janes (12/06/82)
I recently had a discussion about the nutritional value of eggs, and
determining what constituted a good egg. Here is what I found out:
Eggs are best as fresh as possible, but if it's younger than 3 days,
it may be difficult to peel hard boiled, and they sometimes fail to
beat up to a proper volume. If you buy them from a supermarket, the
youngest you are likely to get them is 10-12 days, for grade AA. Do
not get grade B. One test for freshness is to place the egg in a
bowl of water. Those eggs that float are not useable. The reason for
this is that the shell is porous (so the chick embryo can breathe), and
with age air (and odours) seep in, increasing the size of the air
pocket to the size of a dime by 8 days, to the size of a penny by two
weeks. Get only refrigerated eggs, as eggs lose more quality in a day
at room temperature than a week in a fridge.
Get eggs from free running hens, as they are probably healthier.
Eggs from grain fed hens (as opposed to chemically fed) are richer in
flavour, and likely have less chemical residue.
It doesn't matter if the shell is white or brown, but according to the
Joy of Cooking, the shell should not be shiney.
If you find a small dark fleck in the egg, thats ok, it means the egg
was fertilized.
About the content and nutritional value of the egg, it looks like the
egg is natures nearly perfect food, better than milk (have eggs instead).
An egg contains 6 grams of high quality protein, and will give you all
the vitamins but for vitamin C (which I believe is because man, alone
in the animal kingdom, cannot synthesize it, so chicks don't need it).
The yolk contains carotene (which is converted to vitamin A), and the
deeper the yolk, the more of it, as well as a number of minerals, the
most abundant of which are iron and phosphorus. Calcium is almost
totally absent (eat the shell if you're desperate). The yolk also
contains 35% fat and 50% water. The whites contain over 10 different
proteins (some are antibiotic) and some vitamins, including vitamin B
complex riboflavin (which gives the whites a yellow-greenish tinge).
The yolks are 87% water.
How bout a group called net.cooks.eggs? (just kidding)
References: Joy of Cooking, Making of a Cook (Kamman), and the
Supermarket Book.
Rob Janes
utzoo!utcsstat!janesheliotis@sri-unix (12/08/82)
No mention was made of cholesterol. I eat 1-2 eggs per day on the average, and
I am occasionally concerned about this. All I know is that my blood pressure
has always been excellent. Does anyone have some hard, up-to-date facts, or
personal experiences with the effects of cholesterol from eggs?
A Cornell agriculture student ("aggie") told me that uncooked egg-white helps
break down the cholesterol in the yolk.
Jim Heliotisvax1:fmd (12/10/82)
Regarding the 1-to-2-egg-per-day user and chlorestorol: There has been infomation published recently which seems to indicate that regular exercise aids a body in being less susceptible to chlorestorol problems. Amy Heidner decvax!microsoft!fluke!amyh
vax2:ron (12/10/82)
Theories on cholesterol consumption are very much in flux. Your own liver produces 800+ mg. per day. (Thus there is no dietary *requirement*.) There appears to be little correlation between serum levels and dietary intake. Much more important factors seem to be: dietary fiber (more fiber moves everything through your central plumbing faster, so you absorb less); regular exercise (keeps your blood moving, keeps heart strong, and raises your level of high-density lipoproteins [HDL's] which "scientists" now think may act like scavengers for cholesterol in your blood, keeping the overall level down); and other junk in the diet, including saturated fats (animal fat, butter fat, coconut oil) and sugar (one theory is that nutrients used up to metabolize sugar would otherwise have been used in the *normal* metabolism of cholesterol). Raw egg whites do not seem to have anything to affect cholesterol. (In fact they do have high levels of avidavin, a protien that destroys the vitamin biotin, so don't go nuts eating *raw* egg whites.) However, egg yolks have lecithin in them, and this seems to effectively emulsify cholesterol, keeping in suspension in fluids (e.g. your blood). Another extremely controversial theory is that eating extra lecithin can even remove deposited cholesterol... this is still unproven. Interestingly, cholesterol (and lecithin) are essential compounds in your metabolism... they are usedd in producing hormones and myelin sheaths. Perhaps the most important factor is your own genetic background. Certain people have a predisposition towards high levels, period.
jcwinterton (12/16/82)
Cholesterol is only a problem (according to my personal physician) if you have a certain metabolic deficiency. The problem is evidenced by accum- ulation of serum cholesterol above normal levels. This is determined by the appropriate blood studied. If your doctor hasn't told you to worry about cholesterol, then don't! John Winterton.
kathleen (12/17/82)
I would like a recipe for a cookie that looks like a mushroom. To keep the cookie together, you use chocolate frosting between the stem and the cap. Any recipes appreciated prior to 12/22/82. Thanks K. S. Romanowski ihuxw tty22 IX 55634 1G-367