You Have Some Eggsplaining To Do: Are Eggs Really As Bad As Smoking?

Once hailed as protein-rich miracles good for breakfast, lunch and dinner, eggs now seem to have fallen from grace. You have, no doubt, heard that eggs are bad for you. What you probably don't know is that one study went as far as to suggest they are as bad for you as cigarettes. What? Yes, really. 

With new scientific studies on the health dangers of almost all your favorite foods being published all the time, it can be hard deciding what's still safe to eat. Thankfully, the outcomes of these studies are rarely as straightforward as "avoid all food". (That would kill too, and pretty quickly!).

Are you wondering whether to embrace or shun the oval treat? You are not alone. 

Are Eggs Really As Bad As Cigarettes?

Researchers from Western University in Canada took a close look at the carotid arteries of over 1,200 patients, who were also quizzed about their lifestyle habits. In short, they found that aging, smoking, and eating egg yolks were all risk factors for an increase in arterial plaque. Eating eggs was found to have two thirds the effect of smoking. 

Should You Stay Away From Eggs?

The facts that eggs contain cholesterol and that cholesterol is linked to heart disease are both fairly well known. One single large egg can make up as much as a third of your recommended daily cholesterol intake, since it willl contain about 180 mg. Eggs are the largest source of cholesterol in the American diet, but you are probably not going to eat that egg all by itself. Most people think of eggs primarily as a breakfast food, and many see bacon as the perfect companion to that boiled, scrambled, or fried egg. 

The study mentioned above wasn't the only study conducted into the risks of egg consumption by any means, either. The Harvard Physicians Study was a much larger study that followed 20,000 doctors.Those doctors who ate at least one egg a day had a higher risk of all-cause mortality, implying that even an egg a day can take precious years off your life.

Eggs are also a source of salmonella poisoning. You really don't want a salmonella infection — it's the leading cause of food-poisoning related deaths in the US, but even "just" getting sick from such an infection is really unpleasant. Of course, there's no way to tell which eggs have been infected with salmonella bacteria. 

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But Eggs Aren't All Bad

If salmonella and cholesterol were all eggs contained, steering clear of them would pretty much be a no-brainer. Thankfully, there's plenty of other stuff in eggs besides cholesterol: protein, anti-oxidants, those "good" (unsaturated) fats that scientists keep telling you you need to prevent heart disease, vitamin E, and even omega-3 fatty acids, in the case of enriched eggs. 

Reasons To Still Eat Eggs

So, eggs have rather a few nurtients that you need, and they are also pretty cheap compared to most other forms of protein. Besides those small details, are there any other reasons to eat eggs despite the fact that they come with some health warnings?

If it makes you feel any better, you still need protein, and other dairy and fish were found to contain nasties like chemical pollutants, mercury, and PCBs — things eggs are free from. What's more, eating some cholesterol is fine. It's merely important not to exceed the recommended daily dose. 

And that salmonella? You can reduce the risk of getting that to pretty much zero by making sure any eggs you eat are well-cooked. It's not just the raw eggs many people like to put in their sports smoothies these days that can give you salmonella, it's also those lovely-soft boiled eggs with liquid yolks you like to dip bread soldiers into. Hard-boiled eggs may not be your favorite, but they do essentially eliminate your risk of food poisoning, which is a good thing. Besides that, make sure you keep your eggs in the fridge at all times.

(As a side note — do you know what else you can do to prevent salmonella poisoning? Not kiss your chickens and chicks. At the time of writing this article, a salmonella outbreak in the US has already infected 181 people, 86 percent of whom had repored cuddling, kissing and bringing their chickens into their homes. We know chicks are fluffy and yellow, but don't kiss them. Seriously.)

How To Eat Eggs Safely

Are you determined to keep eating eggs? That's OK. Just make sure you stick to some guidelines. In addition to making sure your eggs are cooked properly and you don't kiss chickens, simply limit your egg-intake to one egg a day. If you want more, then add only egg whites to your meal, rather than a whole egg. 

Also, skip that bacon. That bacon is going to damage your health a whole lot more than those eggs. What on Earth are you going to have your egg with instead? Actually, you have lots of different options. We like our single fried egg of the day on a nice slice of brown bread, along with cucumber, tomatoes, and some lovely cottage cheese (which also offers protein). Add some basil, dill, or whatever herb floats your boat along with some salt and pepper, and you're good to go. That's just one example though. Once you decide to skip your heart-attack-on-a-plate meal, a whole world of non-bacon foods opens up.

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Just remember that eggs are also "hidden" in numerous other foods, like cookies. And buy free-range organic eggs, not just because they contain more nutrients but also — very importantly — because they taste so much better, and because you know you're not indirectly paying people to be cruel to chickens.