Raw Egg Whites can be bad?

[MRDevious]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotin_deficiency

 

[Tyrone]

I didn't even click on the link to wikipedia...You do realize that anyone can edit that and change anything they want, right?

 

[MRDevious]

I didn't even click on the link to wikipedia...You do realize that anyone can edit that and change anything they want, right?

Yeah, but here's another link....

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/984803-overview

"Biotin was first recognized as an essential nutrient factor in mammals in 1936. Ten years earlier, the inclusion of large amounts of raw egg whites in experimental diets in rats had produced symptoms of toxicity within a few weeks of the diet being initiated....... "

 

[MRDevious]

If you do a google search on "Biotin Deficiency" you will find a bunch of articles about it....all talk about raw egg whites...

 

[ASHOP]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotin_deficiency

I never eat mine raw anyway.

 

[big.brs]

The whole area of "bioavailability" of raw eggs is a pretty grey area when it comes to real, hard, measurable data on it.

 

[myodoc42]

Avidin (a protein in egg whites) does bind biotin, and can reduce its absorption and lead to deficiency (well documented in nutrition literature). BUT - you'd need to eat a lot of raw egg whites for this to happen. In many of the studies, animals got ALL their protein from the egg whites.
More relevant: raw eggs can be sources of bacteria, most notably Salmonella. A number of Salmonella outbreaks have been traced to raw eggs. Organic or free range produced eggs may be less likely to have this problem, but they can still harbor pathogens.
As far as bioavailability goes, there isn't much hard data here. I cook mine, but that as much because of personal taste as anything else.