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are eggs good or bad?

Sep 12, 2014#1

Bones

I have been trying to find things I like for breakfast other then sugar cereal and doughnuts.( i know my diet is horrible, but I am working on it) I talked with my doctor about adding eggs to my weight loss rotation on occasion. my nutritionist went nuts about how they are terrible for me and I should not be getting that much cholesterol if I want to be heart healthy. so eggs good or bad?

Sep 12, 2014#2

PatrThom

I subscribe to the Lewis Black school of thinking about eggs.
Also, they are delicious and I am going to go have some right now.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#3

Jay

Great source of protein and other things. If you don't like frying them, simply boil them to save on a few more calories. Don't go crazy. A pair of eggs with a little side (greek yogurt) should keep you well fed until lunch with plenty of energy.

Sep 12, 2014#4

LittleKagsin

I think eggs are great!

And are probably my favorite breakfast food. I like going the omelette route and putting spinach and mushrooms in mine. =^^= But there are a bunch of ways to have eggs, so you'd get variety which is nice. Eat all the eggs!

Sep 12, 2014#5

Bowielee

There's no "Absolutely Awesome" choice, your poll is flawed.

Sep 12, 2014#6

Bones

Bowielee said:
There's no "Absolutely Awesome" choice, your poll is flawed.

im sorry i had to eat and work at the same time, BOWIELEE IVVVVEE FAAAAAILLLLLEDDD YOOOOOUUUUU! *explodes in a boss fashion*

Sep 12, 2014#7

Shakey

The other weekend while at my parents, our girl found an unhatched chicken egg. We explained it was one that the hen was sitting on, but it for some reason didn't hatch and become a baby chicken. You could see her face change as she finally realised what the eggs we eat are and what they could become. We won't be having eggs for a while...

To add on to that, her and her mother thought it would be OK to take it home in my vehicle. Yes, they forgot it in there. We had a really warm day after that, and it exploded. Shells and rotten egg and I'm sure you can guess what else. Good lord the smell. It's still stinks something fierce.

Sep 12, 2014#8

Bowielee

I remember back in the day when we got actual farm fresh eggs and accidentally occasionally got a fertilized one. Nothing like cracking open an egg and having a chicken embryo fall out.

Don't care, still love eggs

Sep 12, 2014#9

Tinwhistler

Bones said:
I have been trying to find things I like for breakfast other then sugar cereal and doughnuts.( i know my diet is horrible, but I am working on it) I talked with my doctor about adding eggs to my weight loss rotation on occasion. my nutritionist went nuts about how they are terrible for me and I should not be getting that much cholesterol if I want to be heart healthy. so eggs good or bad?

I think your nutritionist is a bit behind the times on egg thinking. My grandfather had a heart transplant for 10 years before he passed, and had 4 heart attacks (with resultant bypass surgeries) prior to that. So we were always cholesterol conscious when spending time at my grandparents' house in the summers. "Egg beaters" was on the menu for breakfast, as eggs were considered little cholesterol grenades.

These days, the thinking is changing--that the amount of cholesterol you eat doesn't affect you nearly as much as was once thought. The Mayo Clinic says that eating 4 eggs a week doesn't increase your risk of heart disease. The Harvard School of Public Health says you can have an egg a day, and also talks a bit about the changing trends in cholesterol thinking.

I personally eat the fuck out of eggs, and have never had high cholesterol--but I realize that's anecdotal and isn't authoritative.

Here's an article talking more about the effects of eating cholesterol, according to more recent thinking.

A relevant quote:

Interestingly, in controlled trials -- the best kind of research -- where people were instructed to eat up to three eggs per day while on a weight loss diet, good things happened.
These folks lost weight, decreased inflammation and either maintained or improved their blood cholesterol levels.
(They were consuming 555 mg of cholesterol every day from eggs alone!)

Sep 12, 2014#10

drifter

The occasional egg is probably fine. Eggs are high in cholesterol, true, but the impact on blood cholesterol is generally overstated.

If you want to play it safe, just eat the egg whites. The yolk is the part high in cholesterol. Plus it would give you an excuse to do this:

Sep 12, 2014#11

Gared

The cynic in me wants to say that whether eggs are good or bad at any given point depends entirely upon whether or not the egg lobby has paid their bribe to the FDA/USDA food study groups recently. But yeah, aside from the fact that they tend to make me really gassy, they're awesome. I could probably do a re-creation of the entire Forrest Gump shrimp scene with eggs, but one of my favorite ways to eat them is to make a frittata, and then just heat slices of it up in the microwave for breakfast (or eat it cold even, still good). A little cheese, some spinach, maybe some zucchini or yellow squash. You have to make sure you cook the veggies first and get as much moisture out of them as you can, or you'll end up with a soupy mess that takes longer to cook, but it can be an awesome way to get some veggies and protein into your breakfast rotation.

Sep 12, 2014#12

drawn_inward

It's sugar and sodium that you need to worry about. Decrease both of those, stat; especially processed meats (they're awful for you).

I agree with @Jay. Eggs + Greek yogurt = tons of protein, which keeps you full longer.

Sep 12, 2014#13

Shakey

Bowielee said:
I remember back in the day when we got actual farm fresh eggs and accidentally occasionally got a fertilized one. Nothing like cracking open an egg and having a chicken embryo fall out.

Don't care, still love eggs

You can always tell if someone is used to farm eggs or not by whether they crack them into a cup first or not.

Sep 12, 2014#14

Emrys

Gared said:
I could probably do a re-creation of the entire Forrest Gump shrimp scene with eggs.

Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs, eggs Benedict, egg frittata, eggs with cheese, eggs with spinach, eggs with peppers, eggs and bacon, egg soup, egg salad, egg-based religion.

Sep 12, 2014#15

Tinwhistler

egg drop soup is da bomb and so simple to make[DOUBLEPOST=1410536864,1410536782][/DOUBLEPOST]

Emrys said:
Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs, eggs Benedict, egg frittata, eggs with cheese, eggs with spinach, eggs with peppers, eggs and bacon, egg soup, egg salad, egg-based religion.

Don't forget fried eggs on a burger. It's the only proper way to eat a burger.

Sep 12, 2014#16

PatrThom

Tinwhistler said:
These days, the thinking is changing--that the amount of cholesterol you eat doesn't affect you nearly as much as was once thought.

As Kati puts it regarding health and blood cholesterol: "Firemen always show up wherever there's fire, but that doesn't mean firemen cause fires."

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#17

PatrThom

Emrys said:
Fried eggs, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs, eggs Benedict, egg frittata, eggs with cheese, eggs with spinach, eggs with peppers, eggs and bacon, egg soup, egg salad, egg-based religion.

Oh, I frequently think
every now and then
of the glorious fruit
of the noble hen

Eggs, eggs, E, double-G, S-eggs
My knowledge of eggs
is tremendously wide
I've eaten them boiled,
I've eaten them fried

Poached and shirred
and deviled and scrambled
Hummeled, shmummeled,
cuddled, and frammeled
I've eaten them beaten
and swizzled and swuzzled
Frizzled, cadizzled, bamboozled, and fuzzled

I know every way
that an egg can be guzzled
And thinking of eggs
reminds me of Sam
Whose favorite dish
Is green eggs and ham.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#18

Emrys

That's beautiful!

Sep 12, 2014#19

phil

Gaston eats 5 dozen eggs a day and look how jacked that guy is.

Sep 12, 2014#20

drifter

Truly eggsquisite

Sep 12, 2014#21

Hylian

I love eggs and as long as you eat them with moderation (like everything in life) you should be fine.

Of course all this talk about eggs has me hungry for tater tots with shredded cheese and an over easy egg.

Sep 12, 2014#22

Frank

The last time I had blood work done, they found my good cholesterol was low and I was told to eat more eggs.

So, eggs good.

Sep 12, 2014#23

Dave

Have we ever been unanimous on anything?!?

You have found the Holy Grail.

Sep 12, 2014#24

Bones

Dave said:
Have we ever been unanimous on anything?!?

You have found the Holy Grail.

I pat myself on the back I guess...

Sep 12, 2014#25

Dave

Bones said:
I pat myself on the back I guess...

I'm against that.

Sep 12, 2014#26

PatrThom

Emrys said:
That's beautiful!

Dr. Seuss On The Loose

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#27

figmentPez

From what I've been told: the original studies that found that eggs raise blood cholesterol were done with powdered eggs. Later studies done with fresh eggs did not find the same connection. There may be some correlation between powdered egg consumption and higher blood cholesterol, but moderate consumption of fresh eggs doesn't have any correlation with blood cholesterol levels.[DOUBLEPOST=1410546240,1410545923][/DOUBLEPOST]

Bones said:
My nutritionist went nuts about how they are terrible for me and I should not be getting that much cholesterol if I want to be heart healthy. so eggs good or bad?

Nutritionist or registered dietician? Just about anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, and what information they're working from will vary widely. Some will be using cutting edge data, others will be stuck back in the 1960's or earlier, some will be outright quacks. Registered dieticians, at least in Texas, have more stringent qualifications, and have to adhere to certain federal standards of nutrition guidelines, and stay current. So you know more of what you're getting going to a registered dietician, but they also may be more subject to the pressures of political lobbying, and their standards may not have caught up to the latest in medical research.

It's easier to know what you're getting with a registered dietician, but there's potential to find someone who really knows what they're doing with a nutritionist (though it's really hard to find someone like that. Goodness knows my mom has had me go to some weirdos over the years.)

Sep 12, 2014#28

Charlie Don't Surf

http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog...-lives-and-deaths-of-factory-farmed-chickens/

Egg-laying hens
As bad as conditions are for chickens raised for meat, they are even worse for birds in the egg industry. Erik Marcus, making a comparison to the better-publicized cruelty done to veal calves, says in his book Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money:

I personally believe that the average battery hen has it worse than the average veal calf. I think it’s probable that a forkful of egg comes at a cost of greater suffering than a forkful of veal… For people making a gradual switch to vegetarianism out of concern for animals, I therefore believe that the first food to give up should be, not meat, but eggs.
There are about 300 million laying hens in the United States; of these, some 95 percent are kept in wire battery cages, which allow each hen an average of 67 square inches of space—less than the size of a standard sheet of paper. For perspective, a hen needs 72 square inches of space to be able to stand up straight and 303 square inches to be able to spread and flap her wings. There is no room even for the hens to perform self-comforting behaviors such as preening and bathing. Hens are usually kept eight or nine to a cage; long tiers of these cages are built one upon another in sheds that hold tens of thousands of birds, none of whom has enough room to raise a wing. Excrement falls from the top cages to the lower ones, causing the same “ammonia burn” problem as in the broiler houses. Like chickens raised for meat, laying hens are debeaked as chicks. The hens are deprived of the ability to create nests for their eggs, which instead drop through the wires of the cage for collection. This inability to engage in instinctive behavior causes great frustration.

A sad side effect of the egg-production industry is the wholesale destruction of male chicks, who are useless to the egg industry. These chicks are not used in the meat industry either, because they have not been genetically manipulated for meat production. Male chicks are ground up in batches while still alive, suffocated in trash cans, or gassed.

The methods used to maximize production include manipulation of lighting to change the hens’ environment and hence their biological cycles; unnaturally long periods of simulated daylight encourage laying. Periodic forced molting creates an additional laying cycle: during this time, the hens are kept in darkness and put on a “starvation” diet (reduced-calorie feed) or starved altogether for up to two weeks.

Caged in this way, hens are unable to exercise, and constant egg production leaches calcium from their bones; these two factors cause severe osteoporosis, which leads to broken bones and great pain for the hens. The syndrome is called Cage-Layer Fatigue. Additionally, the wires of the cage injure the feet of the chickens, as the hens must sit in essentially one position their whole lives with their feet pressing into the wires. They rub against the sides of the cage, which causes severe feather loss and skin abrasions. In essence, hens who would normally be able to use their whole bodies and have lives as full as those of any other animal in nature are reduced to immobilized egg-laying machines, existing for that one purpose only.

The hens live like this for about two years or less, until their bodies are exhausted from the stresses of constant laying and their egg production decreases. At that point, they are shipped to slaughter to be turned into animal feed or sometimes human food or are simply discarded. In 2003 a public outcry brought attention to a California ranch that was reported to have discarded thousands of live hens using a wood chipper; no charges were brought because, as it turned out, this is a common industry practice.

Sep 12, 2014#29

Ravenpoe

I love eggs and veal.

Sep 12, 2014#30

PatrThom

Ravenpoe said:
I love eggs and veal.

I know, right? Sprinkle a little powdered rhino horn on 'em, really gets you going in the morning.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#31

Emrys

I prefer mine with filet of unicorn.

Rare, of course.

Sep 12, 2014#32

blotsfan

Eggs are delicious.

Therefore, they are unhealthy.

Sep 12, 2014#33

Shakey

stienman said:
I didn't realize we could use a wood chipper to dispose our chickens! This changes everything!

I suddenly had an image of all your kids lined up behind the chipper with their mouths open while you shovel chickens in to feed then.

Sep 12, 2014#34

PatrThom

Shakey said:
I suddenly had an image of all your kids lined up behind the chipper with their mouths open while you shovel chickens in to feed then.

Oh...I can only imagine the noises.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#35

PatrThom

stienman said:
I could put a microwave on the output so the bits and pieces were cooked as they flew past. A salt shaker after that. Can't think of an easy way to remove bone shards and feather pieces though.

Mechanically separate them prior to the fryer, mebbe?

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#36

Shakey

stienman said:
I could put a microwave on the output so the bits and pieces were cooked as they flew past. A salt shaker after that. Can't think of an easy way to remove bone shards and feather pieces though.

Just get a chipper that grinds it all fine enough and call it good. Added nutrients for growing boys.

Sep 12, 2014#37

Shakey

stienman said:
Might as well take them to mcdonalds then. Cheaper than a chipper anyway.

But not as entertaining.

Sep 12, 2014#38

Ravenpoe

PatrThom said:
Oh...I can only imagine the noises.

--Patrick

Om nom nom?

Sep 12, 2014#39

figmentPez

Emrys said:
I prefer mine with filet of unicorn.

Rare, of course.

Well if you're having it rare, you obviously know how to get fresh. All I can find around here is canned.

Sep 12, 2014#40

Celt Z

figmentPez said:
Well if you're having it rare, you obviously know how to get fresh. All I can find around here is canned.

Processed unicorn meat?! Pfft! The sodium in that alone is enough to kill a horse!

....Oh.

Oh.

Sep 12, 2014#41

Bones

@WasabiPoptart gave me my very first negative rating today for patting myself on the back. I am in awe that this is how my spotless record was finally spotted!

Sep 12, 2014#42

Emrys

One of us! One of us!

Sep 12, 2014#43

WasabiPoptart

BAHAHAHAHA!!

Sep 12, 2014#44

PatrThom

Bones said:
@WasabiPoptart gave me my very first negative rating today for patting myself on the back. I am in awe that this is how my spotless record was finally spotted!

Something must not have agreed with her.

--Patrick

Sep 12, 2014#45

WasabiPoptart

Dave said:
Have we ever been unanimous on anything?!?

You have found the Holy Grail.

Bones said:
I pat myself on the back I guess...

Dave said:
I'm against that.

I'm against it, too. So I disagreed with the pat on the back.

Sep 12, 2014#46

Bones

WasabiPoptart said:
I'm against it, too. So I disagreed with the pat on the back.

obviously this should have been about steak!

Sep 12, 2014#47

Chad Sexington

PatrThom said:
I subscribe to the Lewis Black school of thinking about eggs.
Also, they are delicious and I am going to go have some right now.

--Patrick

This is exactly what was on the top of my mind when I saw the thread

Sep 12, 2014#48

WasabiPoptart

Bones said:
obviously this should have been about steak!

Which is delicious with eggs. As long as it's cooked right.

Sep 16, 2014#49

checkeredhat

I wish I liked eggs. I really do. The sound/ smell of them sizzling in the frying pan.... it seems like they should be delicious. But I can't stand them. Only way I'll eat them is when I'm really hung over and need the protein, and I get them scrambled and put so much hot sauce on 'em it frightens the other people at my table. Because I cannot have them taste like egg. That won't do.

Luckily, I'm allergic to egg white and shouldn't really eat them anyway so whatever. Or is it the yolk I'm allergic to? I always forget.

Sep 16, 2014#50

Frank

checkeredhat said:
I wish I liked eggs. I really do. The sound/ smell of them sizzling in the frying pan.... it seems like they should be delicious. But I can't stand them. Only way I'll eat them is when I'm really hung over and need the protein, and I get them scrambled and put so much hot sauce on 'em it frightens the other people at my table. Because I cannot have them taste like egg. That won't do.

Luckily, I'm allergic to egg white and shouldn't really eat them anyway so whatever. Or is it the yolk I'm allergic to? I always forget.

Almost all egg allergies are to the white.

Sep 16, 2014#51

Sparhawk

I loathe eggs.

I don't eat them by themselves, only as a mixed ingredient in a recipe. I don't eat them fried, boiled, poached, scrambled or any other way you can name to cook them.

I've never liked them, and honestly I'd rather be hungry than eat those things.

Sep 16, 2014#52

Yoshimickster

Eggs are great and so are bananas! Seriously I'm sick of the anti-banana diet ads, just pick a riper one if you're that worried. Thou

Sep 16, 2014#53

Gared

Yoshimickster said:
Eggs are great and so are bananas! Seriously I'm sick of the anti-banana diet ads, just pick a riper one if you're that worried. Thou

There's an anti-banana diet thing? Seriously? I can understand being anti-banana when it comes to the "miracle no-sugar added ice-cream!" bull-pucky, but anti-banana diet? Some people have way too much time on their hands.

Sep 16, 2014#54

PatrThom

Frank said:
Almost all egg allergies are to the white.

That's where the protein is, so that's where the allergies tend to be.[DOUBLEPOST=1410925732,1410925683][/DOUBLEPOST]

Gared said:
There's an anti-banana diet thing? Seriously? I can understand being anti-banana when it comes to the "miracle no-sugar added ice-cream!" bull-pucky, but anti-banana diet? Some people have way too much time on their hands.

Yes, because bananas are loaded with sugars, and sugars are eeeeeevil.

--Patrick

Sep 16, 2014#55

Yoshimickster

Who gives a crap if there great for digestion or a score of of other reasons, WE CAST THE OUT SUGAR FRUIT!

Sep 17, 2014#56

Gared

Can I claim that I'm part of the anti-banana diet crowd even if the only reason I don't eat bananas is because I can't stand the texture? 'Cuz otherwise I want nothing to do with this silly fad. Bananas taste awesome.

Sep 17, 2014#57

Necronic

Bananas are disgusting.

DOWN WITH BANANAS.
UP WITH EGGS.[DOUBLEPOST=1410957269,1410957092][/DOUBLEPOST]

Charlie Don't Surf said:
...stuff...

This is an even bigger problem with goats. Americans don't eat much goat meat, so there is no real use for the billy's, so they just kill them. I say its a bigger problem because goats are physically bigger.

Sep 17, 2014#58

Cajungal

SHUUUUUNNNN

Sep 17, 2014#59

Necronic

what do you think you're the banana king or something?

Sep 17, 2014#60

Tinwhistler

Necronic said:
This is an even bigger problem with goats. Americans don't eat much goat meat, so there is no real use for the billy's, so they just kill them. I say its a bigger problem because goats are physically bigger.

Which is a shame..I've had goat (at a South African restaurant in Dallas), and it's pretty tasty. If I could get it at the grocery store, I'd cook it several times a month.

I hate that the primary meat staples carried anywhere are beef, chicken, and pork. I'd love a lot more meat variety at the grocery store. I'd like to see goat, venison, emu, and even horse (though admitting that in Texas would probably put me in the middle of a gunfight).

Thankfully, lamb is starting to become slightly more common. You used to never see it in the store..now you can occasionally find chops and shanks. Though it'd be nice if you could find the cuts from the rest of the animal up for sale too.

Sep 17, 2014#61

Cajungal

I eat eggs almost every day--My diet's pretty low cholesterol, so I don't sweat it when I consume half to a whole yolk each day. Usually have some for breakfast, or of not, they're boiled and thrown into a salad or made into a lovely frittata for dinner. So versatile.

Sep 17, 2014#62

WasabiPoptart

Tinwhistler said:
Which is a shame..I've had goat (at a South African restaurant in Dallas), and it's pretty tasty. If I could get it at the grocery store, I'd cook it several times a month.

I hate that the primary meat staples carried anywhere are beef, chicken, and pork. I'd love a lot more meat variety at the grocery store. I'd like to see goat, venison, emu, and even horse (though admitting that in Texas would probably put me in the middle of a gunfight).

Thankfully, lamb is starting to become slightly more common. You used to never see it in the store..now you can occasionally find chops and shanks. Though it'd be nice if you could find the cuts from the rest of the animal up for sale too.

You might be able to find goat in latino/hispanic or maybe Caribbean-centric grocery stores. I used to see it in SoCal a lot even in regular grocery stores sometimes along with bison. I used to see lamb chops pretty commonly in NJ and not just around Easter. Venison...well, if you were in NJ I could possibly find some for you since my dad and a bunch of family friends all hunt. Maybe Whole Foods or another store like that would carry these meats.

Sep 17, 2014#63

Gared

Man, I love goat. I get that it can be tough, but that's what braising is for. Some of my favorite curries from Indian restaurants have been goat curries. Plus, there's the part of me that would love to buy a whole butchered goat and roast it rotisserie style for a family gathering. Or BBQ it. I bet smoked goat would be awesome.

Sep 17, 2014#64

Shakey

Sep 17, 2014#65

Gared

Shakey said:

Don't make me grin like that. Makes my jaws hurt.

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