Albumen

[anonymaus]

I thought we could discuss our eating habits regarding whole eggs vs only the whites, or Albumen, and whether consuming Albumen is indeed healthy.



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Chicken_egg01_monovular.jpg

Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. It is the cytoplasm of the egg, which until fertilization is a single cell (including the yolk). It consists mainly of about 15% proteins dissolved in water. Its primary natural purpose is to protect the egg yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo, as it is rich in proteins it is of high nutritional value. Unlike the egg yolk, it contains a negligible amount of fat.


Egg Whites vs Whole Eggs
We have all seen the advertisements and have heard the popular diets calling to eat egg whites over whole eggs, but many of us have never heard why this is so important. For years, my family, along with many others around America, have cooked weekend breakfasts like our generations have before: a bunch of full eggs with bacon, sausage, and toast. This is what has been served at Denny’s for years and has tasted great. Little did we know, or really wanted to know, but we were sucking down countless amounts of calories and cholesterol in meals that gave no benefit to our bodies.

Source (http://behealthyandrelax.com/2007/11/egg-whites-vs-whole-eggs/)



Egg White is Bad for Your Health

you are probably one of those health enthusiasts who discard egg yolks and eat only egg whites. Yes, although egg white is not actually bad for your health, it is far inferior to egg yolk in terms of providing you with essential nutrition.

Yes, most if not all health magazines and books claim that the humble egg yolk packs a nasty amount of fat and cholesterol but they rarely ever tell you that that is where almost all the nutrition in an egg is. Before you howl in violent protest to me for going against "conventional wisdom" of not eating egg yolks, let us explore some facts first.

Source (http://www.sgfitness.com/site/1388195/page/941939)

Do you like Albumen? Does the debate change your mind either way?

[Psychonaut]

I eat the whole egg (minus the shell of course). I always have and I suppose I always will. I usually eat between two and four each day.

[Piparskeggr]

I love eggs, especially 3-egg omelets made with assorted meats and cheeses...no veggies.

One restaurant to which I go from time to time for breakfast, if you say "I love eggs," they'll give you an extra for free. 8-)

Last time I went on a "Heart Healthy" program of diet and exercise, I gained 30 pounds and my total serum cholesterol went up 100 points. Doc told me to go back to my normal diet and moderate the exercise; lost weight, cholesterol went down. <shrug>

Pip (who had a pepperoni and egg sandwich for lunch the other day)

[Äike]

I always eat the whole egg and omelet is one of my favorite foods. I have never heard that any part of a egg is harmful to the body.

[Lady L]

I've always ate the whole egg as well. Scrambled, fried, omelet, deviled, boiled - any which a way. Yum. :thumb001:

[Gooding]

My wife makes a pretty damned addicting egg sandwich I have every morning for breakfast.It definitely cleans out the system.:D

[Kempenzoon]

First time I ever hear of people eating only part of an egg O_o Wow. Only time I can think of when the yolk and white are split over here is when you make this sugary egg-white based foam to put on top of a cake.

Personally whenever I have enough time in the morning, I eat eggs for breakfast, about 3-4 each time. When I lived in a shared flat, my roommate thought I was addicted to eggs since I went through a full box of them every couple days.

[Jägerstaffel]

I eat the whole egg. The more runny it is, the better it tastes.

[Sol Invictus]

I like the egg yolks, I wouldn't eat them if they weren't there on the egg. Throw some salt and pepper onto it and squeeze it between two slices of toast with butter, and you've got yourself a breakfast of champions!!

[Skandi]

The point they forget to mention when they mention cholesterol is that both eggs and prawns contain cholesterol but neither set is taken up by the body. The body manufactures it's own cholesterol rather than taking it up from existing sources, Oils over here are advertised as healthy because they are cholesterol free, so what, the body turns them into it!

[Tabiti]

I eat both, since the proteins in white are better assimilated with the fats in the yolks. You shouldn't eat the parts separately, because egg is one entity and therefore more healthy like an entity.

[Piparskeggr]

One of the things the doctor told me is that folks like me, if we cut out too much fat, our liver go into a "starvation alert" mode and begins pumping out serum cholesterol.

Go with what your body tells you.

Pip

[Piparskeggr]

Heya;

One way I like to prepare eggs and toast at the same time.

Take your favorite sliced bread (I like whole wheat or rye) tear an egg sized hole in the middle and put all the pieces of bread down on a hot, buttered griddle or skillet. Crack your eggs and put one each in the hole in the bread. Brush the top of the bread with a little melted butter. Fry a little, flip and finish cooking.

I like mine over easy.

You end up with the egg and bread kind of melding, plus you have that bit from the middle for sopping up yolk.

[Frigga]

If you were to discard any part of the egg, it should be the white, and not the yolk. My custard recipe only calls for the yolks, and it turns out extra yummy! :D

Egg whites are not digestible raw, but you can eat egg yolks raw if you wish. My brother in law 15 years ago was a body builder, and he would eat 4-6 egg whites raw a day. Apparently, he would be in the bathroom accumulatively for hours, and leave it noxiously and putridly smelly. It's because his body could not digest the protein raw. If you give a dog raw egg whites, they vomit it right up for the same reason.

Our bodies need much more saturated fats, and cholesterol than the media and medical industry tells us. They can't tell us otherwise because they would be having to retract 50+ years of advertising. The loss to the companies that make money off of low fat, egg free mantras would probably lose billions altogether. So, of course they will keep up the facade.