More on the Nutritive Values of Eggs

Dear friends,

Thank you for all your letters and enquiries. Pertaining to your question on eggs requesting my comments, sometime back someone asked me the same question about its effect on health. I have already written and replied to him or her in a lengthy article on this, supporting the nutritive and health benefits of eggs. I also gave scientific updates on more recent findings some of which are correctly given here as sent to me.

However the author of the article e-mailed to me, need to give at least some references of papers published in scientific journals to support the claims.

But just to super-summarize in just 13 lines without me having to go all over again explaining the complexities of physiology, biochemistry, nutritional pathogenesis related to eggs to repeat and waste time again, below are the yes points about eggs in human nutrition. But I have to leave out some minor no points since the positive benefits far outweigh its negative values.

1. Eggs and milk are among the best foods for the body especially to a growing child.

2. Eggs do not cause an elevation of blood cholesterol

3. Eggs do not clog up the coronary vessels as once thought. In fact the opposite is now true

4. Eggs are low in energy value, and is a factor to consider in the formulation of a caloric-restriction diet

5. Eggs protein quality is extremely high, and has a very high nitrogen-retention value. Hence it is extremely useful in post-surgical care, trauma, and in post-management of hypovolemic shock against negative nitrogen balance

6. Eggs contain vitamin D in its natural form. The benefits of vitamin D require several chapters on human nutrition in medicine to discuss. And I refuse to repeat

7. Eggs are cancer-protective, especially for breast cancer

8. Eggs are very rich in sulfur-containing amino acids methionine which is a very crucial amino-acid in blocking damaging free radicals. These are directly linked to the pathogenesis of heart disease, cancers, DNA damage, and all degenerative disorders, and accelerated aging.

9. Eggs protect against fatty liver, slow growth, macular degeneration (degeneration of the macula area of the retina in the eyes. This is responsible for central vision for reading, face recognition and detailed vision), edema (water retention), and various skin lesions

10. Eggs promote healthy growth of nails, hair and skin

11. Eggs are rich in tryphophan, selenium, iodine, and riboflavin (vitamin B2)

12. Eggs selenium content is cardio-protective against Keshan disease, cardiomyopathies (diseases involving the heart muscles, cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), myocardial dysfunction (poor heart function) and death from heart failure.

13. Eggs are protective against Kashin-Beck disease (osteoarthropathy), myxedematous endemic cretinism (mental retardation)

14. The list goes on…on!

Regards, and ask me no more on eggs. I have lots of other questions awaiting answers.

jb lim

4:35 a.m.
24 August, 2010