Raw egg yolk digestion

(M) #1

There have been a lot of studies showing that egg protein is almost completely digested and absorbed cooked vs raw. Raw eggs showed 50 percent being digested. My question is what that 50 percent just the uncooked white? The white seems like it would be undigestible raw which is why I don’t eat it that way. When I do eat the whole egg it is sunny side up (lightly cooked white, runny yolk). I ask this because I sometimes eat yolks raw and skip the white entirely. Is it harder for my body to digest the protein and fats in raw egg yolk vs slightly heated yolk (sunny side up)?

#2

Good questions. The white has the protein and the yolks have the healthy fats, vitamins a,d,e, and choline, good for your eyes as I understand it. Does not seem to matter whether it is cooked or raw. The only issue I can see if it is raw is the potential of getting salmonella. Rare, but still possible. Dr. Phill Maffetone makes his version of Bullet Proof coffee and uses a raw egg.

#3

Correct, it’s like 50% (more or less), used to be thought it was the other way around which is why old school bodybuilders used to drink them. On the phone right now so hard to google start up and move around, but there’s been a ton of studies on it, they all end with cook your eggs if you want to get everything out of them. You’ll digest them the same either way but it’s nutrient absorption that’s the problem.

(Joey) #4

I didn’t think salmonella was so rare. I recall reading that over 30% of eggs have salmonella germs on their shells. Cracking them invites contamination with the contents. And failure to cook them invites the little live buggers into your system. At least that was my takeaway from that info from years ago. Perhaps things have changed?

#5

I eat raw egg very nearly every day since ages, never worried about salmonella but it’s me, I don’t worry about such things. It’s quite easy to pasteurize eggs at home as far as I know. I never bothered with it but it may be useful for people who are worried about salmonella. As that is a thing even if I never had it or heard about anyone to have it and it’s not nice.

I didn’t know that protein absorption is hindered if the yolk is raw, it’s so strange, most animals eat their food raw and we did it for very long as well… Oh well, at least I won’t overeat protein that very much :wink: Not like I eat much raw yolk (I eat raw whites too as I have the biotin intake to afford it) so the difference is negligible.
I actually read that yolks are better raw but I don’t remember the specifics and of course, it may or may not be true. I don’t care much, I eat plenty of eggs cooked and some raw as I enjoy it this way though it’s nice to know things…

(M) #6

Yolks are better nutrient wise raw because the heat doesn’t damage the vitamins. I know humans ate raw food for a long time but supposedly we began getting more out of our food as we learned to cook, or at least that’s what I read. I don’t know how true this is and I think it differs depending on the food. It would seem we get more vitamins from food raw, but less protein.
Egg yolks seem kind of unique case to me because the protein in the yolk is liquidy. I do think they seem a bit thicker raw. When they are sunny side up they do not seem as thick but perhaps some of the water content of the white is getting in there. I’m not sure. I separate the white from the yolk but I also try to get the membrane surrounding the yolk out of it because that seems more like part of the white and I really don’t want to eat any raw white. I was eating them sunny side up for a long time in butter than I got turned off by the egg white for some reason. I don’t know if it was the butter or the egg white though. However the egg white seems to need fat other than the yolk with it… Eventually I just began eating the yolk by itself.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

It is true that cooking and other forms of processing make foods more digestible and can even increase their nutrient value.

I did a bit of research a while ago, and it appears that estimates for how long the race has been using fire vary from a few hundred thousand years to over a million. So it’s hard to tell how long we’ve been eating cooked food.

#8

I’ve read carrots are better cooked and yolks raw… And some items are toxic raw and edible cooked, things are obvious there…

Sunny side up and raw seems the same viscosity to me, maybe the temperature matters a bit as it usually do…?

I love eggs and I eat yolks alone (raw and cooked), whites alone (only cooked), together (usually, either raw or cooked) :slight_smile: Eggs are great, I wanted to eat much pork chuck today, chicken too so not many eggy dishes but I have no mood for restriction so I will eat many eggs and many other things, my protein intake be damned… I need a break, I will minimize my protein later.

(M) #9

Good point about carrots. There are probably many times cooking enhances the vitamins as well. I can remember loving to drink the carrot and broccoli juice out of the pans after they’d been boiled when I was young. I miss those days in a way. However, no matter the amount of carrots and sweet potatoes I eat, my vitamin A retinol remains terribly low unless I ate eggs or liver. I would always read not to boil broccoli, but I was never able to find the answer to whether vitamin c was destroyed by heat with broccoli or simply leeched into the water and so long as I drank the juice of the vegetables was it still there?

Back to egg yolks raw… it could just be temperature like you said and cold egg yolk taste thicker. I don’t know. I do find they taste sweeter raw than cooked. I eat organic pasture raised eggs. I would like to find a corn and soy free organic pasture raised egg but they are hard to come by for some reason.

#10

All eggs are pasteurized that are sold commercially in North America. About 1 in 20,000 will carry.

(Joey) #11

@ffskier Thank you … excellent to know!

My info is clearly dated - most likely received in the 1960s as a kid at the kitchen table. :hatching_chick:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #12

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (emphasis added):

The term “egg products” refers to eggs that have been removed from their shells for processing at facilities called breaker plants. Egg products include whole eggs, whites, yolks and various blends with or without non-egg ingredients. They may be available in liquid, frozen, and dried forms (eggs inside their shell are NOT egg products.) The safety of these products is the responsibility of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

All egg products are pasteurized as required by United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). This means that they have been rapidly heated and held at a minimum required temperature for a specified time to destroy bacteria. Further cooking is not required.

EDIT: I should have looked a bit further: I also found this:

Shell eggs can be pasteurized by a processor if the United States Food and Drug Administration accepted the process for the destruction of Salmonella. Pasteurized shell eggs are now available at some grocery stores. Like all eggs, they must be kept refrigerated to retain quality.

So it would appear that egg products and some shell eggs are pasteurised, but not all eggs in the shell.

#13

I always wonder about refrigeration… I have washed and unwashed eggs alike, all quite fine for weeks in my cupboard… They aren’t pasteurized, I googled and that’s not even a thing in my country.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

Where eggs are concerned, it depends on whether they have been washed or not. If washed, as they routinely are in the U.S., they need to be refrigerated. If unwashed, they should not be refrigerated. We’ve covered this in other threads.

#15

But they are fine washed and not refrigerated as I wrote…
Oh well I try to forget about it. I never will refrigerate my eggs, that’s certain. I never will have a big enough fridge for it to begin with :slight_smile:

(Joey) #16

Can’t hurt to cover it all over again :wink: Would it make a difference if the chickens were properly washed?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #17

:rofl;:rofl;:rofl;:rofl;:rofl;

You can try washing your chickens, but it’s awfully hard to pin them to the clothesline to dry.