Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital
I am not a nutritionist, but I did take a course in medical
school, so I will comment on the subject.
Are eggs good or bad for you?
Let us limit this question. For growing kids eggs are an
excellent food. They are high in protein and other building
blocks.
Eggs have a lot of cholesterol, but that is not to say it is
necessarily well-absorbed. Most cholesterol in the body is
formed by the body itself from fats that are ingested. I
have a very hard time digesting eggs. I do not eat them
except mixed in with other foods and at low quantity. This
is probably the reason — I cannot digest the
cholesterol.
A recent article claimed that there was no difference in
heart disease between those who ate an egg a week and those
who did not. I do not know anyone on a Western diet who eats
only one egg a week. So I do not think that study tells us
much.
That same article also says that obese patients felt fuller
from eating an egg than eating a bagel breakfast with equal
calories. If a bagel breakfast is starches, of course it is
less filling than an egg which has much more fat in it. Fat
satisfies.
A nutritionist says that eggs have high nutritional value,
since they have lots of protein, few calories and are not
high in fat. That is relative. Most of the components of the
best diet in the world — the Mediterranean diet
— have much less fat than an egg.
Eggs can grow microorganisms. Indeed, many vaccines are
grown on eggs. They should be fully cooked, and refrigerated
up until then. In Israel, even with our hot climate, they
are often left outside.
Eggs can be made lower in fat by changing the diet of the
hens. That is quite interesting, but in Israel it is not
relevant since most chickens are in coops and fed standard
diets.
Eggs are not to be avoided at all costs, but what you do
with the egg is important, and I think that those on a low-
fat diet need to cut down on eggs even if they do not cut
them out. They are definitely better than a lot of foods,
especially junk foods. However, frying the eggs can increase
the calorie count immensely.
Consider using only the whites for an easier-to-digest meal.
Raw eggs are drunk by some but I think that it is a crazy
idea. Old eggs and those left in the sun should be thrown
out.
Fluoride treatments are one of the few things in medicine
that are so well-proven that no one studies it anymore. Yet
this substance is not found in the water everywhere in
Israel and parents often cannot afford or neglect to do
these treatments. Make sure you do get these treatments for
your family. Write me in care of the Yated.
