Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

by Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist on December 6, 2011



If you were a rat, what would you want to look like – Rat Brad Pitt on the left or Rat Charlie Sheen on the right?

It seems pretty obvious that Brad Pitt Rat on the left is frisky, happy, and healthy in a normal, rat sort of way while Charlie Sheen Rat on the right looks rather worse for the wear and does not in any way possess “tiger blood” or “Adonis DNA”.

Hold on a minute.  Charlie Sheen didn’t really say that, did he??

Oops, sorry. Back to the rats.

Guess what these little guys are eating?

Egg Beaters Better Than Real Eggs?  Who are They Kidding?

Brad Pitt Rat is eating eggs.

Charlie Sheen Rat is eating Egg Beaters.

How can this be?   Why, Egg Beaters is a masterpiece of food chemistry, after all!

Developed in the 1970′s, Egg Beaters has the same protein, fat, calories, macrominerals, and vitamins as Real Eggs!

Marketed as a “healthy” substitute for eggs, Egg Beaters is routinely served to nursing home residents and is a typical breakfast choice of older Americans seeking to limit cholesterol and saturated fat.

The problem is, when you take out the saturated fat and cholesterol from eggs and substitute vegetable oil, nonfat dry milk, additives, and artificial nutrients and feed it to weanling rats what do you get?

You get little Charlie Sheen rats that look like the pathetic creature in the picture above.  These Egg Beater rats do not develop properly and have mangy looking fur.   They also develop diarrhea within one week of eating Egg Beaters and die within 3-4 weeks.

The Brad Pitt Rats eating eggs?  They go on to develop properly and live out normal little rat lives.

Are you or a relative eating Egg Beaters thinking it is a better choice for your health?  Set the marketing mumbo jumbo and misleading doctor-speak about saturated fat and cholesterol aside for a minute and just look at the picture and make the call with simple common sense.

Doesn’t it seem downright foolish to eat Egg Beaters if that stuff can make a young rat look like that within one week?

Perhaps it might help you to know that a thorough review of the world’s scientific literature published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2009 concluded that eggs do not in any way, shape or form contribute to heart attacks!

You don’t have to tell that to Charlie Sheen rat.   From the looks of him, he would much rather be eating eggs instead of Egg Beaters so that he can get his Brad Pitt on.

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

Sources:  Morning Nourishment: Bountiful Benefits and Creative Ideas

Eggs Do Not Cause Heart Attacks

Picture Credit

 

 
 
 

The Healthy Home Economist by E-mail





{ 117 comments… read them below or add one }

Neeli December 6, 2011 at 9:09 am

This picture is downright hilarious. I tried Egg Beaters many years ago when I didn’t know any better, but was very unimpressed with them. My family and I are big egg eaters and there’s no way that I would feed them this fake stuff. Funny how people still think low-fat and low-cholesterol foods are healthy, yet people are more unhealthy now then they ever were. I’ll pass on the fake foods.

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Allison December 6, 2011 at 9:32 am

This stuff just kills me – so many people don’t *get it* and continue to buy into the marketing ploys.
Allison\’s last post: Dark Days Challenge: Week #1

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Sherri December 6, 2011 at 10:34 am

It really is sad that people still buy into this. I have one family member in particular who’s health continues to decline, and she continues to do even MORE to make it worse. But she’s doing it at the direction of her doctor. She’s always so proud of herself when she adds another fake food to her diet. Egg Beaters, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Canola Oil….Aaaack!

She thinks I’ve gone off the deep end because I drink raw milk. LOL!

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Neeli December 6, 2011 at 11:04 am

Reminds me of my dad who suffers from diabietes, (don’t think I spelled that right) and he continues to think his doctor has his best interest at heart. His fat intake is restricted and he has to take meds daily. My mom and I have tried to tell him some of the things we know about real food, but he’s too set in his ways to listen. I won’t keep telling a person who chooses not to listen.

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Ruby February 2, 2013 at 11:34 pm

Umm….Canola Oil is not fake food…

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Robert F May 14, 2013 at 2:13 pm

canola is highly processed and certainly far from healthy.

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Magda December 6, 2011 at 11:18 am

I maybe bought one carton of Egg Beaters during my family’s lowfat low cholesterol craze.. then we went on to do 1 egg/1 egg white instead in our scrambled eggs. Then we scrapped this, too, and just ate real eggs!!! Now I’m happy to buy local pastured eggs and have 2-3 every day!!

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Pat December 7, 2011 at 11:54 am

Just make sure if you are eating eggs every day that you are not always cooking them. Eggs every day is good, but some days out of the week they should be raw. Throw them in a smoothie, that’s the easiest way. If you can handle frying them in coconut oil but only just barely, then you may be okay.

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HealthyHomeEconomist (@HealthyHomeEcon) (@HealthyHomeEcon) (@HealthyHomeEcon) (@HealthyHomeEcon) (@HealthyHomeEcon) December 6, 2011 at 12:03 pm

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/oXH0IkYf

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Kenny Friedman via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:14 pm

<3 this.

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Paul Hardiman via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Reminds me of the lab experiment where one group of rats was fed corn flakes and the other group was fed the corn flakes box. By the time box group was starting to die, the corn flakes group was already completely dead after having become insane.

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Ariel December 7, 2011 at 9:18 am

Wow. I didn’t know that, but it certainly makes me glad that I’ve NEVER eaten cornflakes, I never will!

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Faithful Farmer via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Never thought of buying or consuming this junk. Yuck!

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andychrism (@andychrism) December 6, 2011 at 12:20 pm

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/w9Qvt0NE

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Angela Maa s December 6, 2011 at 12:21 pm

Awesome article. We had a free coupon for egg beaters once, so I bought them and made them. My family was so disgusted and refused to eat them. Thank goodness!

I agree completely that whole food is the only “real” food. Thanks for sharing all your great insight.

Do you have any opinions on protein powders or shakes for workout recovery? I’d love to get your thoughts.
Angela Maa s\’s last post: Mike Donavanik’s Extreme Burn Review

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 3:06 pm

Protein powders/shakes and the like is not real food. I have a post on why these foods are dangerous as well if you do a search using the words protein powder in the search box at the top of the blog.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Melanie Shovelski via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:22 pm

makes me feel so much better watching my 2 year old devouring a bowl of oatmeal (old-fashioned with milk and dried apples bit) and 2 eggs for breakfast :D She was hungry :)

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Ariel December 7, 2011 at 9:21 am

Wow, I’m impressed! Not sure I could eat quite that much for breakfast. Reminds me of one of my little sisters! She’s known to eat up to 4 lard-fried pastured eggs at a time. :D

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Annia Cieslewicz Tupin via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:22 pm

We get our eggs local and organic :D No worries here

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Faithful Farmer via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:25 pm

Unfortunately, I have to travel an hour each way to get good eggs that are not from grain fed chickens and they cost me almost $6 per dozen, but I won’t eat anything else!

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marina December 6, 2011 at 12:26 pm

yep it really saddens me to see some old ladies putting this stuff into their grocery cart…
but after working with a few clients recently (I just started my nutrition practice, yay!!!) people just DO NOT KNOW stuff about foods, and they have lots of AHA moments when I explain it to them..education is the key here, great you have this site Sarah!!
marina\’s last post: Liver cake

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Neeli December 6, 2011 at 12:44 pm

Congrats on opening your new practice. How did you go about getting training? I would love to be a real foods nutritionist so that I can teach people about real foods. Do you have any advice that you may be able to give to me? I’d really appreciate it.

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Jan Dillon via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:27 pm

That is so sad! I just wish that people wouldn’t feel the need to insert demeaning language like “for fools” in an otherwise important message. Thanks for posting.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 3:24 pm

I’ve never been known to mince words. I call it as I see it :)
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Ariel December 7, 2011 at 9:23 am

No, you haven’t, Sarah, LOL!

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'Becca November 1, 2012 at 11:15 am

I think Jan has a point. If you saw that somebody had posted an article called “Eggs: Food for Fools” would you read it with an open mind? I bet you either would skip it or would read it ready to argue with every bit of it. If the article was called “New Research on Eggs” or “Why I Quit Eating Eggs” you might be more ready to THINK about what it says and (if it did present good evidence) make a change in your diet.

The trouble with many animal studies is that they feed the rats ONLY the food being tested, not a balanced diet that includes that food. This can produce results that don’t apply to humans who eat the food as 5% of their diet. So I try to find out exactly what was done in a study before I make any changes based on it.

That said, I’ve always been turned off by Egg Beaters because they are so heavily engineered. If you believe a food is bad for you, just eat LESS of it and substitute a different FOOD–don’t eat weird fake foods! Scientists try to take out the parts they think are bad and leave in the parts they think are good, but they’re not perfect, and these manipulations can have unintended consequences.
‘Becca\’s last post: Milk: What kind we buy, and why

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Amy Rhodes McClellan via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:28 pm

SOOOO sharing this some time today!

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D. December 6, 2011 at 12:28 pm

Heh heh! Charlie Sheen – an example of what should never happen to human DNA. ; ->)

I have a friend who eats egg beaters – thinks they’re wonderful. He can’t figure out why he always has diarrhea . . . . . . .

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 3:24 pm

Oh dear! :)
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Joannie December 6, 2011 at 12:32 pm

We don’t eat Eggbeaters either, or any other products that are not natural, but please don’t call other people “fools”. Not knowledgeable maybe, or unaware, but not fools.

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Cathy Vaughan via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 12:50 pm

As my alt doc says, you can’t “make” food…real food has to be raised or grown…

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Mary Kate December 6, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Thank you!! We are learning so much from your posts.

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Deanna (@M1ssDiagnosis) December 6, 2011 at 12:51 pm

@randydjohns Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/deRCa4LK

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BobT December 6, 2011 at 12:59 pm

Too Funny, Sarah!

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Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist December 6, 2011 at 3:10 pm

I was in quite a crazy frame of mind last night when I wrote this post! LOL

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Karin May via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 1:02 pm

I am glad I work in a place that allows me to fact check and find original work, like the study this article was based on. I don’t take internet articles at face value. That said, I read the study in Pediatrics Journal and as a result, while I never touch Egg Beaters, I will make sure no one else I know does either. Honestly, does the food industry care about anything more than profit? I know there are individual companies trying to make a difference, but how can they when they go up against the giants with deep pockets full of lobbyists. I am disgusted, confused and saddened by what I see offered up as food for the masses.

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Tennille Kendall Hansen via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 1:06 pm

A person is foolish though if they fall for something without first examining it. Different personalities express things differently. I wold say Sarah is a prophet type person who says it how it is, not worrying about feelings, but making it clear. A servant type person may be more sensitive to people’s feelings, but the message may then be watered down….
What a difference….WOW!

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scotchgrrl (@scotchgrrl) December 6, 2011 at 1:06 pm

Food does not come from vats. http://t.co/ac6vN0fd #thingsthatmakemesick

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Real Food Family via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 1:08 pm

Thank you for this! My father in law is full-on into the whole cholesterol myth and will not every listen to me. He eats egg beaters every day, then asks me how to help his bowel problems (and chronic muscle problems…resulting, most likely, from the statins he’s been on since he was 30 years old!!!) I wish he would read this, but prayerfully others will, at least!

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Shaniqua December 6, 2011 at 9:19 pm

Print this article out and show it to him? Or another similar article without “fool” in the title….

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Dan December 11, 2011 at 2:49 pm

I heard, but don’t know for sure, that the rise in Alzheimer’s is related to the rise in use of statin drugs…..maybe someone here knows for sure if there is a link…

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Kelli December 6, 2011 at 1:14 pm

Honestly, never tried it, but it sounds disgusting. My main rule when it comes to food is: always eat the real thing. Really thats all you need to know for good health and real food.

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Caitlin December 6, 2011 at 1:21 pm

My Mom-in-Law eats egg beaters every day (she cooks it in the microwave). Any ideas on how I can share this information with her? We’re pretty close, but I don’t want her to feel like I’m indoctrinating her or make her feel bad, either.

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Julia Overstreet Sathler via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 1:25 pm

there is something to be said for service to others…with humility. i know that humility is not en vogue anymore…it’s a pity…it is a virtue.

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Melissa- Mama of Two (@GnomeEscapades) December 6, 2011 at 1:46 pm

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/BrY17OqP

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Jamie Mood via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 2:05 pm

My husband wanted egg beaters one time, I cooked them for him and he threw up afterwards. I never made them again.

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Mike Winslow via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 2:10 pm

YUM i just had some Eggs right from the Farm down the road….Fresh organic….I don’t think i’d ever think of eating an egg substitute…

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Tara December 6, 2011 at 2:10 pm

Feed that poor rat on the right some real eggs!!!

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WordVixen December 6, 2011 at 2:15 pm

Ew. Brad Pitt. Really? I’ve never found him attractive. Nevertheless… yes, it drives me crazy that my husband insists on these for breakfast (or rather, Better ‘n Eggs). For a while I had him convinced to at least eat real egg whites fresh from the farm (bad for him, but good for me- I got the extra yolks!), but he insists that real eggs upset his stomach. *sigh* At one point, he was eating about 6 eggs a day (3 at breakfast, 3 at night). He was looking better, feeling better, but… oops! His cholesterol was “a little high”. And then he told his doctor how many eggs he was eating. His doctor told him that 1-2 eggs per WEEK was plenty. Ugh. Well, at least his doctor is getting a bit of his own back- his wife’s gone vegan and she controls the kitchen. Muahahahahaha! He is NOT happy. :-D

Husband does have real farm fresh eggs about twice a week, so at least that’s something. And no, I can’t convince my husband with logic or facts. After all, he’s a DOCTOR (not my husband, my husband’s doctor).
WordVixen\’s last post: September 2011 Walt Disney World Trip Report

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Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist December 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm

Brad Pitt is pretty gross these days, but he sure is better than Charlie Sheen! Tiger blood and Adonis DNA? NOT!

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Traci Bowman via Facebook December 6, 2011 at 2:25 pm

Paul Hardiman corn flakes did that to rats? very interesting…and gross

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utopian wellness (@utopianwellness) December 6, 2011 at 2:40 pm

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/q6gtNvdc

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Chris Paulitz (@ChrisPaulitzDC) December 6, 2011 at 3:08 pm

Look like Charlie Sheen or Brad Pitt? Egg Beaters: Food for Fools: http://t.co/SkW893qq #organic

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paula December 6, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Sarah,

You outdid yourself today!! I am posting on my website today. Awesome analogyw

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paula December 6, 2011 at 3:22 pm

“Food for Fools” I personally like the title, sometimes you just have to forget being PFC and tell it like it is.
paula\’s last post: December 5, 2011

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 3:36 pm

I think we Real Foodies tiptoe around people’s feelings way too much. Someone who eats Egg Beaters is most definitely a fool. You do have to tell it like it is – sometimes this is necessary to wake people from their zombie state of conformance.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Sue T. December 6, 2011 at 3:30 pm

Isn’t it amazing what people think is “healthy” food when really all they are eating is junk. I wish we could convince more people that it really does make a difference what we put into our bodies. Thanks for another enlightening post.
Sue T.\’s last post: Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bran Muffins

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Barb December 6, 2011 at 3:37 pm

Thank you for posting this. I shared on my Facebook page

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Johman December 6, 2011 at 5:13 pm

Well that’s just great! Now when I’m checking out an order with 6 cartons of Egg Beaters in it (sadly, not freakishly uncommon) I’ll have to bite my tongue so I don’t ask them if they have some rats they’re trying to kill.
I scan so much crapola every day, that I’m lucky my tongue’s not completely severed from restraining myself from saying anything.
However, I did have a nice conversation with a young mother buying the non-homogenized, low temp past. milk last night. She asked if I’d seen King Corn and I told her about The Healthy Home Economist and the post on New Zealand and “Food Safety” bill.
Refreshing to meet someone in person who doesn’t want their head stuck in the sand.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 5:27 pm

Your comment made me giggle. You are a better person than me .. if I were a grocery store cashier, I wouldn’t last a single day before being booted out for chastising the customers for either their gluttonous habits or misinformed food choices.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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paula December 6, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Both you and I would get fired within the day. LOL
paula\’s last post: December 5, 2011

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Ariel December 7, 2011 at 9:40 am

So funny that you said this. Whenever we buy from the grocery store (all we buy there are some organic vegetables, frozen organic berries, and the occasional kerrygold butter.), the casheers all know my mom as the “organic lady with all the kids!” They’re always asking her whether she saw some good coconuts (we alway make coconut milk) over in the produce section, or they’re telling her that they just got a new order of the grassfed raw cheese in from New Zealand. I love our Publix here on FL’s beautiful east coast!

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Erica December 6, 2011 at 5:18 pm

Thank you for sharing this. I confess to eating these from time to time, I honestly didn’t know I was doing anything wrong. I always eat at least one pasture egg a day (DELICIOUS, such a difference) but will definitely be cutting eggbeaters from my diet. I love learning about real foods and cooking clean for my family, thank you!

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 5:25 pm

Great Erica! I am so glad this post helped expose how dangerous egg beaters are to eat .. it is really just a chemistry experiment in a carton, most definitely not really even food!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Lynne December 6, 2011 at 5:36 pm

This is just criminal – to tell people that it’s “good for you” when they KNOW it is not, is beyond insane. Like their continued attacks on raw milk, forcing people to use the processed milk/dairy. We need to start accusing them of deliberately trying to make people sick…and DIE. Because that *is* what is happening. Watch for the word “safe” when they talk about *their* “foods…they always say real food isn’t “safe” but their foods are. It’s not about nutritious. You can nuke manure until it’s “safe” to eat but….SHOULD you eat it? Of course not! The animal ID scheme (which is alive and well and being crammed down our throats) is part of taking away our ability to feed ourselves with whole, nutritious food. It will make owning your own animals impossible. And that’s the whole idea. We are lifetime ranchers/farmers/homesteaders and we’ve been fighting this monster for six years. They are taking complete control of all food in the whole world, not just America. If you are not up to speed on Agenda 21, you need to do it right away…

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 5:56 pm

I agree Lynne. I think the folks who adhere to “no bar code” eating are definitely onto something. I’m not quite there yet myself as I still buy good quality packaged foods like coconut milk and the like (though I also make it myself though not all the time), I would like to get there one day.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Stanley Fishman December 6, 2011 at 7:28 pm

Well said, Sarah. I hope someday that people will learn that artificial foods can never replace real food. Thank you for doing so much to spread the truth, time and time again.
Stanley Fishman\’s last post: CLA—Another Great Reason to Eat Grassfed Meat, the Fatter the Better

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Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama December 6, 2011 at 8:12 pm

I saw the word “Eggbeaters” in my inbox and thought “WHAT is that doing in there? I don’t want that!” Then I realized it was your post and it made sense. I’ve never bought it and never would. I only buy pastured eggs from a local farm.

Trader Joe’s sells “egg whites only” in cartons. I really, really want to call them up and ask them if I can have all those extra yolks, because that’s the part I really want. (Not because I want them since I’m sure they’re CAFO, but just to make a point.)
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama\’s last post: Teach Your Children Well

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Carolyn December 6, 2011 at 8:21 pm

As a child I had an allergy to eggs. We used Eggbeaters instead and I had no reaction to them. Hmmm. Must not be too many eggs in that little yellow carton! Thankfully the allergy is gone and I enjoy pastured eggs almost every day!

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Leah December 6, 2011 at 8:44 pm

I grew up eating egg beaters, skim milk and tub margarine because my mom had high cholesterol and believed everything that the nutritionist told her about what she should eat. The crazy thing? We lived on a farm and had our own farm eggs and raw milk/butter/cream readily available. I still turned out fairly healthy (I think strong genes helped to play a role in that), but I do wonder how much healthier I would be if I had only gotten the right nutrition as a child.
Leah\’s last post: my big boy!

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Awakened December 6, 2011 at 11:01 pm

Thanks for doing your part to wake people up, Sarah. I’m glad you don’t mince words. We’ve been under the anti-fat propaganda and Feedlot Pyramid for so long it takes strong, passionate language to jolt us into thinking.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 6, 2011 at 11:59 pm

Exactly my strategy with this blog. Thanks for understanding my sometimes heavy handed approach :)
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Mariana January 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm

Agreed.

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jason and lisa December 7, 2011 at 12:14 am

i am still not defaulting to the home page for some reason.. is anyone else having this problem?? i am only able to view anything by opening in my emails.. help someone.. this is our favorite website..

-jason and lisa-

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 7:54 am

Hi Jason, try restarting your computer or shutting down your browser and reopening (or using another browser entirely). Sometimes when you type in a website it uses what is already in cache and not a fresh copy.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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jason and lisa December 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm

it worked.. thanks so much..

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Judy@Savoring Today December 7, 2011 at 9:24 am

This post made me chuckle more than once, great job. Just say “no” to fake food, rat or no rat.
Judy@Savoring Today\’s last post: Secret Ingredient Beef Stew: Reviewing The Food52 Cookbook

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 10:07 am

Sometimes we really need to laugh about this stuff, don’t we? It’s too sobering and scary if we don’t find the humor in it and life is just no fun at all otherwise!

I read a book in college about a guy who was in a concentration camp during WWII. He laughed and found joy in his horrible situation nonetheless. No wonder he survived and thrived to enjoy the last half of his life in freedom in the US. We have to laugh at this stuff or it is just too depressing!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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bianca December 7, 2011 at 10:45 am

Nice exposure re egg beaters.
However, I disagree with using
celebrity names, etc. to make a point… Stick to the subject without pointing fingers, such as
healthy rat vs sick rat ….

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 10:53 am

Well, not everyone has the same sense of humor! I found it funny and at least a few other folks did too and humor helps people learn better! :)
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 10:55 am

You can be sure a lot of folks who read this article will think of Charlie Sheen when they look at a carton of Egg Beaters from now on and perhaps this mental association with a person who is a physical train wreck will keep them from buying it!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Egg Beaters: Food for Fools

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Ariel December 7, 2011 at 2:33 pm

Ah, no, Sarah, look what you’ve done to us! Now every time we walk through the dairy and eggs section of a grocery store, we’ll have to think of Charlie Sheen! Oh, well, maybe it’ll encourage us to not buy things from the grocery store so much! :D

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Stanley Fishman December 7, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Allison Pelot (@allisonpelot) (@allisonpelot) December 7, 2011 at 11:20 am

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/2XiJydD4

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Cristina December 7, 2011 at 3:54 pm

Love this article — have read about these studies elsewhere, and have always thought it was very “spot-on” about “man-made food-stuffs”. A few years ago, I would recommend the custard [to patients] that our hospital makes as it seemed to be the less processed than the other fat-free, sugar-laden packaged brand-name yogurts that were in the refrigerator until I called down to the kitchen to ask for the ingredient list. Wouldn’t you know it — “Liquid Eggs”. Talk about repulsive. Hospitals nation-wide are not a place to go for good, nourishing food. Hospital kitchens are all supplied by Food Services of America and Sysco.

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Cheryl Jazzar December 7, 2011 at 5:17 pm

Sorry, but this photo looks like it was snapped pre-Egg Beaters. It looks old! And, where is the discerning person’s informative reference to who took the photo? With no other details about this ‘trial’, I’m only convinced that the article was written mostly for entertainment value.

I eat free-range, farm eggs, BTW.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 5:39 pm

The sources for the article are at the end of the post. You can find out the full info on the study by clicking there.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: One Minute Pizza Sauce

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 7, 2011 at 5:42 pm

The authors of the paper, Meena Kasaii Navidi and Fred A. Kummerow, noted that Egg Beaters were not appropriate “as a substitute for egg yolk in infant feeding by pediatricians who may consider supplementation with cholesterol-free substitutes early in life in order to prevent the development of atherosclerosis” (Pediatrics Vol 53, No 4 April 1974).
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: One Minute Pizza Sauce

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Cheryl Jazzar December 7, 2011 at 6:18 pm

Oops! May bad. They are right there where you put them.
Cheryl Jazzar\’s last post: Using Natural Progesterone to Alleviate Symptoms of PPD

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Cheryl Jazzar December 7, 2011 at 6:19 pm

*My bad.
Cheryl Jazzar\’s last post: Using Natural Progesterone to Alleviate Symptoms of PPD

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PattyLA December 8, 2011 at 12:07 am

Thanks for this. I just found out a friend is on a statin and eating a low cholesterol diet. It just kills me to think of him being put through that and it isn’t going to make him healthier but sicker! Nothing I say matters because “it is genetic” and “the Dr Says”. Ugh.
I am so glad my parents grew up eating real food because that is what is cheap and they were poor. Then after years of lower fat eating (they never went crazy with fake foods) they learned about the benefits of good fats from me and reversed my fathers high cholesterol by eating more fat and fewer grains. They even bought a copy of Nourishing Traditions after reading mine for themselves and my 3 siblings.

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Jenne December 8, 2011 at 12:26 am

I would love to see the source on this article. very interesting stuff.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 8, 2011 at 9:13 am

At the end of the article, the sources are cited.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: One Minute Pizza Sauce

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EggMan December 8, 2011 at 1:12 pm

Did the silky rat eat ONLY egg beaters? If so, that’s why he’s sickly. He needs some fat in his diet. So, maybe he’s sickly because of no fat, not necessarily because he ate only egg beaters.

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Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist December 8, 2011 at 7:41 pm

Eggman, the sick rat IS getting fat … from vegetable oils! The kind of oils that overwhelmingly dominate the Western diet! Scary, isn’t it?
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Baked Chips as Bad or Worse Than Fried

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JMR December 12, 2011 at 10:08 am

I’m one of those “fools” who used to eat Eggbeaters, nonfat artificially sweetened Yoplait and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray. By the time I became so sick I was bedridden, I had a lot of spare time to do research. I discovered WAPF, The Healthy Home Economist and lots of other great information. I thank God for people like you who educate people like me. Thank you.

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Jessica Sands (@jessicasands) January 9, 2012 at 1:05 pm

Egg Beaters: Food for Fools http://t.co/rSL1NH7T Food-like-products are not the same as real food #justsaying

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Natural Epicurean (@NtrlEpicurean) January 10, 2012 at 11:15 am

Food-like products are not food http://t.co/eh6mxndo

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thehealthyhomeeconomist via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 9:22 pm

Although I have to say, I love the TV commercial where Charlie Sheen is zooming around inside his mansion in a Ferrari and says “I just love house arrest”.

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Susie Price via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 9:24 pm

i eat real eggs like the brad pitt rats

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Jessica Allen Stewart via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 9:29 pm

Ew….

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Lisa Wallen Logsdon via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 9:35 pm

I would not have been able to keep a straight face either if I was writing something like that! So glad you made Charlie Sheen the scruffy rat. Very fitting! LOL!

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Brittany Blankenship via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 9:47 pm

great article. poor little guy :(

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Jane Read via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 10:01 pm

Yeah, they eat egg beaters because they want to lose weight. Might as well smoke crack, I guess.

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Pat Sherban via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 10:31 pm

lol great stuff and humor!

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Dee DenBoer-Jewell via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 11:14 pm

It makes me suck that we have to mess with food and hurt animals. Why can’t we just grow and eat food the way God intended. Then very few, if any, get sick and die from food.

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Dee DenBoer-Jewell via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 11:14 pm

*sick

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Julie Gerasimenko via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 11:25 pm

Smoking crack would be a much healthier option! lol

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Julie Gerasimenko via Facebook September 19, 2012 at 11:28 pm

Well, depending on how much you do it. lol

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Heidi Maxwell via Facebook September 20, 2012 at 1:04 am

Well if your only food hAs no fat and no cholesterol of course you would starve. I would never eat eggbeaters (ugh) but really this experiment is super biased lol. Nothing can live on a zero fat diet, no matter what that diet consists of.

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Kari @TwinMamaLoves September 20, 2012 at 1:23 am

How ironic that just today at the grocery store I offered to help a woman get whatever she was wanting to reach when I saw her seriously struggling to get up from her motorized wheel chair. What did she ask me to get? Two different varieties of Egg Beaters. :( What a timely post. Real food is ALWAYS the better choice. Her little basket was probably full of food that was making her sicker.

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Andrea Selaty via Facebook September 20, 2012 at 7:45 am

Egg beaters always creeped me out – frankenfood – Blech!

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thehealthyhomeeconomist via Facebook September 20, 2012 at 7:56 am

@Heidi not true. Egg Beaters has fat in it … processed vegetable oils which is exactly what most Americans go for trying to avoid saturated fat like what is in the egg yolk. This experiment was not biased at all.

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Heidi Maxwell via Facebook September 20, 2012 at 12:20 pm

Oh ok nevermind. Somehow I thought it was fat free in which case I *might* have been right. That’s pretty nasty news thanks for sharing :)

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thehealthyhomeeconomist via Facebook September 20, 2012 at 5:53 pm

@Heidi I know what you mean. It really is hard to imagine the rat looking THAT bad from Egg Beaters!!

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Robert Mahlstedt February 2, 2013 at 9:56 pm

This article claims that Egg Beaters and real eggs have identical calorie counts…not true according to Live Strong web site: A single serving (1/4 cup) of original Egg Beaters contains 30 calories, compared to the 70 calories in a single large egg…making Egg Beaters a healthier alternative for the weight-conscious.” Well that’s obvious from the picture!!! LOL

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Lana May 14, 2013 at 9:53 am

Who conducted the rat study, and when, and why isn’t it cited?

Without some kind of a citation, it’s hard for me to take this seriously instead of as propaganda.

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