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Does cooking egg yolks oxidize the cholesterol and make it damaging to the body, as is commonly believed?
Eggs seem to be one of those foods that many people seem perpetually confused about, for a variety of reasons.
On the one hand, you have the egg white omelet-eating folks who believe that egg yolks should be avoided as they are loaded with cholesterol and fat.
This nutritional myth persists despite multiple studies showing that the beneficial cholesterol in eggs does not contribute to cardiovascular disease, even in those with Type 2 diabetes who eat 12 or more 12 eggs per week. (1)
Eat those whole chicken, goose, or duck eggs and enjoy my friends…and don’t be throwing those precious yolks away!
Egg substitutes like Egg Beaters are the truly dangerous foods to avoid!
Does Cooking Egg Yolks Damage Them?
What about the notion that breaking the integrity of the egg yolk, as would happen during cooking, baking, or scrambling, oxidizes the cholesterol, turning it “bad”?
This is also a myth.
Sadly, this incorrect perception causes more than a few folks to avoid eggs in dishes that would be perfectly healthy to include them in.
Having a fear of scrambling or whipping eggs into baked goods is a shame.
Eating lots of eggs in as many ways as possible is a good dietary practice, given that eggs are one of the highest sources of immunity-boosting sulfur that many today are deficient in.
The True Source of Oxidized Cholesterol
What actually does cause cholesterol in foods like egg yolks to oxidize?
It’s not simple cooking, baking, or scrambling like what happens in our humble kitchens!
The real egg processing villain is commercial processing when eggs are forced through tiny holes at obscenely high temperatures and pressures in factories to powderize them for use in a variety of processed foods! (2)
This process is called extrusion, and it is completely denaturing to the cholesterol in all foods, not just eggs.
Incidentally, extrusion also negatively affects proteins, which is why factory processing is so damaging to cereal grains and the top reason to avoid any brand of boxed cereals, even if organic!
How to Best Eat Your Eggs
The bottom line is this: just eat your eggs!
Eat them however you enjoy them best, be it sunny side up, over easy, or scrambled.
You can even eat eggs that have a blood or “meat” spot!
Yolks do not need to be consumed raw and intact to be healthy, although eating them this way is fine if the eggs are high quality.
Most notably, raw egg yolks contain the Wulzen “anti-stiffness” Factor.
One caveat on consuming raw eggs…
According to Dr. Chris Masterjohn, an expert on the subject, raw egg whites have the following problems:
They contain inhibitors of the digestive enzyme trypsin, which are destroyed by heat. Consuming 100 grams of raw egg white with one egg yolk compared to consuming the same food cooked was shown in one study to reduce protein digestion from 90 percent down to 50 percent.
Raw egg whites also contain an anti-nutrient called avidin. Avidin is a glycoprotein that binds to the B vitamin biotin, preventing its absorption. Biotin is necessary for fatty acid synthesis and the maintenance of blood sugar, and is especially important during pregnancy when biotin status declines. (3, 4)
The next time a modern notion claims that a traditional practice, such as eating a simple bowl of scrambled eggs, is dangerous, think about what your Great Grandparents ate.
If they scrambled their eggs, chances are good that you can safely do the same!
(1) Effect of a high-egg diet on cardiometabolic risk factors
(2) FAQ-Miscellaneous Food Questions
(3) Digestibility of Cooked and Raw Egg Protein in Humans as Assessed by Stable Isotope Techniques
(4) The Incredible, Edible Egg Yolk
More Information
Cardiologist Speaks Out Against Low Cholesterol
The High Risks of Low Cholesterol
Cholesterol Myths to Wise Up About
Hi, thank you for your post. Do you know what min. temperature would jeopardize oxidizing eggs? Also, I have severe indigestion trying to digest meat seemingly due to all of the sulfur and my history of H2S SIBO and gastritis and a sulfurous oral infection. Do you think eggs are even worth trying if you were in my shoes maybe since eggs may have more antibacterial properties than many meats?
Cooking eggs at home does not oxidize them. Prepare them however you like!
The Bible teaches that an egg is a good gift. Luke 11: 12-13
Yes, and it would be even better if eggs were actually healthy. Unfortunately, they are not, and even the USDA (which has many egg and dairy lobbyist in their midst) tells producers that they cannot claim any health benefits of eggs. Still, I am also interested in debunking the myth that you can avoid the cholesterol in egg yolk by the way you prepare the eggs, as I know two people who use this belief to rationalize their consumption of eggs.
Ummmm, eggs are incredibly healthy my friend. Seems your thinking on the subject is stuck in the 1970’s … the so called “danger” of eating eggs has been long debunked over the last 10 years.
It seems Siegfried Verheijke has been brainwashed by the mainstream narrative, eggs are the healthiest thing one can consume on this planet. if everybody switched to the egg diet the pharmaceutical company’s would cease to exist and that my friend is why they don’t want you to consume eggs and put scary labels on them. eat those eggs your body will thank you!
It would be helpful to know what research that is. Do you have links? Thanks.
Is there no proof that scrambling eggs DOESN T oxidize cholesterol It would be great to have proof independent of faith-based claims. Hopefully there are sources somewhere….
New research concludes that fats are oxidized right above the boiling of water which is at 220 degrees fahrenheit. The best way to cook eggs is to hard boil them or steam them.
Do you have any study to show that cholesterol is not oxidized by cooking?
According to Dr. Mary Enig, the legendary food scientist who is responsible for blowing the lid off the flawed research against butter in favor of factory made vegetable oils, cooking DOES NOT oxidize the cholesterol in egg yolks. ONLY commercial processing oxidizes cholesterol when the eggs are forced out of a tiny hole at high temperatures AND pressure. No official studies that I know of, but her conclusion from her research is highly credible.