Thread: Biotin and eggs

Biotin is a water-soluble vitamin, generally classified as a B-complex vitamin.

What it can do for you.....

Ease muscle pain
Aid in keeping hair from turning grey
Help prevent baldness
Alleviate eczema and dermatitis

Deficiency.....

Impairment of fat metabolism
Unusual facial fat distribution
Exhaustion
Ecsema of face and body
Depression
Hallucination
Numbness and tingling of the extremities


Although biotin deficiency is very rare, the human requirement for dietary biotin has been demonstrated in two different situations: prolonged intravenous feeding without biotin supplementation and consumption of raw egg white for a prolonged period. Avidin is a protein found in egg white, which binds biotin and prevents its absorption. Cooking egg white denatures avidin, rendering it susceptible to digestion, and unable to prevent the absorption of dietary biotin.

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Now to mercola`s comments...................................

"Earlier this summer, I posted an article that suggested that one should not eat raw egg whites. This is the traditional nutritional dogma as raw egg whites contain a glycoprotein called avidin that is very effective at binding biotin, one of the B vitamins. The concern is that this can lead to a biotin deficiency. The simple solution is to cook the egg whites as this completely deactivates the avidin.

The problem is that it also completely deactivates nearly every other protein in the egg white."

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"When one heats the yolk, changes occur in the fragile elements that serve to support the vital life force within the egg. The egg yolk, in many ways, is not very different from your own cells. Once your temperature goes above 105 degrees you will start to suffer serious health problems. Similarly, heating the yolk above 105 degrees will also start to cause structural changes in many of the highly perishable components present in the yolk.

The most obvious one is cholesterol. The higher the yolk is heated, the more likely oxidation of cholesterol will occur. This is especially true when it is combined with egg white (as in scrambled eggs) because the iron present in the white will further oxidize the cholesterol. Our blood vessels do not have receptors for cholesterol, only for oxidized cholesterol. So, you can eat as many eggs as you like, without worrying about cholesterol, as long as you don't cook the yolks."

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He also deals with the biotin issue.........

"Egg yolks have one of the highest concentrations of biotin found in nature. So it is likely that you will not have a biotin deficiency if you consume the whole raw egg, yolk and white. It is also clear, however, that if you only consume raw egg whites, you are nearly guaranteed to develop a biotin deficiency unless you take a biotin supplement."


So, now I`m thinking why even include eggs in ones nutrition? I don`t really like the idea drinking 6 or 8 raw eggs in the morning, particularly including all the yolks, and it seems I`m losing most of the benifits of them by cooking. The yolks, unlike the whites are a fine growth medium for bacteria as well.....Salmonella, even if the risks are rather small.

ew, i could never eat a raw egg