Diet/Nutrition Myths: Eggs, Egg Whites, High Cholesterol, and A Healthy Diet

In the vastly spanning arena of publicly-circulated diet, health, and nutrition myths, eggs really--sorry, I can't resist--take a beating. People believe eggs are an unhealthy diet choice, that eggs will give them high cholesterol, ultimately that eggs should be drastically limited in or omitted from a healthy diet. None of this is true, yet most people unhesitatingly repeat such nutrition misinformation.

It's classic rumor-mill syndrome, and it penetrates all areas of diet, health, and nutrition information. Don't believe me? Certainly the greatest example is the mass delusion that Vitamin C will help with a cold. That was an unfounded conjecture--rejected from the beginning by the medical and nutrition communities--made 40 years ago by chemist Linus Pauling. Despite two Nobel Prizes (Chemistry and Peace), he has always been considered, in academic circles, a nutrition quack. His Vitamin C claim has yet to be supported by any evidence, and has actually been refuted by many tests. Pauling also said a large quantity of Vitamin C in the diet has profound benefits for preventing and treating cancer. Ironically, despite his and his wife's long-term heavy regimen, she died of stomach cancer and he of prostate cancer that metastasized to his liver. Yes, nutrition lies lead amazing lives.

But back to eggs... like a yolk from its albumen (whites), let's separate eggs fact from eggs fiction. What a perfect segue into...

EGGS NUTRITION MYTH #1: Eating egg whites rather than whole eggs is the healthy diet alternative.

The nutritional value of egg whites is practically nil. The whites have about half an egg's protein content, yes, and almost all of its sodium. That's pretty much it, barring trace amounts of other nutrients. The healthiest diet, of course, operates by maximizing nutrition value with every bite. In this sense of nutrition, albumen is fairly pointless, particularly when contrasted with egg yolks.