Raw Eggs - How Dangerous?

[quote]pushharder wrote:
Cthulhu wrote:
pushharder wrote:
Higher Game wrote:
I worked for a lab for a while where Campylobacter was studied extensively. Samples from organic farms had about the same amount of the bacteria, but there was usually far less antibiotic resistance in the organic bacteria.

I don’t know about how things are with Salmonella, but it’s probably similar. The amount of bacteria is probably about the same, but the resistance to antibiotics is probably lower.

I live near an organic farm (not mainstream organic, but truly old timey) where I got a Salmonella infection when I was very young, like 2 years old. It wasn’t from eating raw eggs, but just contact with the chickens. I can still remember how much it sucked.

Of course, my immune system is now much stronger, but I still won’t risk consuming raw eggs. If I had been infected with antibiotic resistant Salmonella, I would probably be dead. The risk of that is much greater today.

Raw eggs are for superheroes like Rocky Balboa and Chuck Norris, but they can get away with eating gunpowder and depleted uranium. Stick to cooking.

Like I said, why does buying eggs from organic hens has anything whatsoever to do with avoiding this bug?

I can see the point that if one is treating the infection you would hope that the strain of salmonella would not be resistant to antiobiotics but I don’t see how eating organic eggs would lower your chances of being infected to begin with.

Because sick chickens can lay eggs that are contaminated with salmonella.
While the chances are already very low, I’d still consume organic/free-range eggs if I were eating them raw.

Salmonella is a bacterium that is widespread in the intestines of a lot of birds, reptiles and mammals,etc. It can spread to humans via a variety of different foods of animal origin.
If you were to purchase eggs straight from a farm, from healthy hens who are not sick because of salmonella,multiple bacterial infections,etc.,there would be an extremely low chance of getting sick,since most store-bought eggs are produced by larger companies-even with the larger companies,studies have shown the risk is still quite low(1 in every 30,000 eggs).

There are different forms of salmonella.
The form you were talking about,often called Typhoidal Salmonella, is only carried by humans and is usually contracted through direct contact with the fecal matter of an infected person,not animals.

The most common type of salmonella that is passed onto humans from birds and other animals is called Salmonella enteritidis.

Salmonella enteritidis is usually found in eggs infected by foecal germs.

Salmonella Enteritis, also called Salmonellosis, is an infection caused by a bacteria called Salmonella that could have been present in the food that one had consumed.
As you can see,chickens can easily pass this onto their eggs when nesting.

So you’re saying that chickens that receive antibiotics and other medical treatments and supplements are more likely to be sick than chickens that don’t, for some reason? Or are you saying that non-organic chickens are typically kept in closer confinement and therefore more likely to propagate contagious diseases? And if so, is there actual evidence that close confinement chickens are generally sicker on average compared to free range organic chickens?

I’m asking these questions because on the internet everybody’s an expert and so-called facts get tossed around like rice at a wedding.[/quote]

Well, I worked on a farm from when I was 13 to when I was 18, so I do have first hand experience.

There is one study I found once that showed certain brands of raw chicken containing Salmonella(b.I.3).
However, we do not eat raw chicken, so that really doesn’t matter.

Yes.
My main focus,however, is on raw eggs.
Chickens who are already sick, that receive antibiotics, can have antibiotic resistant salmonella.

That is one reason why I’d consume organic raw eggs.
Organic/free-range chickens are not kept in strict confinement either, therefore they have less of a chance propagating contagious diseases - unlike the bigger, more liberal factory farms.

You can buy protein powder made from eggs. Maybe T-Nation would offer it if enough people asked?

Well I have read that some protein in the egg whites are actually Trypsin inhibitors (trypsin is the enzyme that breaks protein down)that the eggs developed as a defense mechanism, and the book I read quoted an study of rats losing weight after being fed with egg whites. They are denatured with cooking though. I wouldnt eat egg whites not for the salmonella but for the Trypsin inhibitor properties

i’ve been eating raw eggs for years problem free. i’m sure if i catch one with salmonella i’ll be regretting it though. i just dump a few in to my whey shakes and blend them up. i can’t even taste them over the fruits, cinnommen, honey and vanilla powder.

[quote]texasguy wrote:
i’ve been eating raw eggs for years problem free. i’m sure if i catch one with salmonella i’ll be regretting it though. i just dump a few in to my whey shakes and blend them up. i can’t even taste them over the fruits, cinnommen, honey and vanilla powder. [/quote]

I don’t understand the point in doing this; a single egg has about 8g of protein. So if you put three eggs in your shake, you could have just as easily added another scoop of protein powder.

When you also add in the fact that you can cook eggs in under 5 minutes, in all manner of ways, and that they taste a whole lot better cooked, well, throwing some raw ones in the blender just doesn’t make sense.

It is entirely possible to have a shake AND an omellette.

I add raw eggs to my shakes because I CAN taste them and I think they taste good…I dont try to diguise the taste at all

[quote]rg73 wrote:
I don’t understand the point in doing this; a single egg has about 8g of protein. So if you put three eggs in your shake, you could have just as easily added another scoop of protein powder.

When you also add in the fact that you can cook eggs in under 5 minutes, in all manner of ways, and that they taste a whole lot better cooked, well, throwing some raw ones in the blender just doesn’t make sense.

It is entirely possible to have a shake AND an omellette.[/quote]

You do realize that when you eat raw foods they are better digested, absorbed, and better utilized right?

Same goes for eggs. I thoguht it was common knowledge.

CT also talked about this before in his Locker room.

I have eaten raw eggs daily for years with no ill effects.

[quote]rg73 wrote:
texasguy wrote:
i’ve been eating raw eggs for years problem free. i’m sure if i catch one with salmonella i’ll be regretting it though. i just dump a few in to my whey shakes and blend them up. i can’t even taste them over the fruits, cinnommen, honey and vanilla powder.

I don’t understand the point in doing this; a single egg has about 8g of protein. So if you put three eggs in your shake, you could have just as easily added another scoop of protein powder.

When you also add in the fact that you can cook eggs in under 5 minutes, in all manner of ways, and that they taste a whole lot better cooked, well, throwing some raw ones in the blender just doesn’t make sense.

It is entirely possible to have a shake AND an omellette.[/quote]

i don’t like the way eggs taste. sometimes i eat cooked eggs but i have to force myself.

i add eggs instead of an extra scoop of powder because they take longer to break down than whey protien, which keeps my body in an anabolic state longer than whey alone.

i also add milk and yogurt for the same reason, plus different protein profiles.

so adding raw eggs to my shake rather than cooking them works out well for me.

Wow, what a thread.

Why not cook up some cottage cheese pancakes or something? You can even use eggs to fry up some salmon patties or something if you weren’t thinking of eggs for breakfast. Sometimes I’ll fry some eggs in ground beef. You can always add some eggs to fried rice.

Anyway, I think eggs hardly have any actual flavor at all anyway. Fry the bastards up, salt and pepper, and throw them on some toast, cheese optional.

Seriously, like people have been saying, put a bit of effort into cooking them and combining them until you find some foods you like.

Damn, talking about all these foods, I’m getting hungry!

I think this has been said, but it should be repeated:

Buy the pasteurized egg whites that come in a large carton. They are cheap and full of protein. Pour egg whites into protein shakes–no taste at all.

Firstly, raw egg digestability overall is significantly reduced vs cooked egg (90% vs 50%)

Digestibility of Cooked and Raw Egg Protein in Humans as Assessed by
Stable Isotope Techniques
The Journal of Nutrition
Pieter Evenepoel, Benny Geypens, Anja Luypaerts, Martin Hiele, Yvo Ghoos4
and Paul Rutgeerts

Amount and fate of egg protein escaping
assimilation in the small intestine of humans
Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 277:935-943, 1999.
Rutgeerts and Yvo Ghoos
Pieter Evenepoel, Dirk Claus, Benny Geypens, Martin Hiele, Karen Geboes, Paul Rutgeerts and Yvo Ghoos

On Salmonella, I’ve seen two small pilot studies, one which showed slightly more Salmonella in oragnic grown eggs and one showing slightly more Salmonella in conventionally grown eggs. None of the two pilot studies assessed antibiotic resistance of Salmonella.

Personally, I think that basing oneself on the premise that organically grown eggs are from healthy chinkens by default even if in theory it seems to make sense at first glance it is somewhat naive, not based on evidence and skips the fact that a number of hens simply are carriers of Salmonella, therefore appear healthy and are otherwise healthy but can transmit Salmonella to human which migh develop symptoms and disease.

One can be a carrier for a disease and be healthy and transmit this disease to someone who will develop it or in the case of the hens could be a carrier for a bacteria which do not affect them but is dangerous to the consumer of eggs, humans.

Bodybuilding wise, eggs should be cooked, unless you want to eat around 8 eggs raw to get half their protein so around 30g of protein.

Anyway, hope this helps,
AlexH