mercola on raw egg whites

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An excerpt from <A HREF= " http://www.mercola.com/2002/nov/13/eggs.htm " >Raw Eggs

for Your Health-Major Update 11/13/02</A> on

mercola.com

Revised Recommendations For Raw Egg Whites

Earlier this summer, I posted an article that suggested that one should not

eat raw egg whites. This is the traditional nutritional dogma as raw egg

whites contain a glycoprotein called avidin that is very effective at binding

biotin, one of the B vitamins. The concern is that this can lead to a biotin

deficiency. The simple solution is to cook the egg whites as this completely

deactivates the avidin.

The problem is that it also completely deactivates nearly every other protein

in the egg white. While you will still obtain nutritional benefits from

consuming cooked egg whites, from a nutritional perspective it would seem far

better to consume them uncooked.

Since making the recommendation in July, I have more carefully studied this

issue. Two groups brought me to back this: pet owners who feed their pets raw

foods and Aajonus Vonderplanitz, who wrote the raw food book <A

HREF= " http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1889356778/optimalwellnessc " >We

Want to Live</A>.

Both feel quite strongly that raw eggs are just fine to eat.

After my recent studies it became clear that the egg’s design carefully

compensated for this issue.

It put tons of biotin in the egg yolk. Egg yolks have one of the highest

concentrations of biotin found in nature. So it is likely that you will not

have a biotin deficiency if you consume the whole raw egg, yolk and white. It

is also clear, however, that if you only consume raw egg whites, you are

nearly guaranteed to develop a biotin deficiency unless you take a biotin

supplement.

The following tables list the amounts of biotin in some common foods, as well

as recommended daily amounts:

Food Serving Biotin (mcg)

Liver, cooked 3 ounces* 27

Egg, cooked 1 large 25

Yeast, bakers active 1 packet (7 grams) 14

Wheat bran, crude 1 ounce 14

Bread, whole wheat 1 slice 6

Cheese, camembert 1 ounce 6

Avocado 1 whole 6

Salmon, cooked 3 ounces* 4

Cauliflower, raw 1 cup 4

Chicken, cooked 3 ounces* 3

Cheese, cheddar 1 ounce 2

Pork, cooked 3 ounces* 2

Raspberries 1 cup 2

Artichoke, cooked 1 medium 2

Adequate Intake (AI) for Biotin

Life Stage Age Males (mcg/day) Females (mcg/day)

Infants 0-6 months 5 5

Infants 7-12 months 6 6

Children 1-3 years 8 8

Children 4-8 years 12 12

Children 9-13 years 20 20

Adolescents 14-18 years 25 25

Adults 19 years and older 30 30

Pregnancy all ages - 30

Breastfeeding all ages - 35

There is a potential problem with using the entire raw egg if you are

pregnant. Biotin deficiency is a common concern in pregnancy and it is

possible that consuming whole raw eggs would make it worse.

If you are pregnant you have two options. The first is to actually measure

for a biotin deficiency. This is best done through urinary excretion of

3-hydroxyisovaleric acid (3-HIA), which increases as a result of the

decreased activity of the biotin-dependent enzyme methylcrotonyl-CoA

carboxylase.