Eggs – Are They All They’re Cracked Up to Be?

Do you remember those delicious days when you could eat fried eggs with a clear conscience? Then there was cholesterol. Over two hundred milligrams per egg. And Fat. Eggs became suspect–a thing suspended, hanging from the political consensus of the American Heart Association. Only three eggs a week, they affirmed. Meanwhile chickens, the plucky birds, were being adapted rapidly to the brave new world of the bottom line.

Formerly, chickens enjoyed the space and freedom of the countryside and the care of man. Their space and circumstances allowed fresh air to breathe and Whole grains to eat, plus whatever they could find in the environment. Their days ended near sundown and started early.

As the industrial revolution, automation, and agribusiness transformed the poultry and egg business, the environment for chickens has impacted their immune systems drastically. Space? It is down to about one square foot. Exercise? Nil. Nutrition? These chickens are force-fed food containing not only meat scraps and byproducts but also chicken or other animal wastes with drugs or antibiotics to preserve their lives a few months more, until they are no longer profitable for egg-laying and are sold for fried chicken, etc. Light? Ever notice the lights in chicken houses? They are left on excessively. Why? Much light for long hours pushes their hormones to push for more eggs. Side effects? This compromises the capacity of their immune systems to cope with viruses of many kind, and germs like Salmonella.

Salmonella Outbreaks

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Atlanta, Georgia, try to keep a tab on foodborne-disease outbreaks in America. Of 2,423 outbreaks of foodborne disease studied, and affecting more than 77,000 people, Salmonella was the most common cause of these problems. Quoting: “Salmonella serotype enteritidis accounted for the largest number of outbreaks, cases, and deaths, most of these outbreaks were attributed to eating undercooked, infected eggs.”¹⁾Bean NH, et al. Surveillance for foodborne-disease outbreaks-United States, 1988-1992 (abs). Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep Suiveill Summ45.1-66, 1996.

In March of 1998 Consumers Report blew the whistle on chickens and Salmonella, etc. They reported that 71% of nearly 1,000 chickens tested were contaminated with disease-causing germs. The chicken industry counter-attacked with claims that they had cleaned up their act. So Consumer´s Report retested: 400 fresh, whole sample chickens (the best) from around the United States of America. Results? Total contaminants, reported the October, 1998, issue of Consumers Report, pages 2627, were: 74% ! Remember, the previous was 71%. Some stores were a little better for Salmonella than others but worse for other disease-causing germs. So what is our verdict of the safety of American chickens? It is simple–what we have got is Salmonella roulette. With more drug-resistant strains spreading, it is currently plain presumption to tangle with chickens.

England, Wales, and Salmonella

More than 75% of the foodborne outbreaks in England are caused by Salmonella. Quoting: “The commonest vehicles implicated were poultry/eggs in 44 outbreaks,…” Cross contamination was common. “Raw shell eggs were implicated in a fifth of outbreaks.”²⁾Ryan MJ, et al. Risk factors for outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease linked to domestic catering (abs). Commun Dis Rep CDR REV 6. R179-83, 1996.

It is becoming obvious that chicken eggs are unclean. Look where they came from. Eggs, sunny-side up, should be relics of the past because of Salmonella enteritidis (SE). Some large restaurant chains won’t even offer undercooked eggs to their customers, and for good reason–it’s too risky. The Food Safety and Inspection Service of USDA estimated that 2.3 million shell eggs produced each year in the US. are infected with Salmonella, producing over 880,000 cases of severe infection. Each year hundreds of these people die. ³⁾Hoffert SP. Researchers Take Strides Against Salmonella. The Scientist 12 (15): 1, 14, 1998. But, unfortunately, the germ problems with eggs go way beyond Salmonella.

Eggs and Virus

Man’s greed to make more money–“let the buyer beware”–has ruined the whole poultry industry because recycled food means recycled virus. This fatal cycle would be bad enough if the chickens involved were cavorting in the fresh air and sunshine. No way. As mentioned, they are locked up in tiny cages through the wirescreen floor of which their manure drops and accumulates. By convection, natural heating in these piles lifts warm air, floating germs of all kinds into the immediate breathing environment of the caged chickens. So, modern chickens breathe virus, eat virus, and make virus because of their compromised immune systems. Results? More and more virus.

Why then is this not more obvious? Because the evidence is eaten up. When a hen is off production, she is sold for meat as quickly as possible. Since a whole chicken is worth more than chicken pieces, be supremely wary of chicken pieces. Visit a chicken-slaughtering factory… Enough! Another reason–viral damage is seldom noticeable because of routinely given drugs and antibiotics, and the fact that the turnover of the birds is so rapid that their viral diseases are not prominent.

Chicken Cancer

The United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 970 USDA details an ominous, vivid gallery of chicken cancers–cancer of the nerves (range paralysis), cancer of the liver and ovaries–cancer here, there, and almost everywhere. Clear back in 1911 Rous cornered a cancer virus that produces sarcomas. Campbell of England has a monograph called Tumours of the Fowl. He points out that cancer virus can even skip a generation so that grandmother chicken can get cancer, mother can look OK but granddaughter can come down with cancer from some tough cancer viruses. It is noteworthy that fragments of incriminating RNA from chickens can turn up widely in animals and even in man.⁴⁾Campbell JG. Tumours of the Fowl, JB Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1969, 292 pp

Four Main Kinds of Cancer Virus in Chickens

For many years the Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory of East Lansing, Michigan, has been trying to control cancer of American chickens. They report that there are four main kinds of cancer virus affecting chickens.⁵⁾Witter RL. Avian tumor viruses. persistent and evolving pathogens (abs). Acta Vet Hung 45:251-66, 1997. Marek’s disease virus (MDV) a herpesvirus, and Avian leukosis virus (ALV), reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), and lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV). These three are retroviruses, which means that they can sabotage DNA by means of powerful enzymes that cut, splice, and propagate cancer germ sub-particles to spread these viruses in chickens and turkeys.

The scientists developed a vaccine against MDV, the herpesvirus mentioned just above, and claimed that this chicken cancer virus was conquered. But time proved that this vaccine could not guarantee freedom from cancer. Now its failures are increasing and the virus is spreading to more and more hosts. New strains of ALV are emerging. Obviously the cancer problem of chickens and turkeys is worsening.

Warning from Tulane

We quote from a report of research done at Tulane University, “Healthy chickens or turkeys and their eggs destined for human consumption are commonly infected with viruses which cause cancer in these animals. some of the viruses can infect and transform [make cancerous] human cells in vitro [in an artificial environment outside the living body], and human sera show serological [in the blood] evidence of infection with these viruses.” Accordingly, this University team analyzed death rates of people who work in chicken disassembly factories, and would thus be exposed to these cancer viruses. Excess cancer death rates were found for esophagus, liver, hemopoietic-lymphatic (blood and lymph) systems in 2,600 younger poultry-slaughterhouse workers. The final, total results will be seen when they become elderly.⁶⁾ Johnson ES, et al. Mortality from cancer and other diseases in poultry slaughtering/processing plants (abs). Int J EpidemioI 26. 1142-50, 1997

Chicken Virus and Human Ets Genes

The first Ets gene family (genes involved in cell maturation) was discovered in chicken cancer E26. There are normal Ets genes and virally perverted genes such v-Ets. The latter genes, according to University of Pennsylvania research, not only can be involved in leukemia but also in Downs Syndrome patients, compromising their thymus and immune systems.⁷⁾Dhulipal PD. Ets oncogene family (abs), Int J EpidemioI 35:315-22, 1997.

Cancer of the Womb (Endometrium) and Eggs

The Cancer Research Center of the University of Hawaii has studied more than 300 cases of cancer of the endometrium (lining of the womb), comparing what the women ate with what diseases they got. Microscopically confirmed primary cancers were found in Japanese, Caucasian, native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Chinese women ranging from 18 to 84 years of age. There was a definite association between eating of red meat, margarine, and eggs, and developing cancer of the endometrium. Fortunately, on the protective side, the more cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits the women ate, the less of this common deadly cancer they got.⁸⁾Goodman MT, et al. Diet, body size physical activity, and the risk of endometrial cancer (abs). Cancer Research 57: 5077-85, 1997.

Colon Cancer and Eggs

More than 1,900 cases of cancer of the colon were compared to over 2,400 control people from the Kaiser Permanente system of Northern California, eight counties in Utah, and the Twin Cites area of Minnesota. Men who ate a diet higher in meats, poultry, fish, and eggs had a 50 percent increase in risk of getting cancer of the colon. Women who consumed the largest percentage of their food from plant foods (fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) were at reduced risk of developing colon cancer.⁹⁾Slattery ML, et a. Diet diversity, diet composition, and risk of colon cancer (United States) (abs). Cancer Causes Control 8: 872-82, 1997.

Harvard Finds a Door

From the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics of the Harvard Medical School comes the discovery that a cancer virus of chickens called ALV-E can use a “door protein” receptor called CAR1 to penetrate cells with its deadly presence. Human cells were used in this research, showing that the molecular details of cancer contagion in human beings are gradually being elucidated.¹⁰⁾ Adkins HB, et al. Identification of a cellular receptor for subgroup E avian leukosis virus (abs) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94: 11617-22, 1997.

Another group from Harvard has reported on an oncogene (cancer-causing gene) bearing on cancer from chickens, which is called v-maf.¹¹⁾It is a basic-leucine zipper transcription (b-ZIP) factor involved in promoting the expression of RNA for the cytoplasm from DNA of the nucleus. It belongs to the step in cancer formation that plays several important roles in perverting normal differentiation, the process of cells maturing to the adult stage.¹²⁾Blank V, Andrews NC. The Maf transcription factors: regulators of differentiation (abs). Trends Biochem Sci Nov 22 (11): 437-41, 1997. So another tile in the mosaic of chicken-related cancer is sliding into place.

Oxidized Cholesterol in Eggs

The most dangerous form of cholesterol is oxidized cholesterol. It is so powerful that in tissue culture of human coronary arteries it can kill human cells in eight hours. This is one way mushy plaques that can crack open, spilling clot-forming debris into the artery, are formed. This is a major cause of heart attacks. Eggs hidden in baked goods of all kinds can contain oxidized cholesterol. Also, even deviled, fried, and poached eggs can be sources of oxidized cholesterol and can add up, overburdening the body’s ability to cope. Especially of concern are older people who may already be headed for coronary trouble, hence to disaster. Most are totally unconscious of their danger.

Saturated Fat In Eggs

You could hardly expect chickens on their terrible diet of animal and chicken wastes, to produce healthy eggs. They don’t. Eggs are loaded with saturated fat. This is the kind of fat that pushes all the membranes of the brain, heart, arteries, and other tissues in the wrong direction. They also have comparatively little of the valuable unsaturated fat.

Formerly, eggs were considered a yardstick protein because lab animals would grow faster on eggs than almost anything else. Now, the science of gerontology tells us that the faster an organism grows and the bigger it becomes, the sooner it dies. Slower is better.

Eggs and Hormones

For some years health scientists have known that eggs promote earlier sexual development. At Loma Linda University a group tried this out and found that eggs did indeed push premature sexual development of animals. Interestingly, the health pioneer E.G. White wrote warnings to parents about the tendency of eggs to overstimulate the “lower nature” of children. Modern neuroendocrinology now knows that several brain regions related to the hypothalamus are located outside of the blood-brain barrier, and are vulnerable to irritants in the blood. Thus, eggs can imbalance brain hormones, which is a serious matter.

But not only can rich animal proteins overstimulate sexual hormonal development, they can compromise the ability of the pineal gland to produce normal amounts of Melatonin. This hormone is essential to slow down development of the lower centers of the brain.

Remember, as studied in northern Europe, young ladies there used to begin menstruating when they were 17 years of age. No more. We now know that the brighter and later the lights are on, the more the stress and excitement, and the richer the diet, the less melatonin is released and the sooner physical development takes place. This can imbalance maturity so that young people appear to be finished physically, but in actuality are quite immature mentally and spiritually.

It is well known in cancer studies that the sooner estrogen floods the tissues the greater is the risk for cancer of the breast in women. This is the number one cancer in non-smoking women. Eggs are a factor in this deadly equation.

Eggs and the Brain

We have already explained how the rich animal fat and protein of eggs tends to unbalance the hormonal regulation of the brain, producing premature menses.

One way this occurs is via the blood bathing the lower brain with a melange of animal byproducts. Not only is the endocrine glandular system stimulated by eggs, but this stimulation of the hypothalamus of the lower brain tends to overstimulate the lower nature of the person electronically–the balance of chemical and electronic power is shifted to the bottom of the brain instead of to the top. Just what is not needed today!

In the brain, the cortex is king. We think, solve problems, believe, hope, love unselfishly, and worship our Creator from the top of the brain. Not the bottom. Plain simple eating and living tend to excellence in thinking. Remember Daniel, the courageous, incorruptible statesman. Contrast his lifestyle to that of Nebuchadnezzar. Poor king, so full of luxurious food, wine, and power-he had to be put on a vegetarian program for seven years before his stiff-necked pride was humbled. Yes, he also had a talented guardian angel.

Finally he got on Daniel’s frequency, and testified in the whole fourth chapter of Daniel; ”Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase.” Daniel 4:37 To depress the top of the brain with alcohol and to stimulate the bottom of the brain with rich, stimulating food is doubly unbalancing. This tends to animalize the nature of man.

Eggs are certainly not the only factor in this paradigm for spiritual and moral mediocrity but especially are they a factor in the sensitive, immature brains of children and youth.

Conclusion: Something Better

Something better is the watchword. Tofu is better than eggs. Walnuts, almonds, and olives are much better than eggs. They reduce heart disease instead of increasing it. Before the discovery and wide availability of vitamin B12 as added to soy milks, cereals and easy-to-get tablets, eggs were essential. But to claim what might be necessary in Siberian winter as a model for American and Western health is scarcely valid.

It is no longer safe to use conventions ally produced eggs. Admittedly, in those rare situations where no suitable food is available, thoroughly cooked eggs would be much healthier than animal flesh. If eggs are used, be sure to cook them very thoroughly all the way through to inactivate the germs and viruses and to degrade the protein antigens as much as possible, remembering that they are second class food.

Bring on the gardens, orchards, and fields. it is high time to be vegetarians, period. Don’t be scavengers of technological scavengers. Thousands are suffering from this uninformed health behavior. Meanwhile, when eating with those who still use eggs, don’t spread indigestion by argument. Live the light. Don’t fight. Wisdom thrives on courteous poise. If your lifestyle is a winner, demonstrate it by a winsome disposition. Let’s be examples of health for service to others instead of health for self.

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This article was published originally in the Journal of Health and Healing, a publication of Wildwood Institute.