For those of you who think raw eggs are better for you

[bigphishy56]

The protein in raw eggs is much less digestible than when the egg is cooked

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/...ct/128/10/1716

[baarat]

Originally Posted by bigphishy56

The protein in raw eggs is much less digestible than when the egg is cooked

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/...ct/128/10/1716

Fairly common knowledge, but there's no harm in telling the story one more time.

[pologod05]

Originally Posted by baarat

Fairly common knowledge, but there's no harm in telling the story one more time.

agreed.

[DrmChld]

Then why is eating raw eggs popular? I'll admit I put them in my shakes sometimes.

I recall reading somewhere that raw eggs provided a better amino acid profile than cooked.

[TheRdLessTravld]

The idea is that the heat from cooking the eggs denaturizes the proteins, essentially destroying some of the amino acids. Haven't read your link yet but that is the idea behind the "raw eggs are better for you" fad.

[Dave P]

I dont think anyone thinks raw eggs are "better"

They are just way more convienient and less filling.

[bigphishy56]

Originally Posted by Dave P

I dont think anyone thinks raw eggs are "better"

They are just way more convienient and less filling.

people do... people do

[expers]

wish i had the link still, but i read on a different forum an interesting explanation for the results of that study. i dont recall exactly, but i believe the argument was that since the cooked egg was already in a sense 'pre-digested', through the heating process, it consequently resulted in a much quicker absorption of protein, whereas the raw egg, having to enter the body completely unaltered, had to experience a much longer digestion time for the protein to be extracted. i personally find it difficult to believe that the human body can't digest 50% of a raw egg's protein, think about it, how would that make any sense?

[Raeka]

Originally Posted by expers

i personally find it difficult to believe that the human body can't digest 50% of a raw egg's protein, think about it, how would that make any sense?

We've evolved to eat cooked meat. It's why we get sick eating raw foods now, but dogs and cats and such don't.

[grapemaster]

Originally Posted by Raeka

We've evolved to eat cooked meat. It's why we get sick eating raw foods now, but dogs and cats and such don't.

we get sick eating raw foods if it has been handled wrong... or if the animal is diseased... raw food is perfectly fine if you get it fresh from a good source.

[expers]

Originally Posted by Raeka

We've evolved to eat cooked meat. It's why we get sick eating raw foods now, but dogs and cats and such don't.

humans have been consuming food in a raw state for much much longer than in a cooked form. i personally have been eating 12 raw eggs a day for the past 2 years, ive never gotten sick, in fact ive been less sick since doing it. i think this is an especially north american preoccuptation, and fear of germs and bacteria, which only seems to make us sicker in the long run.

[TheStiffmeister]

eggzactly!


gotta cook them.

[Raeka]

Originally Posted by expers

humans have been consuming food in a raw state for much much longer than in a cooked form. i personally have been eating 12 raw eggs a day for the past 2 years, ive never gotten sick, in fact ive been less sick since doing it. i think this is an especially north american preoccuptation, and fear of germs and bacteria, which only seems to make us sicker in the long run.

All I know is that a) they come from a chicken's bum and b) the egg shells are permeable. It just takes once to make you very sick, but I'd imagine that alot of people who do it regularly are generally of above average health to begin with and less susceptible to the organisms found in raw eggs and milk. If you do it and you're fine and consider it worth the risk great, but maybe add a caveat when recommending it to others.

But processing by the body and the usable protein extracted is what I was referring to, we've evolved to digest denatured (cooked) protein.

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/cont...act/277/5/G935

A study that evaluated possible protein and absorbed protein between a cooked and uncooked egg protein.

[expers]

Originally Posted by Raeka

All I know is that a) they come from a chicken's bum and b) the egg shells are permeable. It just takes once to make you very sick, but I'd imagine that alot of people who do it regularly are generally of above average health to begin with and less susceptible to the organisms found in raw eggs and milk. If you do it and you're fine and consider it worth the risk great, but maybe add a caveat when recommending it to others.

But processing by the body and the usable protein extracted is what I was referring to, we've evolved to digest denatured (cooked) protein.

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/cont...act/277/5/G935

A study that evaluated possible protein and absorbed protein between a cooked and uncooked egg protein.

i noticed that study originally posted (http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/...ct/128/10/1716) only used egg white, not whole egg. egg white contains 4grams of protein, while the yolk contains 2 grams. so at most you could make a claim for about 66% of the egg having a digestibility of 51%. This other study http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/277/5/G935 claims digestibility of 65%. The second study used 100g of white and one yolk. there is clearly going to be a different ratio in a whole egg than 100grams white to one yolk, considering one large egg overall is 50grams.

OK, so i did some math here (feel free to critique, i don't claim infallibility).. let's say a raw eggwhite contains 66% of a raw egg's protein, but only 50% of that is digestible. that would be 33% + another 33% on the assumption that the yolk is perfectly digested. that means about 66% of a whole raw egg is digestible. however, the second study claims that the equivalent of about 3 raw eggwhites and one egg yolk would produce a digestiblity of 65%. clearly the two sets of data aren't consistent with one another, leading me to wonder if there isnt something within the eggyolk itself, some enzyme perhaps, which lends itself to improved digestion of the raw eggwhite. this theory would explain why 3 raw eggwhites and their poor digestibility combined with 1 egg yolk, would have the same overall digestibility score as 1 raw egg white and 1 egg yolk. and if this were so, then if we had a study which combined 1 eggyolk, and 1 raw eggwhite, and then tested for protein digestibility, as opposed to using separate sets of data for each constituent part separately tested, you could assume that the overall digestiiblity would be much higher than the data indicates. ie, if the addition of 1 eggyolk to 3 raw eggwhites bumps the digestibility score from 51% to 67%, one wonders how high it would bump the score of 1 raw eggwhite, which is what you would experience in a whole egg afterall. 3x's as much? that would be 79% digestiibility for a whole raw egg, eaten in a whole form. thats a lot closer to a cooked egg, and sounds a lot more believable, than 51%.

these studies also don't mention the shape these people are in, if these are your atypical sedentary people with low muscle mass, it could be presumed that their body is not going to be attempting to optimize absorption of protein. so while cooked egg may be nearly completely utilized compared to raw egg for a non-athlete, this wouldnt be the case for an athletic person with higher protein requirements. most people on this forum carry a significant amount of lean muscle mass and engage in regular exercise, making this study in general a moot point for the purposes of this forum. should also point out, that first study used a grand total of _5_ people, 4 of them female, between the ages of 28 - 76.. i can see it now, grampa moses and some middle aged women.. im sure their protein requirements are MASSIVE.