Why You should Not Eat Eggs

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD NOT EAT EGGS

Egg is looked at as a nutrition bomb and many people can’t start their day without it. But are eggs really so healthy? The short answer - no.

Eggs have long been popular among health-conscious people because of their high-quality protein. They’re one of the most important foods when you want to grow muscles and get strong, right? Eggs also contain a lot of nutrition, varying amounts of 13 essential vitamins and minerals.

But we are missing something important.

Saturated Fat

First, egg is an animal product so it contains saturated fat which is no shocker, I hope. We have long known that saturated fat is bad and is raising the cholesterol[1]. When the cholesterol is raising it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

When we are talking about saturated fat anyway, saturated fat can lead to type 2 diabetes[2]. Saturated fat is also associated with multiple cancers as breast cancer[3], prostate cancer[4], and gastrointestinal cancer[5].

They are Cholesterol Bombs

Also, eggs are by far the number one source of cholesterol, actually about 187mg cholesterol per egg (that’s a LOT). Some claim that dietary cholesterol doesn’t have impact on our blood cholesterol but if we look at several studies[6] we find that blood cholesterol is clearly increased by eating dietary cholesterol such as eggs. Who wants to eat cholesterol bombs anyway?

Dietary cholesterol has a pro-inflammatory and oxidative effects on the LDL cholesterol[7] (the so called bad cholesterol). This ends up with an increase of cardiovascular effects. A recent study[8] found that regular egg consumption might be as bad as smoking, regarding artery plaque build-up.

In other words, by eating cholesterol means putting cholesterol in your blood.

Your Gut Bacteria Dislike Them

In today’s health-hype world we live in, we now know the importance of our gut bacteria for our health. Egg yolks contain a compound called lecithin. Your gut bacteria convert this compound into a chemical TMAO and high level of TMAO is linked to an increased risk for heart attack or stroke[9].

The Egg Industry is Horrible

Even if it says “free-range”, “organic” and “cage-free”, most of these chickens are crammed into battery cages, it’s actually about 95% of the US eggs that come from caged birds. The babies never meet their mother and the baby males are thrown into a grinder - alive.

Don’t forget about the mother, who is not useful after two years because of overproducing eggs, and is therefore slaughtered. When the hens arrive at slaughter 1/3 of them already have broken legs because of small cages, bad hygiene and overall bad conditions.

Not all farms are the same and have these horrible conditions but in my opinion, if you go and buy eggs, you are supporting the demand and egg industry.

This is what the egg industry doesn't want you to see.

Cancer Risk

All protein is good protein, right? When we eat concentrated sources of animal protein like eggs, our bodies are producing higher levels of the hormone insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)[10] [11]. This hormone stimulates cell division and growth in healthy and cancer cells, this is why higher levels of IGF-1 is associated with increased cancer risk[12].

You Don’t Need Eggs

If you worry about your protein though, there’re much better plant-based sources of it like beans, lentils, legumes, nuts and seeds. The plant based sources contain all of the essential amino acids we need[13] and also give you tons of vitamins and nutrients.

There are a lot of egg replacement alternatives out there today. You can even enjoy a scrambled “egg”! Check out my recipe scrambled tofu toast here, it will blow your mind.

References

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12241840

[2] https://nutritionfacts.org/video/lipotoxicity-how-saturated-fat-raises-blood-sugar/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24715379

[4] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.23414/full

[5] http://www.pcrm.org/health/medNews/fatty-diets-linked-to-cancer-and-early-death

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1534437

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21076725

[8] https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eggs-vs-cigarettes-in-atherosclerosis/

[9] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1109400?query=featured_home&

[10] http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/6/1667.full

[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12433724

[12] http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/85/6/1667.full

[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8172124