Re: eggs do not block folate

[Guest guest]

I read on Mercola's website a while back that raw egg whites have a

substance called avidin I think which blocks biotin. That is why, at least

at the time, he recommended eating the yolks raw but cooking the whites.

Seems like a lot of work to me.

Irene

At 08:39 AM 12/12/2007, you wrote:

>

> >

> > Hey ,

> >

> > I didnt know that about folate and eggs, or about folate and

> > acidophilus, do you have any sites you can direct me to so I can read

> > more about that?

>

>==>Jecca, it isn't true that eggs block use of the folate in them!

>

>Bee

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> I read on Mercola's website a while back that raw egg whites have a

> substance called avidin I think which blocks biotin. That is why, at

least

> at the time, he recommended eating the yolks raw but cooking the

whites.

> Seems like a lot of work to me.

> Irene

==>Dr. Mercola has since written a retraction of his statements about

avidin blocking biotin, and rightly so. Look for a more recent article

on his site.

Bee

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the correction Bee. I'm glad they don't as that is one

less thing, then, I will have to worry about. " )

--- " Bee " <beeisbuzzing2003@...> wrote

>

> ==>Jecca, it isn't true that eggs block use of the folate in them!

[Guest guest]

>

> Thanks for the correction Bee. I'm glad they don't as that is one

> less thing, then, I will have to worry about. " )

Hi Jecca. Just so you know, Dr. Mercola does change his mind about

things from time to time, and I respect him for it. At least he lets

us know when he has been wrong about something.

However, Sally Fallon believes that egg whites have substances that

block protein digestion. I haven't seen proof of that, and my

friend, an Orthomolecular Physician in Australia and I agree that

animals in the wild don't stop to get rid of egg whites, and

obviously egg whites haven't caused them problems or they'd be sick

and possibly die out.

Sometimes science gets too scientific for my liking. Anyone can

isolate a substance in a food and prove that it is damaging in a

laboratory. But in the " real world " it isn't, and that is because it

is a whole food and it all works together. I do not believe in

maligning God-given foods that have been consumed for centuries and

kept the human-race going.

Bee

[Guest guest]

> ==>Dr. Mercola has since written a retraction of his statements about

> avidin blocking biotin, and rightly so. Look for a more recent

article

> on his site.

>

> Bee

>

Bee,

Can you point me to this article on Dr. Mercola's site? From the

article I read (Newsletter 611),his recommendation is to cook the egg

whites (but not the yolk) in contrast to newsletter 376 which suggested

eating egg whites. I also wanted to say that since good bacteria

produce biotin and since many of us that have Candida do not have good

intestinal flora, I would be reluctant to eat egg whites raw. I am

glad this topic has come up as I have been wondering about it for a

while. I realize the discovery of biotin by feeding raw egg whites to

rats was a bit problematic (I am not sure if the repeat experiemnt was

done using whole eggs - that would be intersting!). Can you please

clarify?

[Guest guest]

>> Bee,

>

> Can you point me to this article on Dr. Mercola's site? From the

> article I read (Newsletter 611),his recommendation is to cook the egg

whites (but not the yolk) in contrast to newsletter 376 which suggested

eating egg whites. I also wanted to say that since good bacteria

produce biotin and since many of us that have Candida do not have good

intestinal flora, I would be reluctant to eat egg whites raw. I am

glad this topic has come up as I have been wondering about it for a

while. I realize the discovery of biotin by feeding raw egg whites to

rats was a bit problematic (I am not sure if the repeat experiemnt was

> done using whole eggs - that would be intersting!). Can you please

> clarify?

==>See Dr. Mercola's article " Important Update on Eating Raw Eggs " ;

http://www.mercola.com/2005/feb/9/raw_eggs.htm where he writes:

" Well folks, it is time for a major update on my recommendations for

eating raw eggs. First, before I review the update, I want to dispel

the common myth that raw eggs are bad for you. Most people fear them

because of the risk for salmonella contamination. If you are still

concerned about this please read my earlier article on raw eggs.

As part of that article I had stated that one should never consume raw

egg white alone without the yolks, as a component in them called avidin

binds to the B-vitamin biotin, potentially creating a deficiency in

your body. However, my position shifted when one consumed whole raw

eggs, both the yolk and the white together. <<<<Please Note!!!

One of my raw food mentors convinced me that there was more than enough

biotin in raw egg yolks to compensate for this problem, and I revised

my previous recommendation to say that eating whole raw eggs would not

pose a problem. This idea made sense to me as many wild animals consume

raw eggs with no apparent problems.

However, recently a subscriber, Dr. Sharma, PhD, who is a biochemist

with Bayer, contacted me about this issue. His investigation into the

matter revealed that there is not enough biotin in an egg yolk to bind

to all the avidin present in the raw whites. He found that 5.7 grams of

biotin are required to neutralize all the avidin found in the raw

whites of an average-sized egg. There are only about 25 micrograms --

or 25 millionths of a gram -- of biotin in an average egg yolk.

This is obviously not nearly enough to do the job. For this very

reason, controlled diets of ***only raw egg whites lead to severe

biotin deficiency.**** "

Bee

[Guest guest]

Bee, I had also read that if a person ate raw eggs(whites) daily your

biotin supply would be depleted in 5 months. I have found a few

references that stated eggs blocked the absorbtion of the folate in

them. I will try to relocate those articles and read them closely.

> >> Bee,

> >

> > Can you point me to this article on Dr. Mercola's site? From the

> > article I read (Newsletter 611),his recommendation is to cook the

egg

> whites (but not the yolk) in contrast to newsletter 376 which

suggested

> eating egg whites. I also wanted to say that since good bacteria

> produce biotin and since many of us that have Candida do not have

good

> intestinal flora, I would be reluctant to eat egg whites raw. I

am

> glad this topic has come up as I have been wondering about it for

a

> while. I realize the discovery of biotin by feeding raw egg

whites to

> rats was a bit problematic (I am not sure if the repeat experiemnt

was

> > done using whole eggs - that would be intersting!). Can you

please

> > clarify?

>

> ==>See Dr. Mercola's article " Important Update on Eating Raw Eggs " ;

> http://www.mercola.com/2005/feb/9/raw_eggs.htm where he writes:

>

> " Well folks, it is time for a major update on my recommendations

for

> eating raw eggs. First, before I review the update, I want to

dispel

> the common myth that raw eggs are bad for you. Most people fear

them

> because of the risk for salmonella contamination. If you are still

> concerned about this please read my earlier article on raw eggs.

>

> As part of that article I had stated that one should never consume

raw

> egg white alone without the yolks, as a component in them called

avidin

> binds to the B-vitamin biotin, potentially creating a deficiency in

> your body. However, my position shifted when one consumed whole raw

> eggs, both the yolk and the white together. <<<<Please Note!!!

>

> One of my raw food mentors convinced me that there was more than

enough

> biotin in raw egg yolks to compensate for this problem, and I

revised

> my previous recommendation to say that eating whole raw eggs would

not

> pose a problem. This idea made sense to me as many wild animals

consume

> raw eggs with no apparent problems.

>

> However, recently a subscriber, Dr. Sharma, PhD, who is a

biochemist

> with Bayer, contacted me about this issue. His investigation into

the

> matter revealed that there is not enough biotin in an egg yolk to

bind

> to all the avidin present in the raw whites. He found that 5.7

grams of

> biotin are required to neutralize all the avidin found in the raw

> whites of an average-sized egg. There are only about 25 micrograms -

-

> or 25 millionths of a gram -- of biotin in an average egg yolk.

>

> This is obviously not nearly enough to do the job. For this very

> reason, controlled diets of ***only raw egg whites lead to severe

> biotin deficiency.**** "

>

> Bee

>

[Guest guest]

>

> Bee, I had also read that if a person ate raw eggs(whites) daily

your

> biotin supply would be depleted in 5 months. I have found a few

> references that stated eggs blocked the absorbtion of the folate in

> them. I will try to relocate those articles and read them closely.

>

, the 5 month time frame rings a bell with me. I ate raw eggs

daily for about that length of time & am now having major skin

problems. My doctor initially suspected biotin deficiency and/or vit.

B deficiency. Tests came back ok, duh, but I'm now scrambling daily

eggs in butter. There's biotin in the raw yolks but maybe not enough

to offset the raw whites. Susie

[Guest guest]

Susie, I don't know about biotin deficiency tests but folate

deficiency tests don't always uncover a true folate deficiency.

> >

> > Bee, I had also read that if a person ate raw eggs(whites) daily

> your

> > biotin supply would be depleted in 5 months. I have found a few

> > references that stated eggs blocked the absorbtion of the folate

in

> > them. I will try to relocate those articles and read them

closely.

> >

>

> , the 5 month time frame rings a bell with me. I ate raw eggs

> daily for about that length of time & am now having major skin

> problems. My doctor initially suspected biotin deficiency and/or

vit.

> B deficiency. Tests came back ok, duh, but I'm now scrambling

daily

> eggs in butter. There's biotin in the raw yolks but maybe not

enough

> to offset the raw whites. Susie

>

[Guest guest]

>

> However, recently a subscriber, Dr. Sharma, PhD, who is a biochemist

> with Bayer, contacted me about this issue. His investigation into the

> matter revealed that there is not enough biotin in an egg yolk to bind

> to all the avidin present in the raw whites.

Hi Bee,

I may be missing something here but it sounds like this means there

WOULD be a problem with eating whole raw eggs as " there is not enough

biotin in an egg yolk to bind to all the avidin present in the raw

whites " . I eat 6 raw eggs a day so this is important for me to

understand. By the way, does adding hot water to the raw eggs (per

recipe) in the Bee drink change the structure of the raw white to

slightly cooked - and if so, does that help?

Thanks, Anita T.

[Guest guest]

> >

> > However, recently a subscriber, Dr. Sharma, PhD, who is a

biochemist

> > with Bayer, contacted me about this issue. His investigation into

the

> > matter revealed that there is not enough biotin in an egg yolk to

bind

> > to all the avidin present in the raw whites.

>

>

> Hi Bee,

> I may be missing something here but it sounds like this means there

> WOULD be a problem with eating whole raw eggs as " there is not

enough

> biotin in an egg yolk to bind to all the avidin present in the raw

> whites " . I eat 6 raw eggs a day so this is important for me to

> understand. By the way, does adding hot water to the raw eggs (per

> recipe) in the Bee drink change the structure of the raw white to

> slightly cooked - and if so, does that help?

> Thanks, Anita T.

==>Anita. You would need to follow this thread more closely, since I

wrote a reply to the above statements. Raw eggs do not cause a

biotin deficiency - do a message archive search to find out more of

what was written on this subject.

Bee