More Egg Facts

Eggs contain very little saturated fat (1.5 grams per large egg) and no trans fat. A medium egg contains about 63 calories and a large about 74 calories.

The nutrients in eggs can play a role in weight management, muscle strength, healthy pregnancy, brain function, eye health, and more.

Egg yolks are a great source of choline, an essential nutrient. Two eggs provide about 250 milligrams of choline. Choline also aids the brain function by maintaining the structure of brain cell membranes, and is a key component of the neuro-transmitter that helps relay messages from the brain through nerves to the muscles.

Lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants found in egg yolks, help prevent macular degeneration, a leading cause of age-related blindness and may even reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Eggs have the highest nutritional quality protein of all food sources. Protein is a source of energy, but its main role in the body is growth and repair. It helps in the formation of muscles, hair, nails, skin and organs, such as the heart, kidneys and liver.

Vitamins and minerals in eggs include:
Biotin - helps cell metabolism and the utilization of fats, proteins and carbohydrates
Calcium - for building and maintain bones and teeth
Cephalin - a phosphorus-containing lipid found in tissues
Folate - for growth
Iodine - to ensure proper function of the thyroid gland
Iron - to produce hemoglobin, which carries oxygen around our bodies maintenance of healthy cells
Lecithin - contains acetylcholine which has been proven to help brain function
Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5 ) - releases energy from our food for our body to use
Phosphorous - helps build strong bones and teeth
Selenium - antioxidant that protects our body and immune system
Thiamine - to turn carbohydrates into energy our body can use
Vitamin A (retinal) - for growth and eye health
Vitamin B12 (riboflavin) - for brain and nervous system functions and blood formation
Vitamin D - important in bone health.
Vitamin E - antioxidant to protect our bodies against disease
Zinc - helps in growth, wound healing, blood formation and maintenance of tissues.

Eliminating eggs from your diet because you are concerned about cholesterol is of no value and you lose the dietary benefits. Harvard Medical School and Mayo clinic agree that even though yolks contain cholesterol, very little of it actually makes it into your bloodstream, where it matters.

Nuts to Food Allergies

Food allergies are less common in underdeveloped countries. Proponents of the hygiene hypothesis say that the relatively low incidence of childhood infections in developed countries contributes to an increased incidence of allergic diseases.

Harvard Medical School asserts that recent increases in peanut allergies, and the measures taken in response, show elements of mass psychogenic illness - hysterical reactions grossly out of proportion to the level of danger.

Only 150 people (children and adults) die each year in the US from all food allergies combined. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officially documents 13 deaths (including six adults) due to peanuts between 1996 and 2006. Peanuts are legumes, not true nuts.

Four percent of adults and four percent of children have food allergies. Less than one percent (0.6) of people in the US have a peanut allergy. In France, the rate of peanut allergy is between .3 percent and .75 percent, Denmark is .2 to .4 percent; and Israel about .04 percent.

The exact cause of someone developing a peanut allergy is unknown.

Smelling the aroma of peanuts cannot cause an allergic reaction.

Highly refined peanut oil is purified, refined, bleached, and deodorized, which removes the allergic proteins from the oil.

A recent study showed 26.6% of children with a peanut or tree nut allergy outgrew their allergies, at an average age of 5.4 years old. Black children were less likely to outgrow their allergy than white children and boys were more likely to outgrow their allergy than girls.

The American Academy of Pediatrics used to instruct parents to avoid peanut use until their kids reached age 3, but that has been rescinded. A British study has found that consuming peanuts in infancy lowers the risk that a child will develop peanut allergies.

Headlines most often ignore that people who are allergic to peanuts are also often allergic to one or more tree nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, pistachios, etc.).

A new study shows increased peanut consumption by pregnant mothers who were not nut allergic was associated with lower risk of peanut allergy in their offspring.

Reverse Aging

One cause of the physical degeneration associated with aging involves telomeres, which are segments of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, its telomeres get shorter, and once a cell runs out of telomeres, it can't reproduce anymore and dies. There is an enzyme called telomerase that reverses this process and it is one of the reasons cancer cells live so long.

In November, 2010, researchers at Harvard Medical School announced in Nature that they had administered telomerase to a group of mice suffering from age-related degeneration. The damage went away and the mice didn't just get better; they got younger. Proponents of the Singularity see this as just a natural progression and predict that aging is just another problem that can be overcome, likely in the next twenty to thirty years. I agree.