Considering the uncertainties of how to best eat eggs reminds me of the many uncertainties on how to maximize the release of human growth hormone; there are seem to be almost endless possibilities and combinations.
I eat eggs in many different ways, but I don’t eat fried eggs because I want to avoid eating oil and protein that have been heated to high temperature. I eat most of my egg yolks raw and I eat most of my egg whites after barely heating them which is supposed to neutralize avidin.
Eating raw eggs is controversial for 2 reasons:
- There is a chance to contract salmonella from eggs unless they are cooked.
- A raw egg white has a substance called avidin which can bind to the “B-vitamin biotin”. Some people say that avidin can significantly affect levels of biotin and others say that it doesn’t.
The rate of salmonella in eggs is said to be 1 in every 30,000 and since I am in good health, it is a risk I am willing to take. In the last year, I have probably eaten about 400 eggs and I have not had any problems. Heating the egg white neutralizes avidin, so I separate the egg white from the yolk and heat the egg whites to a low temperature; below is a picture of what my 2 egg whites look like after being in my microwave for 2 minutes at power level #1. Avidin is apparently neutralized at a low temperature.
Other egg factors:
- Cooking supposedly alters the value of fats and proteins so many people advocate eating either eating eggs raw or cooking them at low temperatures. Occasionally I will cook egg whites in my Oster steamer.
- Omega 3 eggs: I have been purchasing Omega 3 eggs for a couple of years. Usually I purchase Christopher brand eggs because they have more DHA and EPA than most other brands of Omega 3 eggs. I don’t know if there is greater food value in Omega 3 eggs or if it is mainly advertising hype, but I am able to easily pay the increased cost so I buy them.
- Since the yolk contains most of the fat in an egg, if I want to only eat egg whites I’ll hard boil inexpensive eggs that aren’t Omega 3 eggs and just eat the egg white.
- Some people feel that some value of the amino acids is lost when an egg is blended because some long chains of amino acids are broken up; therefore they eat eggs “Rocky style” by swallowing the yolk and egg white right out of the egg shell; (in one of the Rocky movies, Rocky eats a bunch of raw eggs first thing in the morning before training). I don’t eat my eggs “Rocky style” because it is unappealing to me, but I try to avoid blending them for more than 5 seconds; when making my smoothies, I mix everything else first and then after adding my raw egg yolks and heated egg whites, I blend for only 5 seconds.
My usual smoothies (I have a smoothie about 4-5 times/week):
- 1/2 cup plan yogurt
- 1/2 cup frozen fruit (usually blueberries or blackberries)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/3 to 1/2 of a banana
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut (I buy “Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Coconut” from a health food store)
- a handful of pecans, almonds, walnuts, and/or Brazil nuts
- sometimes I add a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
- after the above ingredients are mixed thoroughly, I add 2 egg whites that have been heated in my microwave for 2 minutes at power level #1and 2 raw egg yolks; I blend the eggs into the smoothie for 5 seconds.
August 27, 2008 at 8:22 pm |
[...] explained why I eat raw egg yolks and barely heat egg whites on my post from April 22, 2008. Here is a recipe for my normal smoothie when I am not coming off a fast or preparing for carb-load [...]
August 1, 2009 at 12:26 am |
hi, thanks for all of the great tips on smoothie and egg combos..i feel the same about raw eggs, having grown up on a small farm with lots of chickens and yes LOTS of raw eggs in shakes (now called smoothies). It did know that its a concern for eggs to have salmonella, but didn’t know where or how it occurred. Some say that the real risk is from eggs that are cracked, or just old. My feeling is that this is a remote occurrence. One in 10,000-30,000 does not mean by eating that many eggs you will eventually get sick. We could eat eggs our entire lives and never come into contact with the dreaded ‘S’ word. Below is a link that refutes this a bit by the fact that as they state, the salmonella (if present) comes from the chicken’s ovaries and hence would be in the yolk not the white. If this is indeed the case, then heating the yolk would be the way to go (or maybe the whole thing to avoid the debate all together?
anyway, thanks for the egg-talk….Bon Appétit!
http://www.chow.com/stories/10509
September 25, 2009 at 8:27 am |
I think some folks are being overly paranoid in blending eggs too long if they think it’s going to destroy long-chain fatty acids and amino acids. We’re talking the molecular level here. A blender or fork homogeonizing the egg together won’t destroy things at the molecular level. Ironically, once you eat them, your stomach acid and pancreatic fluids WILL attack it all at the molecular level and break things down into what you need. Your body constantly converts long and short chain fatty acids into other types depending on what it needs. Folks need to stop being so paranoid. Now, cooking WILL alter the structure of the proteins (denatures them) and oxidize the fats. That’s why some folks who get barfy when eating cooked eggs do just fine eating raw eggs. Egg yolk is chock full of vitamins and minerals, and many folks have practically lived off of them (EG: country folks who raise chickens). They’re very easy to adjust the fat content in your diet, since you just cut out some yolks here and there. The fat is not “empty calories” fat, like with oils or animal skin, since the fat is in the yolk along with vitamin E and A. Eggs do not come cooked in nature, and were eaten raw by humans for a long time. Cooking was usually only needed to make tough things (like meat) tender to eat. Eggs are perfectly natural and easy to eat as-is. Salmonella can be an issue, but that’s due to poor chicken raising conditions, and otherwise shouldn’t frown upon the quality of eggs. Folks who complain about eating raw eggs due to risk of salmonella are probably the same idiots who don’t eat fish because they’re worried about mercury & heavy metal poisoning. They want to blame the end result of the problem, not the cause of the problem. They want to avoid fish rather than advocate for cleaner streams and water. I eat tons of raw eggs, and they’re perfectly fine. In fact, the egg yolk has helped boost my work-outs quite a bit. If anyone is worried about salmonella, then they can blend some raw garlic with grapefruit juice in a blender and drink that down. The raw garlic will kill pretty much anything bad in your body.
October 31, 2009 at 11:43 pm |
i have lost weight in the hot room and steam room. for winter i am eating nut smoothies and recently cheese burgurs to gain weight to gain strength. i will try the egg smoothies but i experment nothing written in stone i will try anythinh