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The Egg
Epic

View all
articles by Robboe

Written by :
Robboe      print
article

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article

What
about the micronutrient content, you say?

Well, I can safely tell
you that eggs are jam-packed with goodness as far as vitamins and minerals
go. This should be obvious because of course, this is what was going to
sustain a baby chick. This is another reason why the yolk should be eaten
and not thrown away.
An egg contains varying amounts of 13 vitamins
but no vitamin C. With the exception of riboflavin and niacin, the yolk
contains a higher proportion of the egg's vitamins than the white. All of
the egg's vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk. Out of general interest you
may note that egg yolks are one of the few foods naturally containing
vitamin D, the ‘sunshine vitamin’. As far as mineral content goes, the
yolk also contains more phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, and
calcium than the white, and it contains all of the zinc.

Still want
to throw away the yolk?

Well, here are some reasons why you
might.

A large egg contains 213mg. of cholesterol. In case you’re
wondering how this affects you, here’s a quick lesson in
cholesterol.

Cholesterol is not a fat. It is a waxy, fat-like
substance produced by all animals, including humans. It is needed for many
bodily functions and serves to insulate nerve fibers, maintain cell walls
and produce vitamin D, digestive juices and is the “Mother” of our
hormones. As far as bodybuilders are concerned, cholesterol is important
in testosterone production, a hormone heavily involved in muscle tissue
formation. Cholesterol is essential for life. Your body produces all the
cholesterol it needs. If you consume more cholesterol than your body
needs, it will respond by absorbing less.

There is a difference
between dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol you consume in foods) and
blood cholesterol (the cholesterol in your bloodstream, also called serum
cholesterol). Dietary cholesterol is present in varying amounts in some
foods, such as meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products. Dietary
cholesterol does not automatically become blood cholesterol when you eat
it.

Blood cholesterol can be broken down into two major parts: HDL
(high-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low-density lipoprotein). HDL is known
as good cholesterol because it helps move cholesterol back to the liver
for removal from the bloodstream. LDL is referred to as the bad
cholesterol because helps cholesterol stick to artery walls.
Nice.

There is little doubt that elevated blood cholesterol levels
increase the risk of heart disease and the effect of dietary cholesterol
on blood cholesterol levels is the subject of debate among health
professionals. This is because genetics play a large role in how much
cholesterol and individual’s body makes, so research does not show that
food cholesterol significantly boosts blood cholesterol levels in
everyone.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines and the American Heart
Association currently recommend an average daily intake of no more than
300mg, a recommended level that has not been challenged, or revised, since
the 1970's. Certain people may not need to restrict their cholesterol
intake to less than 300 milligrams a day because scientific studies
suggest people react differently to dietary cholesterol. Apparently a
majority of people can handle cholesterol intake within the range that
people normally consume (300 mg - 400 mg) without significantly raising
their blood cholesterol level.

Saturated fat has the greatest
influence on raising LDL and blood cholesterol. The monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats are known to reduce the LDL and actually help raise
the HDL.

There was a study comparing the effects of feeding
twenty-eight males four regular or omega-3 fatty acid enriched eggs per
day for two weeks. Eggs were obtained from hens fed either zero, ten or
twenty percent flax seed diets. The results of the addition of the eggs
each day increased plasma total cholesterol levels an average of 13 mg/dl.
This was a change of 1.9 mg/dl. There was also an increase of HDL
cholesterol levels of 2 mg/dl.

Ferrier et al. 1995.
Alpha-linolenic acid- and docosahexanaenoic acid-enriched eggs from hens
fed flaxseed: influence on blood lipids and platelet phospholipid fatty
acids in humans. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 62:81-86.

From this study
it would appear that the fatty acid composition of the egg has no real
relationship to the effects of dietary cholesterol on plasma cholesterol
levels. Basically, some individuals are more sensitive to the effects of
dietary cholesterol than others. So for this I would say that if your
family has a history of high cholesterol or heart problems, don’t eat a
ridiculous amount of whole eggs each day, but the odd few yolks for the
protein, good fats, vitamins and minerals can be very beneficial,
especially for bodybuilders.

The only other concern with eggs is
their sodium content. Sodium is another factor associated with blood
pressure and heart disease. Providing you aren’t salting all of your food,
the naturally occurring sodium from the eggs should not cause an effect of
any significance.

There are also several concerns with bacteria
growth in eggs. Any bacteria found in eggs are killed off from the heat
when eggs are cooked so it is strongly recommended that you cook eggs
before consumption. Also, According to a study found by John Berardi, the
body can only utilize about half of the protein found in raw egg products,
so you’d be better off cooking them anyway.

The most common form of
bacteria associated with eggs is Salmonella. The bacteria are found in the
intestinal tracts of animals, birds, reptiles, insects and people. Because
Salmonella species are so widely distributed in nature and so easily
spread – especially through improper food handling, Salmonellosis, the
illness caused by Salmonella bacteria, is a common disease caught through
food.
There various symptom that come from Salmonellosis , including
abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, chills, fever and headache.
These generally last about a day or two. They can lead to serious
complications for the very young, pregnant women, the elderly, and those
with compromised immune systems, although Salmonellosis is rarely
fatal.

With health and safety laws of current day, Salmonella
outbreaks are few and far between. Food handling is a lot stricter so the
chances of an infected egg actually reaching the supermarket are slim. But
still, it’s best not to take the chance.

Well this is an epic so
I’d better continue!

Have you ever cracked open an egg to see a
tiny spot of blood? And did it make you feel sick, thinking that the egg
was contaminated some how?

If so, then you’re wrong.

The
blood spots are occasionally found on an egg yolk and are caused by the
rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface when it’s being formed or by
a similar accident in the wall of the oviduct. The spots are usually
noticed by electronic scanners and removed so that they never reach
retail, but there’s always the odd few that escape the net. The spots are
perfectly fine to eat, albeit a little uncomfortable, but if they are
something you regularly notice in your eggs I suggest you change your
brand because they clearly have poor scanning equipment. Well, either that
or you are very unlucky…

Another misconception of eggs is with the
stringy piece of the egg white attached to the yolk and how people see
these as a sign of contamination. These strands are the chalazae which
anchor the yolk in the centre of the thick white. The prominence of the
chalazae is a good test to see how fresh the egg is – the more prominent,
the fresher.

As far as cooking goes, as is true for most foods,
some minor nutrient losses do occur in the egg. Of the nutrients in an
egg, riboflavin, thiamin and folic acid are generally less heat stable
than other nutrients. Normal cooking simply changes the form of egg
protein but it is still just as nutritious. Protein is destroyed only when
it is severely overcooked such as in the brown lacy edges of an overcooked
fried egg. You can preserve the highest nutrient content possible by
avoiding overcooking.

Eggs are amazingly versatile. In fact, chefs
all over the world would be lost without them. They are used in anything
from ice cream to mayonnaise, from cakes to alcoholic beverages and from
soufflés to good ole’ common omelettes. From this information I’d
definitely say that as far as the old brainteaser goes, the egg came
first.

Now, if you think I’m finished you’re wrong, because no
‘epic’ would be complete without some completely worthless
information.
There is an event which happens twice a year when the sun
crosses the equator and day and night are of equal length everywhere. This
is known as the Equinox. During the spring (vernal) equinox (about March
21), it is said that an egg will stand on its small end. Although some
people have reported success, it is not known whether such results were
due to the equinox or to the peculiarities of that particular egg. And
then of course there are others who insist that some eggs will stand on
their small ends at any time of the year, the non-fun-loving
bastar…

Written by Rob Clarke

If you have a question in regards to this article or have any other
bodybuilding questions then please register for free and ask at our bodybuilding
forums

References:

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20000904.html

www.eggcom.com/

www.enc-online.org/

www.aeb.org/

http://ask.yahoo.com/20000523.html

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