should be no problem. Undamaged dietary cholesterol actually acts as an anti-oxidant in the body and is used in a myriad of protective processes. Cholesterol is actually a protecting substance that your body produces to protect against all sorts of damage. So by eating undamaged cholesterol you're just adding a bit to the pool of protecting cholesterol and your body will automatically produce less. The reason why dietary cholesterol and diets full of fat are linked to increased heart disease is because almost all of the fats and cholesterol people eat are damaged by heat in one way or another.

Has it been proven that intake of undamaged cholesterol and saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease whereas damaged stuff does?

[JackChristopher]

Restricting dietary cholesterol intake to 300 mg per day is not necessary if the cholesterol has not been damaged by heating. Eating 6 cooked eggs a day will likely increase your chance of cardiovascular disease, but 6 raw eggs should be no problem. Undamaged dietary cholesterol actually acts as an anti-oxidant in the body and is used in a myriad of protective processes. Cholesterol is actually a protecting substance that your body produces to protect against all sorts of damage. So by eating undamaged cholesterol you're just adding a bit to the pool of protecting cholesterol and your body will automatically produce less. The reason why dietary cholesterol and diets full of fat are linked to increased heart disease is because almost all of the fats and cholesterol people eat are damaged by heat in one way or another.

Has it been proven that intake of undamaged cholesterol and saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease whereas damaged stuff does?

Just a guess, but cooking eggs seems like it would damage the fat (and cholesterol) about as much as cooking nuts would. We know for instance that PUFAs easily oxidize. And industrial eggs are high in inflammatory n-6s PUFAs. I don't think it's a stretch to say that that could cause long term damage. But short-term, peoples' biomarkers seem to be fine or actually improve. Supposedly harder to oxidize fats protects against damage. Just make sure you're minimizing inflammation in every way you can.

Eggs and (some types of) nuts are quite similar in several ways. But if not for the dangers of salmonella in eggs (and nuts), and if they were tasty, I would just stick to raw on principle. Here's a recent snippet related to this issue: http://www.medicalne...cles/139541.php

Edited by JackChristopher, 04 June 2009 - 05:53 PM.

[CasualObserver]

Thanks Jack.

[ferdo]

From Albert Hofmann: Chemist who discovered the mind-altering properties of LSD

In 2006, some 2,000 scientists gathered to celebrate Hofmann's 100th birthday at a symposium in Basel addressed by the Swiss president Moritz Leuenberger. Hofmann lived in retirement in rural Switzerland and attributed his long life to eating a raw egg every day.

[501characters]

"Prion diseases are usually rapidly progressive and always fatal."
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/prions/

[Johan]

What I haven't been able to find out is: how much of the cholesterol and fat in an egg is oxidized with scrambling? Frying? Poaching? Soft-boiling? And just how dangerous is oxidized cholesterol and oxidized fat? If 50% of the cholesterol and/or fat are oxidized in scrambled eggs, that could be really bad. That's a lot of oxidized lipids heading into your body. If it's 5%? Can the rest of the cholesterol act as enough of an anti-oxidant to make it a net benefit?

I would like to raise this question again. Is there any data on the effects of cooking methods on cholesterol oxidation?

[CasualObserver]

I would like to raise this question again. Is there any data on the effects of cooking methods on cholesterol oxidation?

I would be interested to know this too.