Egg Talk

[photoguy]

Not disagreeing or agreeing with the general conclusions but

• There’s never been a single study that proves saturated fat causes heart disease.

• 
  
  Studies of humans can never prove anything because they are not double-blind and randomized (the only way to show causality). However, I'm surprised there aren't such studies for animal models (like rats). Or maybe there are but the website didn't reference them? Now I'm curious as to what the animal models would show.
  
  

  [*]Asian Indians – half of whom are vegetarians – have one of the highest rates of heart disease in the entire world. Yup, that fatty meat will kill you, all right.

  
  I don't think this is a valid point since there is a tremendous amount of butter/ghee in the diet.
  
  

  [*]Being fat is not, in and of itself, bad for your health. The behaviors that can make you fat – eating excess sugar and starch, not getting any exercise – can also ruin your health, and that’s why being fat is associated with bad health. But it’s entirely possible to be fat and healthy. It’s also possible to be thin while developing Type II diabetes and heart disease.

  Is there a distinction between "fat" and "obese" here? Obesity contributes to many comorbidities and there's lots and lots of evidence for this.

 

[jclarksnakes]

I watch the health news pretty closely. It seems that this week eggs are good for us. Who knows about next week.

 

[ERhoosier]

FOUND IT!

The documentary is called "FatHead" and there's a blog/website:

Fat Head » About the Film

Entertainment, not science.
I'll leave it at that.

 

[Badger]

I like eggs over easy with some grits, scrambled with a little cheese, or as whole grain french toast and eat about 8 or so a week. My garden likes the egg shells too. My only concern is what the chickens are fed that produce the eggs. But I can't control that at the moment. Maybe in the future when I slow down enough to where I have to stay home more then I will get a couple of chickens. Just call me Jethro.

Cheers!

 

[obgyn65]

Some here may shoot me down for saying so, but one key reference you should use is the American Heart Association. They have a great website too.

But, what's the truth about the health benefits/hazards of eggs?

Pluck | Quirky Products

 

[braumeister]

Some here may shoot me down for saying so, but one key reference you should use is the American Heart Association. They have a great website too.

I don't believe anyone here would shoot you down for any reason.
But what bothers me is that I can't find any evidence at the AHA site for their strong recommendation to severely limit dietary cholesterol.

I can go the the webmd.com site and find this:

Cholesterol and the Great Egg Debate

One source of confusion has long been eggs. A typical egg contains about 200 milligrams of cholesterol, but only 1.5 grams of saturated fat. When researchers first linked high blood cholesterol levels to heart disease, eggs got a bad rap.

But there's never been good evidence that eggs are a major factor in high blood cholesterol levels or a contributing cause of heart disease.

In fact, when researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed data from almost 120,000 men and women, they found that eating the equivalent of an egg a day did not increase the risk of heart disease or stroke. A more recent Harvard Medical School study, published in 2008, also found that otherwise healthy men could eat up to seven eggs a day with little risk. The only danger showed up in men with diabetes, which is known to increase heart disease risk.

 

[rodi]

As a working mom of school age kids I've discovered that they do better in school if they have protein for breakfast. Some mornings (when we're rushed) that's a cliff bar. Other mornings it's scrambled eggs, or a hard boiled egg chopped up with cheese in a burrito.

Same with me - my brain seems to function better if I have protein for breakfast.

Since the boys and I have low cholesterol levels, I don't worry about it. We go through a dozen eggs a week.

My husband has higher cholesterol - so he avoids eggs. I've told him he's nuts. He agrees - and eats a handful of walnuts or pistachios. That's his preferred morning protein.

Eggs are yummy. Eggs are laden with nutrients. Eggs are cheap. I'll reconsider if I ever develop high cholesterol... but so far that's a non issue.

 

[NotMyFault]

I have bad cholesterol numbers 240 total and HDL only 30. All my other blood work is perfect. 44yo male about 15% body fat and BMI 22. I have gone from the low fat high grain diet to a paleo diet. No change in the numbers. For my sample size of 1 eggs made no difference. By the way between myself my wife and my 2 pre-teen girls we eat 2 to 3 dozen eggs a week. All my wife's numbers are excellent.
If you like eggs eat them.
NMF

 

[Ronnieboy]

Funny you should mention this. MIL has eaten 2 loaves of bread a week for years. Now 84, she researches health issues 24/7 and came to the conclusion last week that bread is not good. She quit cold turkey a few months ago and feels a lot better.

I don't think I would care at that point

 

[marvholly]

I have been around a LONG time and vividly remember when a great uncle was diagnosed w/heart disease. NOTE: this is 50-55 years ago.

He was told:
drop butter for margerine
NO eggs
No shrimp, crab, lobster

ALL of these things have changed. Now butter is better because of notransfats. Eggs are ok (in reasonable amounts). Shellfish is as good as many other fish.

I believe the approach should be 'everything in moderation.' I even do red meat - once a week when I can afford it.

 

[Badger]

I believe the approach should be 'everything in moderation.' I even do red meat - once a week when I can afford it.

+1
I would be more concerned with all the prepared foods (and not just the sugary drinks, pastries, candy etc.) that contain sugar. That would be most anything that is'nt a fresh whole food. The large amounts of excess sugar that is quickly absorbed into the body and not burned off is converted to saturated fat which is what our bodies uses to make into cholesterol.
I think I will enjoy the eggs I have a few times a week. marvholly has the right plan.
I use the Goldilocks approach to eating. Moderation = not too much and not too little but just the right amount of eating a variety of fresh whole foods. If a variety of whole fresh foods are eaten that will pretty much take care of moderation without having to think.

Cheers!

 

[LakeTravis]

+1
I would be more concerned with all the prepared foods (and not just the sugary drinks, pastries, candy etc.) that contain sugar. That would be most anything that is'nt a fresh whole food. The large amounts of excess sugar that is quickly absorbed into the body and not burned off is converted to saturated fat which is what our bodies uses to make into cholesterol.
I think I will enjoy the eggs I have a few times a week. marvholly has the right plan.
I use the Goldilocks approach to eating. Moderation = not too much and not too little but just the right amount of eating a variety of fresh whole foods. If a variety of whole fresh foods are eaten that will pretty much take care of moderation without having to think.

Cheers!

+2

I stopped eating lunchmeat years ago when I realized how many chemicals it must take to keep meat edible for that long. Since then, I've also stopped drinking soda (used to drink a two-liter of Pepsi a day) and had switched to fruit juices when I realized they weren't much better for you because of all the sugars. Now I'm down to water in a pitcher with lemon or orange slices.

I'm eating more fish and shrimp, more chicken and less red meat, more brocolli, celery, carrots, and cucumbers, egss and cheese and nuts, less breads and sweets......and I really do feel much better than I did years ago.

 

[RonBoyd]

Now butter is better because of no transfats.

Lard and Tallow is even better for you. I still eat lots of butter but more Lard now days. (Ghee -- butter without the milk solids --, however, is equivalent to lard/tallow and is easy to make with a microwave.)

Lard: The New Health Food?

Extending this astonishing offer was the food writer Corby Kummer. In response to the news that New York City's health commissioner had asked local restaurants to stop using cooking oils containing trans fats, comparing them to such hazards as lead and asbestos, Kummer proposed that we bring back lard, "the great misunderstood fat." Lard, he cheerfully reported, contains just 40 percent saturated fat (compared with nearly 60 percent for butter). Its level of monounsaturated fat (the "good" fat) is "a very respectable 45 percent," he noted, "double butter's paltry 23 or so percent." Kummer hinted that if I wanted to appreciate the virtues of this health food, I needed to fry shoestring potatoes or a chicken drumstick.

 

[Stanley]

Lard: The New Health Food?

This is all very confusing.

The only thing that is certain is that the above article made we want a nice plate of fried chicken followed by an apple pie with a lard crust.

 

[marvholly]

personally, I tend to shop the perimeter of stores - produce, meat/fish, dairy and maybe bakery.

I seldom drink soda: water, coffee & white wine are my choices.

My 'lunch meat' choices tend to be mostly sliced turkey w/ham or roast beef sometimes.

Yep, I DO eat a junk food meal (corn beef, pizzia, hot dogs,.....) once a week and and have chips on special occasdsions like NYE & Super Bowl.

 

[carnivalday]

OK, I'm looking at my Real Eggs in a carton (from Costco). Anyhow, the packaging says "made with 99% pure egg whites". No fat, no trans fat, no cholesterol. So, how is this fake food (other than the little bit of color that is added)?

This is why I call it "fake food":

Ingredients in egg beaters:

Egg Whites, Less than 1%: Natural Flavor, Color (Includes Beta Carotene), Spices, Salt, Onion Powder, Vegetable Gums (Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum), Maltodextrin. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Sulfate, Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol Acetate), Zinc Sulfate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamine Mononitrate), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin D3

The less processing a food goes thru, the better it is for you. Aint nothin like the real thing.

 

[haha]

Lard and Tallow is even better for you. I still eat lots of butter but more Lard now days.
Lard: The New Health Food?

For those of us who are not currently butchering hogs, where do you get unhydrogenated lard?

Ha

 

[RonBoyd]

For those of us who are not currently butchering hogs, where do you get unhydrogenated lard?

Yes, this is a major problem. And you are correct, you can buy hydrogenated Lard by the ton from any grocer. In fact, I have really ragged on other's who have praised the benefit(s) of Lard as I just did. No one has been able to give me advice that was useful -- the shipping costs are always twice the cost of the Lard and that is twice the Hydrogenated versions.

I did find a producer about fifty miles north of here that has a good price. I just haven't got around to driving up there... and, TBH, it may never happen.

In the meantime, beef tallow is widely available. And <blush> when push comes to shove, I use the hydrogenated product.

In the meantime, I subscribe to the theory that the more we ask for it, the sooner the Market will wake up. (he hopes)

 

[redduck]

I regard Eggbeaters much the same as margarine. Fake food. I feel the closer you can get to natural, the better off you are. Eggs and butter. Real food.

Thank you for clarifying.

 

[audreyh1]

For those of us who are not currently butchering hogs, where do you get unhydrogenated lard?

Ha

Try a Latino grocery? I buy fresh rendered roasted lard here that I use as "drippings" in cooking some dishes - especially beans.

 

[ERD50]

For those of us who are not currently butchering hogs, where do you get unhydrogenated lard?

Ha

I never thought about that, I didn't know they hydrogenated lard. From what I understand (very little), the hydrogenation is the bad thing - I think that is almost universally agreed to these days. So if there is a benefit to lard, the hydrogenation would seem to wipe that out, maybe even make it negative overall (compared to some veggie oils)?

Try a Latino grocery? I buy fresh rendered roasted lard here that I use as "drippings" in cooking some dishes - especially beans.

That could be a source. I'll check out the Supermercados near me.

-ERD50

 

[RonBoyd]

Plenty of discussions on this subject:

Google Search

The Nutrition Label, BTW, on Armour's Hydrogenated Lard shows Trans Fats (required by law) as 0%. I believe it is "healthier" than Crisco but still each person should decide by how much.

It is interesting that Pork Rinds are becoming as popular as Potato Chips (jk). Lard is a by-product of that process. I suspect that the issue has to do storage -- hydrogenated can be stored for long periods at room temperature whereas no-hydrogenated has to (should) be refrigerated.

 

[ripper1]

I've eaten 2-3 eggs every day for many years, so obviously I'm a big fan. Mainly for breakfast, but I also love a hard-boiled egg in a salad. The good stuff is mainly in the yolk, so why get rid of it?

Also, I've always found it easy to separate yolks by simply pouring it back and forth between the two halves of the eggshell, retaining the yolk in one half. Normally, one or two transitions are plenty for a clean separation.

+1.....I've eaten 2 every morning for I don't know how long. I used to fry them but now I've gotten used to soft boiling. My doctor told me to go for it because my cholesteral is normal.