I am looking to change up the protein choices in my diet a little. I am considering egg beaters. Are these as good as true egg whites?
Any reasons not to eat egg beaters?
Is there an argument of ‘processed vs real food’ here?
What’s wrong with organic or free roaming chicken based eggs? They’re much better. Don’t be afraid of yolk as it’s loaded with nutrients. Cholestol is actually good for you despite what those so called “experts” are saying.
Tungsten is 100% correct!
I’ll second what tungsten said. Egg beaters are definately a processed food. you’re not getting GOOD eggs with them, you’re getting the cheapest eggs the company can find. they’re also pastuerized, i believe. definately NOT on my shopping list. for variety, you could try cooking your eggs new ways or having them in smoothies (you can eat them raw if you get some good ones). one of my favorites is a coconut milk smoothie with berries, eggs and cocoa powder with stevia…
I like egg beaters, easier to make when your on the go in the morning
I used to by egg beaters and I liked them. However, I found that If I took 1 or 2 whole eggs and then added 4-6 egg whites the taste was about the same.
It’s cheaper for one. And two, you get some of the good cholesterol, fats, and minerals.
I don’t get into the whole free range thing. To me an egg is an egg. Now if I was eating eggs more than once a day I might change my views.
It’s like eating salmon out of lake Michigan. They say not to eat too much because of the PCBs and heavy metals. However, if you trim the fish up pretty good you eliminate a lot of the harmful stuff.
Eggs are good. Just eat’em!
Yeah, eat the whole eggs.
They are extremely nutritious. In particular they contain lecithin, which is a fat emulsifier that helps you metabolize the fat and cholesterol in the eggs. Lecithin is a very good thing. Maybe it’s still present in the Egg Beaters, but whole eggs are a great, healthy fat and protein source. I sure wouldn’t replace them with processed psuedo-food.
Keep in mind that the “experts” who would have us believe whole eggs are bad are the same jackasses that tried to tell us that low fat intake equals low body fat and margarine is healthier than butter and animal fats…
Nick
If you can find Omega eggs pick some up! I usually use about 2-3 whole Omega eggs and then throw in 3-4 whites from cheaper eggs. They are more expensive which is why I get the whites from the cheap eggs. They are from chickens that are fed flax meal. They taste pretty good too.
Overall, there’s probably nothing wrong with Egg Beaters from a protein standpoint. The downside to them is you need an entire carton to get a decent amount of protein and they are relatively expensive.
I’m no expert, but I like Egg-Beaters. I get 'em by the case at GFS, you pay like $3.50/qt which equates to 15 whole eggs.
I hear the whole vs processed argument, but…I guess I’m kind of a 7 healthy habits kinda guy…this seems more like a minutae kind of thing…
For me, the convenience of Egg-Beaters means I more consistently use them, means I more consistently eat clean, means I more consistently make progress toward my goals.
Yeah, I hear the fact that an organic egg is probably healthier for you than Egg Beaters.
A large egg also has 210 mg Cholesterol. I don’t know of any studies showing the benifits of high cholesterol.
Whenever you can eat whole natural foods you are doing yourself a greater favor than you can ever imagine!
Especially if you want to be training 20 and 30 years from now. Sick people don’t train-Dead people don’t train. You only gain muscle when you are healthy.
To many on this forum forget this fact.
Here is my take on it. I think eating omega-3 eggs is the way to go but… to get a decent amount of protein you are looking at basically a dozen eggs and sure, don’t worry about the fat cholesterol but that is still 50g of fat that I’d rather spend somewhere else. I normally end up throwing two-four eggs (depending on if it is a PC or PF meal) in with a carton of egg whites. Yes, it would be cheaper to buy a dozen eggs and shack 'em for the whites, but I don’t have time to shack a dozen eggs a day, and it is hella inconvenient when you are cooking, because you have to get them done fast or your eggs cook funny. I’d swap the egg beaters for real eggs and a carton of egg whites if I were you 
Zeb,
I hear the whole food arguement and I agree with it- but high cholesterol and heart attacks kill.
Variety is actually JB’s idea back in issue 210. Maybe, I’ll try a few eggs, in addition to fish to get a variety of protein. Gotta eat more than chicken…
Atreides, studies whatever, if you want to go by studies, the studies have shown that your body makes 80% or so of the cholesterol it needs, so eat as much as you want. you’re not going to affect your blood cholesterol levels (if indeed you still worry about that). cholesterol is like the fireman at a fire, it’s a repair mechanism for the body, send the firemen away and the fire will rage on…
also, something for everyone who watches TV… read the fine print on the cholesterol lowering drug commercials, EVEN THEY concede that their drugs don’t reduce your chance of a heart attack!!! so, i may ask, what is the use in trying to lower your cholesterol? to get cancer? to have muscle pain? to lose your memory? hmmm… sounds like diseases they can treat with other drugs.
i’m not gonna hijack this thread with the same old cholesterol is bad crap. it’s an old topic as far as i’m concerned 
if anyone is new around here and wants cholesterol links, let me know… i’ll pass them on. in the meantime, enjoy your eggs, in whatever form you can get them. it’s way better than tossing back a protein bar cuz you’re too lazy to cook eggs.
Yeah, trying to reduce cholesterol level actually does more harm than good. those “experts” got the studies badly screwed up. Everybody needs to read this book called The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskv, MD, PhD. It’ll show you what really happened with those studies that those “experts” used to show that cholestrol was bad for you but the reality is that it turned out to be a nonfactor. They smudged the facts and rephrased some statements. Alot of those studies were funded by big food businesses such as soy, vegetable oils, pharm companies and others. It’s all politics and money. Unless we straighten things out, there’s so much money to be made and they’ll spend millions and millions to keep the actual facts under the rug to keep making money off unsuspecting masses. It’s really sad. FDA supports those big businesses and their job is to protect our health! That’s why i don’t trust FDA to do anything ethical. FDA is trying to shut down prohormone businesses. I think it’s because those pharm companies sees huge money to be made in this area and want to take over. They’ll probably twist facts around and call them “drugs” rather than supplement. Who knows??
a point of interest here:
my egg beater carton reads “99% real eggs”
what’s the other 1% made out of? Could be anything, who knows? what does the ingredient list show??
Hey, there, Atreides!!! Long time, no speak. (grin)
Dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol you eat in eggs, meat, etc.) does not affect your cholesterol numbers as much as you might think.
There is a study going on in Framingham, Massachusetts, that’s gone on for over 50 years. So we’re talking long term! In that study the average serum concentration of cholesterol for men and women with higher than average cholesterol intake was found to be 237 and 245 mg/dl respectively. Subjects with lower than average intakes were found to be 237 and 241 mg/dl. The difference is “statistically insignificant.” In other words, according to the study, how much cholesterol you eat has nothing to do with how much cholesterol is in your blood.
One of the things I’ve always found interesting is that when you increase your dietary intake of cholesterol, the liver makes less. And when you lower your dietary intake of cholesterol, the body makes more.
As it relates to heart health, there are a number of factors that are far more important than cholesterol when it comes to predicting morbidity. That’s not an excuse to go out and eat all the bad fat you want because fat still has more than twice the calories of protein or carbs. But some cholesterol is essential to health, and JB recommends that roughly 33% of your fat intake is saturated fat, 33% monounsaturated and 33% polyunsaturated.
My vote? Decide on how much fat you want to allow yourself for the meal in question. Eat as many whole eggs as it takes to hit your fat numbers. (EPA/DHA eggs are definitely the best!) Add egg whites (from real eggs or the kind you can buy in a container) to hit your protein numbers. You’re set.
If you’re reading JB’s writings on the subject, you’re pretty safe. JB does a nice job of balancing convenience and practicality with good, wholesome food.
Atreides, one question, though. Do you currently have a problem with (too) high cholesterol levels? If you do, there are some nutritional recommendations I could make in that regard.
Just a quick aside about free-range chicken… It may have no pesticides, hormones, etc., but all that means is that the door to the giant cage is open, there is no certainty that they roam around. Organic is the way to go, if the budget allows.
Wow, this has been some great feedback. Thanks to everyone.
Actually JB answered this very question last week in his article Kitchen I. He stocks 2 dozen omega 3 eggs. Good enough for me. I know of a local store that should stock them. I’ll give them a try.
Terry, thanks for stopping by. My cholesterol was much higher 3 years ago. Two years of eating clean and with some excercise led to a drop of 100 points. I get it checked once a year. Its doing just fine with diet and excercise- who’da thunk it?