Raw Eggs ... yummy!

I got the below question from a reader:

Hey Mike!

 

I'm getting trashed at the Christmas table when I tell people I eat raw eggs (well I also get sighed at when I try to avoid the white devil). My aunt says it's dangerous and that 50% of the protein goes to waste. Is that true?

My Answer:

In my opinion, raw eggs are good, healthy and very safe.  But to be on the safe side, inspect the egg to check for any cracks since this is where Salmonella can get inside the egg and can cause you problems when you eat it raw.  Also, if you eat raw eggs consume them right away since if harmful bacteria is present it doesn't have time to reproduce and increase it's concentration. 

Below are some more key points on eating raw eggs safely from Dr. Mercola.

Guidelines To Ensure That You Are Consuming Fresh High- Quality Eggs (whole article here)

1. You can go to the American Egg board for a great overview of eggs.

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

"When you carefully analyze the risk of contracting salmonella from raw eggs, you will find that it is actually quite low.  A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year (Risk Analysis April 2002 22(2):203-18) showed that of the 69 billion eggs produced annually, only 2.3 million of them are contaminated with salmonella.

So simple math suggests that only 0.003 percent of eggs are infected.  The translation is that only one in every 30,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella.  This gives you an idea of how uncommon this problem actually is." (Raw Eggs for Your Health: Major Update)

Why would 50% of the protein go to waste?  I really thought that this was a completely bogus claim until  I did a little research.  Although there is not much research on raw vs cooked egg digestion, I did find two articles that showed that a higher percentage of cooked egg protein is digested when compared to raw egg protein.  Both experiments had a small sample size of 5 and 10 subjects (you can download the whole articles from the links provided in the reference list).  This is not true for all foods as some are better to eat raw then cooked and vice versa (read these two research articles Heat Effects on Food Protein & Raw vs Cooked Starches).

Don't worry about the sighs regarding the White Devils, it is common for all people who are leading a  life different from the "normal" routine, I get it all the time.  Keep in mind that if you are eating a clean diet and training regularly 80-90% of the time, then having one meal where you consume some white devils once in a while is not a bad thing.  Like I said in a previous post, "it was just one meal but if I ate like this every day I would be in big trouble fast."

You can also plan your "white devil" meal around your training.  As an example, if you know you are going to be getting a good dose of the white stuff at Christmas brunch or dinner just go train 1-3 hours before the meal so that your body will be able to more readily use all of those sugars in a constructive way.  For me I was planning on going to the gym to train on Christmas morning before my brunch but I had to cancel that plan due to being a bit under the weather.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

References:

Raw Eggs for Your Health: Major Update.  www.merocla.com

Evenepoel P, Geypens B, Luypaerts A, Hiele M, Ghoos Y & Rutgeerts P.  Digestibility of Cooked and Raw Egg Protein in Humans as Assessed by Stable Isotope Techniques.  The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 10 October 1998, pp. 1716-1722.  Article PDF

Evenepoel P, Claus D, Geypens B, Hiele M, Geboes K, Rutgeerts P & Ghoos Y.   Amount and Fate of Egg Protein Escaping Assimilation in the Small Intestine of Humans.  Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 277:935-943, 1999.  Article PDF

The Nutritional Effects of heat on Food Proteins...

Digestibility of Raw and Cooked Starches from Legume Seeds Using the Laboratory Rat

(sorry, I got lazy and didn't write out the whole citation for the last 2 references.)