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Eggs seem to be one of those foods that many folks are perpetually confused about – for a variety of reasons.
On the one hand, you have the egg white omelet eating folks who believe that egg yolks should be avoided as they are loaded with cholesterol and fat.
Earth to fat phobes: A thorough review of the world’s scientific literature published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2009 concluded that eggs and the beneficial cholesterol they contain do not contribute to heart attacks!
Eat those whole chicken, goose or duck eggs and enjoy my friends. Don’t be throwing those egg yolks away! Egg Beaters truly is food for fools!
Does Cooking Egg Yolks Damage Them?
What about folks that love their fat and cholesterol and realize that these nutrients in their natural state are critical to health, but have somehow bought into the notion that breaking the integrity of the egg yolk as would happen during cooking, baking, or scrambling oxidizes the cholesterol which is the form of this nutrient that is health-damaging?
This is also a myth and causes folks to avoid eggs in dishes that would be perfectly healthy to include them. Having a fear of scrambling or whipping eggs into baked goods is a shame. Eating lots of eggs in as many ways as possible is a good dietary practice given that eggs are one of the highest sources of sulfur.
In fact, a sulfur deficiency is increasingly common, and it is a critical nutrient as it helps the body detoxify.
What actually does cause cholesterol in foods like egg yolks to oxidize?
It’s not simple cooking, baking or scrambling like what happens in our humble kitchens!
Rather, it is the spray drying of foods that occurs when they are forced through tiny holes at obscenely high temperatures and pressures in factories to powderize them for use in a variety of processed foods that are the problem.
This process called extrusion is completely denaturing to the cholesterol in all foods – not just eggs. It also negatively alters the fragile proteins that are present which is why extrusion is so damaging to cereal grains and why boxed cereals are highly toxic, allergenic foods.
How to Best Eat Your Eggs
The bottom line is just to eat your eggs!
Eat them however you enjoy them be it sunny side up, over easy, or scrambled. Egg yolks do not need to be consumed raw and intact to be healthy although eating them this way is fine too! You can even eat eggs that have a blood or “meat” spot!
One caveat on consuming raw eggs. While the egg yolk is fine to consume raw, the egg white is best cooked. According to Chris Masterjohn, an expert on the subject, raw egg whites have the following problems:
They contain inhibitors of the digestive enzyme trypsin, which are destroyed by heat. Consuming 100 grams of raw egg white with one egg yolk compared to consuming the same food cooked was shown in one study to reduce protein digestion from 90 percent down to 50 percent.
Raw egg whites also contain an anti-nutrient called avidin. Avidin is a glycoprotein that binds to the B vitamin biotin, preventing its absorption. Biotin is necessary for fatty acid synthesis and the maintenance of blood sugar, and is especially important during pregnancy when biotin status declines.
The next time a bizarre, modern notion like eating a simple bowl of scrambled eggs is dangerous comes along, just think about what your Great Grandparents ate.
If they scrambled their eggs, chances are good that you can safely eat them too!
More Information
Cardiologist Speaks Out Against Low Cholesterol
The High Risks of Low Cholesterol
Cholesterol Myths to Wise Up About
Hi, thank you for your post. Do you know what min. temperature would jeopardize oxidizing eggs? Also, I have severe indigestion trying to digest meat seemingly due to all of the sulfur and my history of H2S SIBO and gastritis and a sulfurous oral infection. Do you think eggs are even worth trying if you were in my shoes maybe since eggs may have more antibacterial properties than many meats?
The Bible teaches that an egg is a good gift. Luke 11: 12-13
Yes, and it would be even better if eggs were actually healthy. Unfortunately, they are not, and even the USDA (which has many egg and dairy lobbyist in their midst) tells producers that they cannot claim any health benefits of eggs. Still, I am also interested in debunking the myth that you can avoid the cholesterol in egg yolk by the way you prepare the eggs, as I know two people who use this belief to rationalize their consumption of eggs.
Ummmm, eggs are incredibly healthy my friend. Seems your thinking on the subject is stuck in the 1970’s … the so called “danger” of eating eggs has been long debunked over the last 10 years.
It would be helpful to know what research that is. Do you have links? Thanks.
Is there no proof that scrambling eggs DOESN T oxidize cholesterol It would be great to have proof independent of faith-based claims. Hopefully there are sources somewhere….
New research concludes that fats are oxidized right above the boiling of water which is at 220 degrees fahrenheit. The best way to cook eggs is to hard boil them or steam them.
Do you have any study to show that cholesterol is not oxidized by cooking?
According to Dr. Mary Enig, the legendary food scientist who is responsible for blowing the lid off the flawed research against butter in favor of factory made vegetable oils, cooking DOES NOT oxidize the cholesterol in egg yolks. ONLY commercial processing oxidizes cholesterol when the eggs are forced out of a tiny hole at high temperatures AND pressure. No official studies that I know of, but her conclusion from her research is highly credible.