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The Egg
Epic

View all
articles by Robboe

Written by :
Robboe      print
article

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article

In
today’s society of supplements and meal replacements, eggs have taken back
seat to the revolutionary concentrated, isolated and hydrolysed whey,
which everyone seems to take religiously. The labels and adverts that come
with these supplements have given a false belief to those without better
knowledge that by simply training and taking these supplements they too
will get the size of cover models. Lets face it, the models are usually
frequent steroid users and have at least at one point in their life eaten
the right foods to get where they are now, despite how clueless a lot of
them are. Those with any sense, which comes quite rare these days, will
without a doubt, just like their predecessors of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s,
80’s and 90’s have used eggs as one of their first choices for protein.

I’m not saying that supplements are useless, but most are overrated
and the general public never seem to realise that they are exactly what
they are – supplements. They supplement a good diet. A good diet includes
eggs. Wanna know more?

(Coincidentally, out of general interest,
you may want to know that I’m eating an omelette as I write
this…)

Well, since this is an epic I suppose I best begin with some
history. Nobody really knows when the first fowl was domesticated because
birds preceded man in the evolutionary chain. Indian history places the
date as early as 3200 B.C. and Egyptian and Chinese records show that fowl
were laying eggs for man in 1400 B.C. Allegedly Columbus' ships carried
the first of the chickens related to those now in egg production to
America from Asia.

Before I move onto the bodybuilding and health
benefits of eggs, I’d just like to clarify a few things. Eggs are graded
in a process called classification. This is determined by interior and
exterior quality. It is designated by the letters AA [the “best”], A and
B. An old wives tale is that to get the best protein you must go for the
better quality eggs. I’d like to be the one to inform you all that there
is no difference in nutritive value between the different grades. In fact,
because of production and marketing methods being very efficient, eggs are
moved so quickly from the coop to the market that there is very little
difference in quality between grades AA and A. The only real difference is
the price. Grade B’s are perfectly fine, but rarely find their way into
retail supermarkets. They usually go to bakeries or other foodservice
operations.

The egg itself has two distinct parts: the white and
the yolk. It is common practice for bodybuilders to throw away the yolk.
This can be for several reasons, the most notable being calorie control.
Whites are the chosen protein source for their zero fat content and trace
carbohydrate content. The nutrient breakdown of a large egg white (33.40g)
as according to the USDA nutrient database is:

- 16.7 kcals
-
3.514g protein
- 0.0g fat
- 0.344g carbohydrates

The egg
white also contains several vitamins and minerals, which will be discussed
later.

Other than calorie control, people remove the yolks because
of it’s fat content. The yolk is a very misunderstood part of the egg.
People believe that fat is ‘evil’ and shouldn’t be consumed, or at least
that fat consumption should be kept to a minimum. This misconception stems
from the fact that very few people can actually distinguish between ‘good’
fats and ‘bad’ fats. Good fats are essential for any human, not just
bodybuilders, hence their name ‘essential fatty acids’.

How about
a quick lesson in fats? -->>

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