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liamona · 06-30-2009, 06:46 AM

According to figures collected by CSPI in "Eating Green," from 1990 to 2003 vegetables and fruits caused more foodborne illnesses than eggs (I wonder if the figures would be much higher now if you added in all the problems with spinach and peppers in the past two years?):

# of foodborne illness outbreaks caused by vegetables and fruit: 529; eggs: 329

# of people sickened by vegetables and fruit: 28,108; by eggs: 10,849

I guess we ought to stop eating fruits and veggies! LOL.

Seriously though, eggs are too nutrient-dense a food to give up just because of the small risk of contamination. It's hard to think of any other food that contains so many good things nutritionally as what's in a single egg.

They contain varying amounts of most all vitamins and minerals, but are especially rich in vitamin A, almost all the Bs especially B2, B12 and folate; vitamin D, selenium, arachidonic acid, DHA, etc., etc.

It is a great source of choline. According to the "World's Healthiest Foods" website listing for eggs:

Although our bodies can produce some choline, we cannot make enough to make up for an inadequate supply in our diets, and choline deficiency can also cause deficiency of another B vitamin critically important for health, folic acid. Choline is definitely a nutrient needed in good supply for good health. Choline is a key component of many fat-containing structures in cell membranes, whose flexibility and integrity depend on adequate supplies of choline. Two fat-like molecules in the brain, phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, account for an unusually high percentage of the brain's total mass, so choline is particularly important for brain function and health.

In addition, choline is a highly important molecule in a cellular process called methylation. Many important chemical events in the body are made possible by methylation, in which methyl groups are transferred from one place to another. For example, genes in the body can be switched on or turned off in this way, and cells use methylation to send messages back and forth. Choline, which contains three methyl groups, is highly active in this process.

Choline is also a key component of acetylcholine. A neurotrasmitter that carries messages from and to nerves, acetylcholine is the body's primary chemical means of sending messages between nerves and muscles.

06-30-2009, 06:46 AM	#17 (permalink)
liamona Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 886	According to figures collected by CSPI in "Eating Green," from 1990 to 2003 vegetables and fruits caused more foodborne illnesses than eggs (I wonder if the figures would be much higher now if you added in all the problems with spinach and peppers in the past two years?): # of foodborne illness outbreaks caused by vegetables and fruit: 529; eggs: 329 # of people sickened by vegetables and fruit: 28,108; by eggs: 10,849 I guess we ought to stop eating fruits and veggies! LOL. Seriously though, eggs are too nutrient-dense a food to give up just because of the small risk of contamination. It's hard to think of any other food that contains so many good things nutritionally as what's in a single egg. They contain varying amounts of most all vitamins and minerals, but are especially rich in vitamin A, almost all the Bs especially B2, B12 and folate; vitamin D, selenium, arachidonic acid, DHA, etc., etc. It is a great source of choline. According to the "World's Healthiest Foods" website listing for eggs: Although our bodies can produce some choline, we cannot make enough to make up for an inadequate supply in our diets, and choline deficiency can also cause deficiency of another B vitamin critically important for health, folic acid. Choline is definitely a nutrient needed in good supply for good health. Choline is a key component of many fat-containing structures in cell membranes, whose flexibility and integrity depend on adequate supplies of choline. Two fat-like molecules in the brain, phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, account for an unusually high percentage of the brain's total mass, so choline is particularly important for brain function and health. In addition, choline is a highly important molecule in a cellular process called methylation. Many important chemical events in the body are made possible by methylation, in which methyl groups are transferred from one place to another. For example, genes in the body can be switched on or turned off in this way, and cells use methylation to send messages back and forth. Choline, which contains three methyl groups, is highly active in this process. Choline is also a key component of acetylcholine. A neurotrasmitter that carries messages from and to nerves, acetylcholine is the body's primary chemical means of sending messages between nerves and muscles.