Raw eggs?

[KingJake]

I read this in another topic recently:

Eggs must be cooked or your body will not be able to process most of the protein. When eggs cook they undergo a process called lecethinization. This makes them easier for your body to digest them as lecethin aids in protein digestion (don't believe me look on the side of a protein bar and I will almost garuntee that it is an ingredient). So sorry all you guys eating raw eggs not only do they taste like ****, they have a chance of causing salmonella, you also aren't even digesting most of that protein. Cook em' boys, lot better that way.
Peace

I have been putting a raw egg in a shake in the morning just to bump up the protein and other goodness a little bit more (Currently a raw egg, a banana, 1 scoop of protein and a cup of low fat milk and 2 tbsp of Linseed meal)

Am I just adding redundant calories with the egg (I'm cutting btw), or is it still a good idea? Cheers

[snorkelman]

I have been putting a raw egg in a shake in the morning just to bump up the protein

There is about 6 gram of protein in an egg, but since somewhere in the range of about 35% - 50% is of the protein in raw eggs is malabsorbed, the "bump" really is a waste of time and calories.

It is apparent that you are unaware of who str8flexed is...Dr. Layne Norton

[x-ray vision]

Eggs are better cooked than raw.


Protein is more digestible:

The true ileal digestibility of cooked and raw egg protein amounted to 90.9 +/- 0.8 and 51.3 +/- 9.8%, respectively. A significant negative correlation (r = -0.92, P < 0.001) was found between the 13C-recovery in breath and the recovery of exogenous N in the ileal effluents. In summary, using the 15N-dilution technique we demonstrated that the assimilation of cooked egg protein is efficient, albeit incomplete, and that the true ileal digestibility of egg protein is significantly enhanced by heat-pretreatment.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9772141


Raw egg whites and biotin:

In the past it was thought that biotin deficiency is rare, because biotin is found in a wide variety of foods and is also manufactured by intestinal bacteria. Only a few cases of severe biotin deficiency had been reported, all of which were caused by the consumption of excessive amounts of raw egg white, which contains a compound that inhibits the absorption of biotin.

http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C244364.htm


For future reference, if you have a question that sounds like one that would be asked frequently on a bodybuilding forum, use the search feature and enter the keywords in the the appropriate place with a + sign before all words except for the first and then change "Search Entire Posts" to "Search Titles Only". I also like to change "Relevancy" to "Last Posting Date" to get the most up to date information. In this case the keywords to enter are raw +eggs. You'll see that similar threads have been started multiple times.

[SteedLaw]

Lot of misinformation about eating raw eggs.

Personally, I prefer my eggs cooked. However, there is actually A LOT of misinformation about raw eggs out there and on these forums and it really boils down to personal preference with an eye toward moderation.

Myth #1: You will get salmonella.

There are a great many athletes and bodybuilders out there who drink raw eggs daily and many more fitness enthusiasts besides who like to add raw eggs to their whey shakes for "taste" and "thickness." Raw eggs are commonly found in many deserts and salad dressings as well. Have you ever heard of anyone ever getting sick from eating raw eggs? Didn't think so.

Don't beleive me? Go google "I got sick from eating raw eggs" and see if you can find anyone out there on the WWW claiming they became sick from injesting food with raw egg. I dare you to find a single one. The TRUTH is that the inside of the egg is HIGHLY sterile. It is really the shell you have to worry about. An easy way to fix this problem is to wash the egg with a little antibacterial hand soap just prior to cracking it and eating it. Also, do not consume raw eggs with cracks or that smell funny.

Myth #2: You are still playing roullette with bacteria.

Actually, not really. U.S. studies show that only 1 in 30,000 eggs have any salmonella to speak of. Additionally, there are four (4) points you need to be aware of: (1) the VAST majority of these contaminated eggs only had salmonella on the shell, not in the interior of the egg (i.e., the sterile part you eat); (2) the VAST majority of these contaminated eggs came from caged hens (the chance of getting salmonella from eating an organic egg from a range-free hen is beyond improbable to borderline on the theoretically impossible even for people who down large quantities of raw eggs on a daily basis for decades); (3) (as scary as it sounds) you actually ingest small amounts of salmonella daily (the reason it does not make you sick is because you are a healthy adult); and (4) most salmonella that is consumed by healthy adults never makes them sick (due to the fact that the "good" bacteria in your GI tract will crowd out and kill any small amounts of salmonella that you ingest daily from a variety of sources).

The point being is that many researches believe that the chances of a healthy adult ever getting sick from salmonella by virtue of eating a raw organic eggs from range-free hens after cleaning the shell immediately before ingesting the egg is quite impossible. (However, remember to only clean the shell just prior to ingesting the egg and not before since you can ruin the natural protection of the shell if you do so.)

Myth #3: Protein is much more digestable and bio-available in a cooked egg over a raw egg.

The studies most often cited for this claim do not take into consideration two (2) key facts: (1) overcooking the egg actually makes the protien less bioavailable than even raw eggs and (2) the effect of stomach acid on denaturing raw egg protein.

Proteins can be denatured in many ways. Heat and cooking is surely one way. Another way is to expose the protein to a powerful acid (say, stomach acid). It should be noted that the vast buk of your body's protein absorbtion does not take place in the stomach, but rather in the duodenum and small intestine. Many researchers (not all) now believe that raw egg protein is actually much more bioavailable that previously thought because of the small (i.e,. just right) amount of denaturing that takes place from stomach acid. Many researchers (not all) also now believe that the bioavailability of egg protein is actually much better from a raw egg than an overcooked egg (something to keep in mind) and may actually be fairly on par with that of a cooked (but not overcooked) egg.

Myth #4: Eating raw eggs over long periods of time will lead to biotin deficiency because of Avidin.

First, all of the studies that many will refer to for this claim deal ONLY with injesting raw egg WHITES, not raw WHOLE EGGS (yolk included). Moreover, all of the studies conducted involved ingesting an EXTREMELY HIGH NUMBER of egg whites when failing to ingest the yolk as well. I don't know many people out there who are consuming, say, two dozen or so raw egg whites on a daily basis without ingesting the yolk. Do you?

Second, it should be noted that researchers have found that you have to actually cook egg whites (1) at fairly high temperatures and (2) for at least four (4) full minutes in order to nullify the avidin and its binding effects with biotin. I hate to break this to all of you, but most of you (if not all of you) are not cooking your eggs nearly hot enough or nearly long enough to get rid of even half of the active Avidin in your egg whites. For those of you that are, you are over-denaturing the egg proteins and making the protein quite unavailable to your bodies.

Researchers have found that most "cooked" egg whites still have about 44%-71% Avidin activation. That said, it is a fallacy to claim that by eating cooked eggs and cooked eggs whites over raw whole eggs that you do not have to worry about Avidin and its Biotin binding effects since about 44%-71% of the avidin and its binding nature is still active in most "cooked" eggs. That said and as far as Biotin deficiency is concerned, I would be much more concerned about consuming a very large amount of egg whites (even cooked egg whites) when never consuming the yolks at all. Should you be worried about avidin when ingesting one or two dozen raw eggs daily? Of course. But should you also be worried about avidin when consuming cooked egg whites daily? Of course. There is absolutley nothing out there that would suggest that a healthy adult consuming, say, 1-4 raw whole eggs daily for decades would EVER lead to Biotin deficiency...especiallly when also taking into consideration multivitamins (that generally will have high amounts of Biotin) and eating bodybuilder type diets rich in Biotin(discussed below).

The third point is, of course, obvious -- i.e., raw egg yolks are the highest naturally occuring source of biotin found in any natural food source. By cooking the egg, you may be getting rid of some of the avidin, but you are also getting rid of a fair amount of the Biotin as well in addition to a variety of other nutrients. There are many researchers that claim the ample amounts of biotin found in the raw egg yolk more than cancels out the effects of the avidin in the raw egg white.

The fourth point is, once again, the denaturing of avidin due to stomach acids. Avidin is just a PROTIEN and, to a certain extent, is denatured by your stomach acid. Indeed, many reserachers believe that ingesting the egg yolk with the egg white is more than sufficient to cancel out the avidin in the stomach.

The last point is that you wonder why Biotin only supplements are so rare and why your top-of-the-line Optimen's multivitamin only has, say, 100% instead of 2000% of the RDI for Biotin? Simple, it is because it is really not all that crucial since your body MAKES it. Once again, there is no basis for anyone claiming that eating raw whole eggs in moderation on a daily basis would lead to a deficiency of Biotin. If you are really concerned, just keep eating your healthy BB diet, only eat the raw eggs in moderation, and don't take your multivitamin at the same time you ingest the raw egg...pretty simple.

In conclusion, I would never advise anyone to eat raw egg WHITES when they are also not also consuming the raw egg YOLKS. On that note, however, I would also never recommend that people eat large quantities of cooked egg whites when never consuming at least a few of the yolks since most cooked egg whites still have 44%-71% of the active avidin. There exists not a single study that I am aware of that would lead me to believe that daily consuming raw WHOLE EGGS in moderation could (in any event) lead to a deficiency of Biotin. This is especially true for bodybuilders and athletes who also regularly supplement with multivitamins that contain large quantities of Biotin and often ingest foods such as almonds, oats, green veggies, etc. (all good sources of Biotin).

Conclusion:

I see no reason why a you should not eat raw whole organic range-free eggs as part of your primal fare. This is especailly true since there are a LOT of health benefits to ingesting raw eggs (including the fact that many of the nutrients in eggs are much more readily available and are not destroyed if the egg is ingested in raw and uncooked form). Really, I think it comes down to more of a personal preference than anything and, of course, MODERATION. Personally, I prefer my eggs cooked and will ALWAYS cook my egg whites out of the carton. However, I have been known to crack in a few whole raw eggs in my protein drinks and will even regularly down a 1-3 large raw eggs if I am in a real hurry. Personally, you cannot beat the convenience of the raw egg. However, personally, I would never (and have never) ingested more than three (3) raw eggs in any single day, but to each his own.

That said, if you like eating 1-4 raw eggs as part of your regular daily diet, I say have at it. Just make sure (a) you are only eating uncracked, non-smelly eggs from organic, range-free chickens, (b) that you wash the shell just prior to cracking the egg, (c) eat the egg (including the highly nutritious yolk and never just the raw whites) and (d) do so in moderation (i.e., honestly, why would anyone really want to down a dozen raw eggs per diem...that is just sick).

Best.

[WonderPug]

^ You're simply wrong about the digestibility of protein in raw vs. cooked eggs.*






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* Please see: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/10/1716.long

[SteedLaw]

[QUOTE=WonderPug;701823741]^ You're simply wrong about the digestibility of protein in raw vs. cooked eggs.*

Am I? I mean this with all due respect, I do not believe that I am. I do believe that the jury is still out on the digestability of raw v. cooked egg protien.

Once again, let me state that I am not advocating eating raw eggs. Personally, I prefer my eggs cooked (for obvious reasons), but will occasionally throw in a raw egg into my protein shake or will even slurp one or two one the rare occasion time does not permit cooking. However, let me (kindly and without negatively repping you as you did me) clarify.

The study you are basing your opinion on is over 13 years old. Indeed, as I understand it, there are several more recent studies (including one on the digestabiliy of raw v. cooked egg proteins at certain PH levels dealing also with issues of toxicity and allergenicity of cooked v. raw egg proteins published by yoshino in the International Journal of Food Science Nutrition in 2004) which would seem to suggest that the jury is still out with respect to the digestibily, toxicity, and allergenicity of raw v. cooked egg protein and that there are a variety of factors involved.

I should also say I do not think it correct to consider the conclusions of the study you mentioned to be conclusive with respect to the bodybuilding community for a variety of reasons.

One major flaw in the study design is the study size; the researchers in the study you cited only tested 5 subjects in their study (4 were women) and one of the subjects is at least 76 years old. That fact alone leads me to believe that the findings of this study are not significant nor relevant for the bodybuilding community.

Furthermore, the researchers gauged protein absorption by measuring the amount of radioactive labels that remained in the illeal effleunt (stool) in the patients.

For those without a science background, specific molecules in an oligonucleotide can be targeted and irradiated for labeling purposes. Basically, this technique provides researchers a non-invasive technique capable of tracking where specific compounds of interest end up within the body.

In this case, if only a small amount of the radioactively labeled protein is recovered within the illeal effleunt, it means that the majority of the ingested protein was absorbed by the body.

Converserly, if a large amount of radioactively labeled protein is recovered within the illeal effluecnt, it means that only a small amount of ingested protein was absorbed by the body.

Because this study calculates protein digestibility based on illeal effluent composition, it neglects the absorption that occurs within the large intestine (ascending, transverse, and descending colon).

Despite the fact that the majority of nutritionally relevant absorption occurs within the small intestine( where the illeum is), and the fact that the majority of the absorption that occurs within the large intestine involves water, not accounting for absorption within the large intestine still could potentially (and even greatly) skew the results.

The researches themselves state: 'However, because nitrogen is intensely metabolized, absorbed and secreted in the colon, fecal digestibility values do not necessarily equal ileal digestibility values.'

Given the study design and patient population, it would be impossible for the researchers to measure the amount of radioactively labeled protein recovered from the large intestine, because illeostomy patients have had their large intestines removed.

If the study size were expanded to included several hundred patients, and the methods were modified to included subjects with healthy, normal digestive tracts, then I would consider the findings of the study you mentioned to be significant with respect to the bioavaliability of raw v. cooked egg protien with respect to healthy bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts.

Until a larger, improved study comes out which is more relevant to the bodybuilding community, I think it is safe to say that the raw-egg drinkers are free to keep drinking their raw liquid egg whites as part of their primal fare if they feel so inclined to do so and, yes, I do believe the jury to still be out on this one. To state my previous conclusion...to each his own.

Best.

[Ghosting]

I do believe that the jury is still out on the digestability of raw v. cooked egg protien.

No, the jury is not still out. Studies where posted in this thread. You obviously didn't bother to read them.

[joelash302]

I think the jury's still out as well. Speaking of, did you guys here about this new heliocentrism bullshit?

[AlwaysTryin]

I must say though a lot of people here are consuming raw eggs (whites)

[Ghosting]

I must say though a lot of people here are consuming raw eggs (whites)

Rocky movies?

[AlwaysTryin]

Rocky movies?

Protein fluff

[Ghosting]

Protein fluff

Oh ya. I don't eat fluff so I forgot about that use.

[in10city]

.

Healthy subjects and measured labeled Nitrogen in the feces. More with raw. Regardless, I think the ileostomy patient study overestimates the loss when extrapolating to healthy subjects. Once it gets to the colon, the party is on and even though the nitrogen is retained, the intact amino is not necessarily left.

http://ajpgi.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/277/5/G935

[scooby1961]

Raw eggs safe? Salmonella not a problem?

August 20, 2010: 2,000 cases of severe illness traced to salmonella in eggs, 1/2 Billion eggs recalled

[snorkelman]

August 20, 2010: 2,000 cases of severe illness traced to salmonella in eggs....

For all the bashing that Scooby takes, I will give him credit that the above data appears to be accurate. The CDC website reports that from May 1 to November 30, 2010, approximately 1,939 illnesses were reported that are likely to be associated with this outbreak.

That being said, looking at the entire forest rather than just a handful of trees (one outbreak) we may (or may not) view the data differently. Between 1990 and 2001 14,319 illnesses were attributed to salmonella associated with shell eggs

[watertoy]

For example: you can start with consuming only a few drops of raw egg yolk daily, during the first 3 days. Then consume half a teaspoon raw egg yolk daily during the next 3 days. The next 3 days one teaspoon raw egg yolk daily. Then 2 teaspoons daily. Then 1 whole raw egg yolk daily and subsequently 2 raw egg yolks daily. Eventually, you can easily eat 5 raw egg yolks daily, which is absolutely perfect to enhance your mood, sleep and menstrual cycle.

http://www.13.waisays.com/egg-yolk.htm

There's many people who say theyve eaten raw eggs for years and never been sick. It is a cold portable protein.

[Joseph1990]

On average I eat 2 raw eggs per day. I love the taste and texture of raw egg with rice and salt. Never been sick.

[Kollosson]

On average I eat 2 raw eggs per day. I love the taste and texture of raw egg with rice and salt. Never been sick.

I consume about 24 raw eggs a day, with double cream stirred in, no problems. High fat, high protein is working great for me, i know its old school but hey, look at Arnold and Franco, it worked for them.

[WonderPug]

I consume about 24 raw eggs a day, with double cream stirred in, no problems. High fat, high protein is working great for me, i know its old school but hey, look at Arnold and Franco, it worked for them.

I see you're not one to embrace logic.

[joelash302]

I consume about 24 raw eggs a day, with double cream stirred in, no problems. High fat, high protein is working great for me, i know its old school but hey, look at Arnold and Franco, it worked for them.

How do you measure out double of something that's subjective?

[Kollosson]

How do you measure out double of something that's subjective?

Here in the UK they sell single cream and double cream, double cream is thicker and contains more fat, my diet consists of bacon and eggs, cheese omlettes, raw eggs and cream, pork, lamb and the odd light salad with olive oil/lemon juice dressing. I carb up at the weekends so far its working great, i have put on a stone in 6 months and i'm leaner and more vascular. I've tried the other way ie low fat and believe me this is much easier cos you don't feel as deprived.

[joelash302]

Ah, double cream is the actual term. I follow now.

[biscuitbuns23]

I don't know the ins and outs of the protein obsorbing of raw eggs, but I do know that I've been eating raw eggs for a year, and I haven't been sick ONCE. Until that day comes I'm gonna keep chugging em! Its so much quicker than cooking them.