Health professionals are getting more and more aware of high cholesterol in eggs. This has lead to a trend of removing the egg yoke from the egg whites when eating eggs. Why? Because the cholesterol is only found in the yoke. Unluckily, this does not fully solve the egg problem.
This is a very important problems to be discussed. Especially when we are now seeing health conscious people eat a lot of egg whites – even raw. The reason they are doing this is because egg whites are often seen as a fat-free, low-calorie and high protein food option. Here is some of the main problems with eating egg whites.
Bacteria is a Egg-strem Problem
Some eggs are contaminated with salmonella. It is actually still pretty common. Salmonella is a bacteria that make people sick. There will be chances of catching salmonella from egg whites.
There is also problems with other bacteria. Enterococci bacteria were detected in egg whites. Also in the pasteurized samples. That means that enterococci in eggs show the presence of fecal material. Enterococci is found in the intestines of the chicken.
Enterococci are able to survive in a wide variety of conditions and environments, including extremely high and low temperatures. That is why you can pasteurise egg whites to get rid off it if its already in the whites. Enterococci bacteria cause clinical infections in humans. Such infections can often be difficult to treat, as ordinary doses of antibiotics typically aren’t strong enough to effectively treat them. In other words, the bacteria are highly drug-resistant.
In a larger French study they also found an large amount of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in store bought egg whites. E. coli bacteria normally lives in the intestines of animals. Certain strains of E. coli can cause symptoms including diarrhea, stomach pain and cramps and low-grade fever. Other bacterias are also to find in egg whites, like enterobacter and serratia bacteria. Both can cause infections and illness symptoms in humans.
This was just a small list of the many bacteria found in egg whites, you may think that many of these bacteria are killed in heating and cooking, which is true. But you can never be sure. But, it has also been a trend, especially in the fitness industry, to drink eggs/egg whites raw.
Gentamicin is determined in the egg whites (also in the egg yoke). Gentamicin is used to treat severe or serious bacterial infections in chickens. Big warning on gentamicin. It can harm your kidneys, and may also cause nerve damage or hearing loss. It’s a medicine which is either injected to the chickens or put in their food.
Dangerous and high levels of PFAS in eggs are yet another reason to cut out eggs in your diet. PFAS has been founds to make a broad range of health harms. Just very low doses of PFAS chemicals in drinking water have been linked to suppression of the immune system and are associated with an elevated risk of cancer and reproductive & developmental harms, and other serious health concerns.
Protein & Hormones
Did you know that eggs are a top food allergen. Most egg allergies come from albumin, which is a protein found specifically in egg whites. Albumin is also the most common protein found in blood plasma.
Eggs contain a fairly high amount of the amino acid called melhionine. which can be turned into another amino acid: homocysteine. Excessive consumption of methionine may lead to elevated blood levels of homocysteine. High blood levels of homocysteine have been associated with several chronic conditions, such as heart disease.
Diets rich in animal-based proteins (egg whites) can cause something called metabolic acidosis. The body’s response to this is to counter the increased acidity level in the body to make it more alkaline. It will either draw calcium from our diet and/or our bones diminishing the returns of calcium intake and storage. And this excess dietary acid can lead to bone loss and osteoporosis.
Diets rich in animal-based proteins (egg whites) can cause something called metabolic acidosis. The body’s response to this is to counter the increased acidity level in the body to make it more alkaline. it will either draw calcium from our diet and/or our bones diminishing the returns of calcium intake and storage. This excess dietary acid can lead to bone loss and osteoporosis.
Hormones are naturally occurring and found in all living animals and their eggs. These hormones are natural internal messengers sending signals to direct important cell and tissue functions, like growth and development.
Most important information about the high protein egg-whites. It has an hormon called IGF-1 (insulin growth factor). It is a hormone in the blood that regulates the replenishment of old and dying cells with new ones in our body. Excessive protein consumption over time can easily elevate IGF-1 to way to high levels and therefore promote cellular growth – also growth of cancer cells. That is why elevated levels of IGF-1 has been linked to various forms of cancer. Therefore, the more IGF-1 you have in your blood, the higher your risk for developing certain cancers.
How about the Nutrition in Egg Whites?
If the reason you ate eggs in the first place was because of a nutritional element in your diet, then you should re-think the reason for egg whites. Egg whites are actually extremely low in it’s nutritional value. Very low in vitamin and minerals. Egg whites fail to provide a significant source of any essential vitamins or mineral. When looking at the vitamin and mineral nutritional value most of these elements come from the egg yoke. Which is unhealthy because of its high cholesterol. Foods high in cholesterol can cause blood levels of cholesterol to rise.
Are still eating eggs and you want to stop. Then remember that it’s easy to get all the nutrition you need from plants. Even if you are looking for a healthy low fat protein source. Many plants have a healthy nutritional package with enough protein to fuel any persons needs.
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