Check Out These Egg Facts Before You Think About Eating Raw Eggs.

Egg facts that make us glad we are vegans

In August 2010, a huge salmonella outbreak revealed some egg facts that egg producers didn't want us to know. Two big factory farms in Iowa recalled 550 million eggs because of salmonella contamination. At least 1300 people reported illness. There were probably many more people who got sick but did not report it.

Salmonella in eggs

Salmonella is the most common type of food poisoning from bacteria.
The symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and fever. Illness hits between 8 and 72 hours after you eat contaminated food. It can kill people with weakened immune systems.

Salmonella bacteria, which come from feces, are often found on the outside of eggshells. That is one good reason to avoid eggs. Who wants feces in your kitchen, refrigerator, or on your hands?

Even worse, many chickens are contaminated with salmonella inside their bodies.

As an egg forms inside the chicken, salmonella grows inside the egg. You can't see it, smell it, or taste it. But it is there.

Feces from infected rodents, and contaminated food, often spread the infection to chickens. These are pretty scary egg facts, aren't they?

Eating raw eggs or soft cooked eggs is dangerous. Of course, you can kill salmonella bacteria by cooking eggs well done. But do you really want to eat a cooked-feces-and-bacteria combination for breakfast? Yeech. Besides, even eggs that are free of salmonella are unhealthy foods, as you will see from the egg facts that follow:

Egg nutrition facts

Eggs are fattening. One large hardboiled egg weighs 1.76 ounces and contains 78 calories. It has a calorie density of more than 44 calories per ounce. For weight loss, our goal is to keep the calorie density of our diet around 35 calories per ounce or less. See this important information on the calorie content of foods to understand calorie density.

Eggs are high in fat. One large egg contains 5.3 g of fat, which is 61 percent of calories from fat. Again, not a good food for weight loss.

Eggs are high in saturated fat. One large egg contains 1.63 g of saturated fat, or about 19 percent of calories from sat fat. Nearly a third of the fat in an egg is saturated fat. AHA says to limit sat fat content to less than 7 percent of calories.
Eggs are high in cholesterol. One large egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol. Since the American Heart Association says we should eat less than 300 mg cholesterol per day, one egg gets you more than two thirds of your limit. Of course, we don't need to eat any cholesterol at all, and vegans don't.

Eggs contain 32 percent of their calories as protein. We only need 5 percent of our calories from protein. Eggs are a concentrated protein source that is hard on our liver and kidneys.

Eggs contain absolutely no fiber.
Eggs contain no healthy phytonutrients.
Eggs are the second most common cause of allergies in children.
Many adults and children have a food intolerance to eggs. Symptoms of this food intolerance are abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Antibiotics given to laying hens are linked to antibiotic resistance in humans.
Eggs contain dioxin and other environmental contaminants.
People who eat more than 6 eggs per week have a 23 percent increased mortality risk over those who eat one egg per week or less.

Nutrition facts - egg white

Although egg whites have a low calorie density, they are not good for our over all health.

Egg whites are too high in protein. Egg whites are 91% protein. Excessive protein causes many health problems, including osteoporosis. And once you learn about all the great vegan protein sources, you will realize that egg whites are totally unnecessary in your diet.
The proteins in egg whites can block digestive enzymes.
Eating a lot of egg whites can cause a biotin deficiency.

The egg industry

Have you read articles that say eggs are healthy, that they do not raise cholesterol levels? Usually when you see an article like that, the egg industry funded the study.

They start with subjects who are already eating large amounts of cholesterol from meat and dairy products. They add an egg a day to their diets. It has little effect on the subjects' (already) high cholesterol levels.

Independent studies on people who eat little or no cholesterol finds different results. If you add one daily egg to their diet, their cholesterol levels go up significantly. The industry would also prefer that you not know these egg facts. It is bad for business.

And last, but not least, egg-laying chickens suffer terribly on factory farms. Don't add to the suffering.

Egg facts that make us glad we are vegans

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