Egg Yolks and Inflammation

I regularly consume my whole grass-fed, organic eggs and believe them to be a nearly perfect food and great protein source. Recently, however, I came across an article claiming they should be avoidedfor the most part -- the yolks of eggs that is, because they are very high in Arachidonic Acid, which causes inflammation. So now I'm concerned that I've actually been doing my hair a disservice by consuming the whole egg.

My question therefore is, does anyone know if the grass fed chicken's egg yolks are also high in Arachidonic Acid? I know that that variety tends to be much better for you due to the omega 3 content versus conventional, so I'm hoping the high Arachidonic Acid content is mainly a concern with traditional eggs and not organic (grass fed). I do not want to give up my yolks (which I feel are the most beneficial part of the egg).

johnt - Sure, they do contain Arachadonic acid. It's not all bad, we need some AA. It's practically an essential fatty acid, although it's not classified as such.

Grass-fed eggs also contain high Omega-3, which will dampen the negative effects of AA. Keep eating those eggs, they are the perfect food.

Eggs are one of the few foods where I noticed a profound difference in my health and feeling of well being. Dr Mercola has also wrote about the large difference in he's health since consuming eggs. Lecithin, EFA's , B-vitamins, so much good stuff in them. One aspect not often mentioned about eggs is their selenium content which I can get my full quota (200mcg) from just 4 yolks.

Ok, good information (and good news) about the eggs guys.

I can second Isaac.. I too have noticed the beneficial effects of eggs over the years.

In college I had little money (but lived very well I would say) and ate probably 7 or 8 eggs a day on average.. sometimes I would eat 7 or 8 eggs for lunch and then the same thing for dinner the same day. I think the bulk of my sustenance for days on end would come from eggs cooked on low heat in lots of butter, with olive oil sprinkled on at the end for flavor. Served with fresh tomatoes, cut-up brocolli spears, carrots and peanuts. That meal and the occasional chicken breast, spiced-up pork chop or cup of whey protein or wheat germ probably made up 90% of what I ate during my last two years of college. Whatever cravings I had for sweets I would just eat carrots and honey roasted peanuts (great value brand...go walmart haha).

I was healthy as an ox, old friends asked me if I joined a gym or where I was working out at. I did push ups, sit ups most nights and went for a hard run a couple days a week and that was it.

My buddies used to make fun of me for eating as many eggs as I did. Told me I was gonna get fat or have a heart attack.. I think my health might have been better than ever over that time. I got my blood tested a year or so after I started eating so many eggs. Even by conventional medical standards I was in good shape - my cholesterol levels were good my doctor said. HDL to LDL ratio was excellent. Triglycerides low. Probably more importantly, I FELT good.. solid energy levels, little cravings and good body composition.

In the past couple months Ive started to get back to that sort of a diet (modified where necessary with all the stuff Ive learned about nutrtion from this forum) and workout routine and almost immediately I noticed an improvement.. plus Im saving a ton on groceries. Long story short.. eat as many eggs as you can

Project: JS - Great story. Funny how dogma pollutes the minds of so many. Cholesterol is a super food and isn't the culprit in heart disease.

There's an actor in the movie, the pianist. I didn't see it, but I heard he was told to lose weight for the movie, so he ate only eggs to lose it.

I notice good effects from eating eggs as well, does anyone have a recommendation for a good egg protien?

www.proteinfactory.com has very high-quality egg proteins. I've bought before, I think 10 lb. bag of Egg White and Egg Yolk protein. Can have it mixed too--totally custom at that site.

What about the high cholesterol content of the egg yolks? According to nutritiondata.self.com, each egg yolk contains approximately 71% of the RDA for cholesterol. I understand that we've all been dosed by the "low cholesterol, low saturated fat" propaganda, but surely there's a problem with too much dietary cholesterol/saturated fat?

-MP