Eggs are a favorite for many people, especially for vegetarians. Without the supply of meat, consuming eggs provides the body with necessary nutrients such as high-quality proteins, various vitamins, minerals, and more.
However, when it comes to eggs, the debate on whether they are good or bad for the liver is confusing for many. Many people are unsure and often end up consuming them incorrectly.
Especially for those who enjoy eating raw eggs, believing it to be the most nutritious way, setting aside the taste, in terms of nutrition, raw eggs are not significantly different from boiled eggs with a high retention rate. The major difference is that raw eggs can easily lead to food poisoning.
Various tests have shown that raw eggs contain pathogenic bacteria like Salmonella, and overconsumption can result in symptoms like diarrhea, bloating, abdominal pain, indigestion, and other gastrointestinal discomfort.
Moreover, in terms of nutritional value, raw eggs contain a component called trypsin inhibitor which inhibits the intestinal absorption of protein for those seeking high-quality protein from eggs. Consuming raw eggs can negatively impact the protein absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.
Additionally, as the liver is the largest digestive gland in the human body, the consumption of raw eggs undoubtedly increases the metabolic burden, which is detrimental to liver health. Similarly, some people opt to pour boiling water over eggs, thinking it can eliminate bacteria present in the eggs.
However, Salmonella in eggs becomes inactive at 71 degrees Celsius, and just using boiling water cannot ensure this temperature, therefore it does not effectively deactivate the pathogenic bacteria. It’s essential to have the correct understanding.
Therefore, consuming raw eggs can indeed burden the liver, but when eggs are cooked, it can be beneficial for liver health. Eggs are rich in carbohydrates, high-quality proteins, various vitamins, and trace elements. Concerning the egg yolk, it contains essential nutrients like lecithin, vitamin A, beta-carotene, etc., required by the body.
If you consume just one regular-sized egg per day, the cholesterol intake does not overly burden the liver and even aids in its physiological functions, so there’s no need to worry.
Furthermore, a study published in the medical journal “Heart” stated that daily consumption of no more than one egg is beneficial in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular diseases and mortality rates.
It was also found that egg intake is closely related to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Moderate egg consumption helps increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the blood, which is extremely beneficial for cardiovascular health.
Of course, the references are to cooked eggs, and boiled eggs with high nutrient retention are most suitable.
