Raw Eggs Myths
Eggs and milk are truly miracle foods. They are the only “complete” proteins out there, even more complete than beef, chicken or fish. Why? Think about it. These foods are designed to be the sole nutrient source for the first months of a newborn’s life. If you were to feed a newborn child only beef instead of breast milk it would die of malnutrition. Unfortunately because of their miracle status, these great foods have some dangerous myths about them. Lets now look at these dangerous myths about raw eggs:
Cooking eggs ruins the protein – Myth (with a grain of truth)
Lets look at the facts here. The following data is from nutritiondata.com, click on the links to verify the protein quality numbers for yourself. Here are the protein quality ratings for raw eggs and eggs cooked in a variety of methods. The higher the number, the higher the quality.
- Raw eggs: Protein Quality = 136
- Fried eggs: Protein Quality = 136
- Poached eggs: Protein Quality = 137
- Scrambled eggs: Protein Quality = 132
- Hardboiled eggs: Protein Quality = 132
So what you see is that some truth to the statement that cooking ruins the protein in an egg, but it depends on HOW they are cooked. Poaching actually IMPROVES the protein quality over a raw egg. A fried egg has the same quality as a raw egg. Only hard-boiling and scrambling lowers the protein quality and this is probably because of the longer cooking time when the eggs hardboiled or scrambled. Its worth noting that although scrambling and hard boiling slightly reduces the quality of the protein the protein is still higher quality than beef (84)!!!
So there you have it, a poached egg has higher quality protein than a raw egg so if you are concerned about getting the highest quality protein to build muscles then poach your egg.
(Video available 27th Feb 2012)
Raw eggs are good for you – Myth!
In fact, they can make you very, very sick. We have Hollywood and the “Rocky” movies to thank for this stupid idea. Just because something is disgusting doesn’t make it good for you. Cooking kills the salmonella bacteria which can make you very, very sick. Every year or two there are massive salmonella outbreaks and millions of eggs get recalled after hundreds get sick and some die – the last egg recall for salmonella was August of 2010. Guess how much progress you will make in your bodybuilding program if you are have explosive diarrhea and puke your guts out for two weeks? No progress at all! Get salmonella and you will be week as a kitten for a month and you will lose muscle mass as well.
“I’ve been eating raw eggs for years and I’ve never gotten sick”.
OK, every time I hear this said I want to pillow scream. It just means you are lucky! Eating raw eggs is no different than playing russian roulette with a six shooter pistol loaded with five bullets. How many raw eggs do you have to eat before you get a tainted one that hasn’t been recalled yet? Please don’t eat raw eggs!
Drinking Raw Eggs Makes You Gain Muscle – Myth
You build muscle by doing resistance training, sleeping enough, and getting proper nutrition. Part of proper nutrition is getting enough protein but as long as the protein is of high quality it doesn’t matter where it comes from. If you are doing everything else right, yes eating an egg will help you gain muscle but no more than a piece of chicken breast or a can of tuna. There is nothing magical about drinking eggs, just because something is GROSS and disgusting doesn’t make it better for you.
I know the Rocky movies are epic but just because Rocky drank raw eggs and won the match doesn’t mean raw eggs are better than cooked eggs. Cooked eggs have higher quality protein and they kill any salmonella present to keep you from getting sick. COOK YOUR EGGS!
Eggs as a primary protein source for bodybuilders
While we are on the subject of eggs, whole eggs are good for you – in moderation. 2-3 eggs a week is very healthy thing. Although the fat in eggs is not on the “good fats” list, they have lots of vitamins and minerals. If you are going to use eggs as a significant source of protein, you need to consider using egg whites instead of whole eggs. You can buy pasteurized egg whites in the grocery store or you can separate the eggs at home. Whole eggs (whites plus yokes) have a very high fat content (58% fat by calories) so they are not a good primary protein source for bodybuilders. On the other hand, egg whites are 100% protein with no fat and are an excellent, but expensive, primary source of protein.
Egg Nutritional Information
| Type | calories | protein (g) | fat (g) | percent fat |
| 1 egg yoke | 61 | 3 | 6 | 89% |
| 1 egg white | 16 | 4 | 0% | |
| 1 whole egg | 77 | 7 | 6 | 58% |
