The quest for the eggless egg

January 27 2015 by in Real food

Eggs or non-eggs?

What if there were an egg that wasn’t an egg? Scientists in the US are trying to create a plant-based “egg” for vegans. The current version contains half a dozen ingredients, mainly pea protein, but is not getting high grades from chefs:

TIME: Eggless Eggs Exist and This Is What They Taste Like

I myself don’t fancy industrially produced ersatz eggs with many secret ingredients, a taste of “grass” and a chef rating of 5/10. I see no health reasons either.

Those who are not vegans can safely eat regular, good old eggs, at least as long as the chickens have been treated well (egg production only aiming for cheap eggs quickly becomes unethical).

Eggs have developed to perfection over millions of years of evolution. There is no more nutritious food and the old 80’s fear of cholesterol has proven completely unfounded. Eggs provide a good cholesterol profile, good weight and a good blood sugar. Proper health and nutrition pills!

So how many eggs can you eat without risking that it turns harmful? I’ll say what I usually say: Preferably eat no more than 36 eggs per day.

How many do you eat?

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27 comments

Top comments

janknitz
January 28 2015 5
If vegans think they don't "need" eggs or meat, why are they working so hard to make fake meat and eggs???

When you look at the energy, the time, and the ingredients that go into making fake food, how could it possibly be better for sustainability than real food?

Reply: #24

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Mahdi
January 27 2015 4
I sometimes eat a 10-12 egg omelette when I'm hungry after a workout. I feel sorry for my friends who only eat the whites.

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1
Brianna
January 27 2015
Hi there! I can eat 7 to 9 eggs a day, some raw some cooked. Sometimes less. Of course, my doctor says i have a slightly raised cholesterol, that I have to avoid them and/or eat them without the yolks and also says that if I eat raw eggs these are not properly digested and I won"t absorb well the nutrients. Do you know if eaten, raw eggs are not well digested and absorbed? Thank you for the info. Regards!

Replies: #4, #10, #12
2
Suzanne
January 27 2015 1
Sounds gross
3
Mahdi
January 27 2015 4
I sometimes eat a 10-12 egg omelette when I'm hungry after a workout. I feel sorry for my friends who only eat the whites.
4
Reply to comment #1 by Brianna
Zepp
January 27 2015 1
Raw eggs have Avidin, that blocks Biotin uptake!

Reply: #5
5
Reply to comment #4 by Zepp
Brianna
January 27 2015 1
Thank you Zepp. I get it now. Regards!
6
Apicius
January 27 2015 1
Fake eggs? What a disgusting concept. Just as insane as fake vegan bacon, or fake vegan burger patty. Perhaps these industrially processed concoctions, that taste like the foods normal human omnivores eat, are the nutrition-starving vegan's body way of filling the nutrition void? I guess the vegans need these fake foods to acquire vital nutrition, like B12, from the laboratory as opposed to nature.

I eat between 0 to 4 eggs on a daily basis, depending on what meals I choose to eat. I don't restrict number of eggs at all. They are filling and really nutritious. I also buy my eggs from farmers who have their hens outside on the pasture. The eggs have bright red-orange yolks - a good sign that they are full of the right nutrients!
7
Boundless
January 27 2015 2
re: .... egg production only aiming for cheap eggs quickly becomes unethical ...

Not to mention low nutrition, elevated antibiotics, elevated hormones, and elevated risk of disease despite the ABs.

Anyone with a back yard and no oppressive ordinances or HOA terms can easily have enough chickens to produce all the eggs they need, or even run a surplus to give away, as we do. We probably average 5.5 eggs/day from the flock of 7, and consume 4/day over time, which is 2 eggs each.

Reply: #20
8
Murray
January 27 2015 1
Two raw egg yolks every day. Sometimes the whites (cooked) but usually they go to our dog.

I have read that the effect on biotin absorption is not fully negated by cooking and that beating or whipping the whites also partially negates the effect on biotin absorption.

Reply: #16
9
GuyJeb
January 27 2015
My 9 month old son eats at least 1/2 egg Yolk every day with lunch.

I don't think our family could ever go vegan.. :)
10
Reply to comment #1 by Brianna
Lori Miller
January 27 2015 1
Raw food in general is less well absorbed than cooked.

When you eat less cholesterol, your body makes more of it. Since your cholesterol is "slightly elevated," don't worry about it. According to what I've read, higher cholesterol is actually a protective marker in women.

Reply: #17
11
Johnny D.
January 27 2015
Eat Real Food!
12
Reply to comment #1 by Brianna
Paul the rat
January 27 2015
Hi Brianna,
you can eat raw yolks (I eat 2 or 3 raw yolks -100% home grown, free roaming hens- with 1/2 glass of full cream [+ occasionally I add, say chopped apple peel or chopped prune, 2 wall nuts, et cetera] for breakfast - sustains me all day), BUT I would not recommend to eat raw egg-white; some proteins, which are present in uncooked egg-whites interfere with iron absorption.

Reply: #18
13
martinus
January 27 2015
Here is a report with a guy who ate 25 eggs each and every day:
"Normal Plasma Cholesterol in a Man Who Eats 25 Eggs a Day"
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199108223250813
14
FrankG
January 28 2015
I have to say that despite seeming progress on the LCHF front, it makes me kinda dispondent when I see this misunderstanding still around, about eggs... even the local coffee shops here in Canada (Tim Hortons) have recently started offering an "egg white and maple bacon, breakfast sandwich"... only 290 calories!
15
janknitz
January 28 2015 5
If vegans think they don't "need" eggs or meat, why are they working so hard to make fake meat and eggs???

When you look at the energy, the time, and the ingredients that go into making fake food, how could it possibly be better for sustainability than real food?

Reply: #24
16
Reply to comment #8 by Murray
Carol
January 28 2015
People who get into trouble with biotin deficiency reportedly eat only raw whites daily.
17
Reply to comment #10 by Lori Miller
Brianna
January 28 2015
Thank you Lori for your comment and info. Be well. Regards !
18
Reply to comment #12 by Paul the rat
Brianna
January 28 2015
Hi Paul ! Thank you for your comment and info. I will try a breakfast like yours, for sure, tomorrow morning. Be well and regards !
19
Lorraine
January 29 2015
Depends on the day, anywhere from 5 for an omelette or quiche to a couple in baked goods.

My grand-niece is allergic to eggs so when we had a family get-together, I experimented with flax and chia eggs, a flax egg in the "corn" bread, and the chia egg in the sour cream chocolate chip bars. They both worked fine except maybe the baked goods didn't rise quite as much. Everyone, those LCHF or not, loved them.

Vegans should have no problem doing the same thing, which is far better than some Frankenfood.
20
Reply to comment #7 by Boundless
BobM
January 29 2015
How do you prevent them from getting killed? Everyone I know who had chickens HAD them...meaning some animal (fox, etc.) killed them. Our property is large enough for chickens, but I can't see how they won't get killed after a while.

Reply: #21
21
Reply to comment #20 by BobM
Boundless
January 29 2015
> How do you prevent them [chickens] from getting killed?

They overnight in a secure chicken tractor (mobile hen house). 4-foot fences or 4-foot portable electric netting surround them during the day, with 1x1-inch poly netting overhead to keep the raptors off (and the raptors are by far the most pressing threat).

Coyotes, racoons, possums, skunks and foxes are kept at bay by a dog and the fences primarily.
22
Daci
January 29 2015
Well I eat eggs several times a week,sometimes two,sometimes more.
I've been reading about those fake eggs for quite some time. I always look at as the faker the product,the bigger the profits.
23
eric
January 30 2015
What is the point?

We have lots of grass

Can supply the cows, chickens, sheep etcetera with pasture based healthy diets

Confined Area Feeding Operations are a 1950.s era bad idea.

Smart agriculture does and can supply a reasonable priced healthy animal based diet of meat, eggs, and dairy
24
Reply to comment #15 by janknitz
allie
December 26 2016
I have to comment on this - although I know this was ages ago that you posted.
I can only speak for myself, but I gave up meat and eggs because I did not want to contribute to animal suffering. The information of how these animals are kept and treated is easily accessible, and I would suggest to you that you look it up. I did, and it changed my views forever.
I did not give up meat because I didn't like the taste - enter meat and egg alternatives. Although, I wouldn't say that I 'work so hard' to get them? They are just the same as anything else you put in your grocery cart.
Also, animal agriculture horribly environmentally unfriendly (Cowspiracy is a quick watch if you are interested in knowing the facts). It is the opposite of sustainable.
25
Tim
December 27 2016
The wife would never let me make the cattle suffer...she had a lot of them named...
But I usually got the last laugh, because I ate 'em, or sold 'em to be eaten :-)

City people are a lot like cattle...follow along letting propagandists eat their mind...

Here's some real facts for you...
Peter Ballerstedt - Forage Agronomist - on the Ruminant Revolution! #LCHF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWQViyHRRxs
26
Sean
January 15 2018
36 eggs is a typo right? I assume you meant 3-6?!

Reply: #27
27
Reply to comment #26 by Sean
Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
January 15 2018
Hi Sean!

I think that was said a bit jokingly by Andreas. I would not recommend more than 25 eggs. ;-)

36 eggs is a typo right? I assume you meant 3-6?!

The quest for the eggless egg

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