Short Essay 5 Shiffrin

EGGS

            It is well known that eggs are one of the most popular breakfast foods in the country and throughout the world. Tens of millions of eggs are eaten every single day across the globe. This may make one wonder what the health implications are of eating avian eggs, of course not every single egg eaten is avian, but it is such an overwhelming majority that it is inconsequential to consider the rarity of other types of eggs eaten. I know that I personal began to question the health implications of eating eggs around the age of 14. This was a topic of health in relation to eggs was brought to my attention by my parents largely in part due to the fact that I ate an inordinate number of eggs every week and every day. My parents became concerned with the possibility of me building unhealthy levels of bad cholesterol as a result of the obscene number of eggs I ate routinely. My father, a doctor, spent tireless hours speaking with and consulting his peers and nutritionists about the effects eggs could have on one’s health if eaten in large quantities. He received many mixed opinions from many different sources almost all of who were highly credible sources of information. As my parents like to play on the safer side of the fence that instructed me to stop consuming so many eggs just to be sure I wouldn’t develop some sort of egg related condition. It was if they thought I was going to sprout wings and feathers. To their credit I probably was eating eggs in an unhealthy quantity, as it is a popular rule of thumb that consuming too much of anything is detrimental to one’s health. Just to provide a backdrop, I was eating about 6 eggs everyday. That amounts to 35 eggs a week and 2,190 eggs a year. I would crack a joke about needing my own chicken coup to supply me with eggs, but I actually owned a chicken coup that supplied me with my own eggs. I estimate that I have consumed 24,000 eggs in my life so far.

            To this day I have continued eating this many eggs in addition to my uncharacteristically large appetite in proportion to my body size. Yet I have dealt with multiple blood tests all of which have indicated that I am healthy and need not be concerned about my cholesterol levels. I can speculate that I have remained healthy because though I may eat an extraordinary number of eggs I balance the scales with eating a proportional quantity of other foods, which would match the 2000 calorie diet of the average person just multiplied by four times. Also largely accredit my health to how much energy I exert every day in workouts and in practice, which keeps me fit, strong and healthy as well.

            Up to this point I have never researched the nutritional health aspects of the avian egg myself. I have simply assumed that eggs were a good source of protein but that they also carried negative health factors as well such as cholesterol. Having now gathered my own research I have found that the newest studies prove that eggs are in fact a very healthy source of nutrients and that the healthier the chicken is raised the healthier the egg is to eat. Meaning that many of the nourishment received from eggs laid by healthy chicken is amplified and that the negative aspects are diminished because there is not usage of steroids or other unnaturally growth hormones. It is even stated that eggs have healthy therapeutic ramifications for many ailments such as cancer. As is mentioned in Advances in the Value of Eggs and Egg Components for Human Health “It is now well established that eggs contain numerous substances with potential and demonstrated therapeutic effects, beyond supplying basic nutritional requirements, with several of these already produced on an industrial scale for food or medical applications.” (Kovacs-Nolan, Philips, Mine)                      In conclusion I would say that regardless of previous beliefs about health aspects of the avian egg, that the eating eggs is indeed healthy and recommended. I know that I certainly will continue to eat eggs as a part of my daily selection of food.

Sources Cited:

Kovacs-Nolan, Jennifer, Marshall Phillips, and Yoshinori Mine. "Advances in the Value of Eggs and Egg Components for Human Health." Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 53.22 (2005): 8421-31. Print.