IS EGG VEG OR NON VEG FOOD? A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
“MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT EGG – THE EGG IS A VEGETARIAN FOOD”
By: – Dr. S.K Khanna ,Poultry consultant.
Milk is an animal product and cannot by any means be included in strict vegetarian diet. It seems the purpose of meal to a very large extent in medical language it is classified as animal food. A layman does not consider milk to be animal food. On the other hand eggs are regarded by the layman as a flesh food. In reality, they are not now a day’s sterile eggs are also produced. The Hen is not allowed to see the cock & yet it lays the eggs. A sterile egg never develops in to a chick. Therefore be who can take milk should have no objection to taking sterile eggs.
“MAHATMA GANDHI JI” excerpt from his book key to health. Though Mahatma Gandhi was staunch vegetarian he had given term a vegan to egg eaters. A term is in between vegetarian & non vegetarian though be used goat milk but described milk as non vegetarian since it is an animal product.
1) Eggs have high fat content & not good for health.
2) Eggs have high cholesterol & not good for health.
3) Egg is a food of animal origin & consuming it .It is a sign as majority of Hindus, Jains etc believe.
4) Egg consumption produces more heat; so not suitable during summers.
5) Egg is contaminated with harmful microbes.
6) Bird eats dirty things like kitchen waste etc & it is excreted through eggs (Many of Hindu saints of India).
7) Egg is having anti- nutritional factor.
8) Egg is produced by giving hormone injection & artificial insemination.
9) People consuming eggs are victims of cancer any much such diseases (Hindu saints).
10) Since birds have common passage of faces & eggs. Egg is bird faces (Hindu saints).
11) Local eggs are more healthy & tastier.
12) Farm egg without male is like potatoes and is not nutritive.
13) Brown colour of egg is due to colouring of egg by dipping it in hot decoction of tea water.
Many more such myths are far away from realities having been described below. Many reknowned scientist like Hindu, Buddha and Christen scientist consumed eggs. Hindu saint like Vivekananda, Buddhist saint like Dalai Lama, Non of Sikh Guru out of 10 Gurus prohibited the consumption of eggs. Even kuran has not prohibited its consumption. Yes in Hindu religious scriptures onion, garlic, & meat etc are considered “Tamsic bhojan”. Such scriptures were written 5000 B.C years. At that times males used to roam with females & we had fertile eggs which were capable of producing chicks but with advancement of science female do not see males & gives eggs themselves. It is biological process like menstrual cycle in woman. So validity of religious scriptures in present context changed managemental conditions does not hold goal today. Answer of various myths-
No doubt egg comes from animal like milk comes from mammry gland primary meant for calf & not meant for human beings. It is human being who consumes milk of other animal. In world there is no other animal since calf has 3 stomachs it can digest it. While human child sometimes develops an allergy sometimes in digestion as human being does not grow as fast as calf. So nature has not made milk the for human. Person consuming milk can also consume egg. Mahatma Gandhi was staunch supporter of vegetarian but consumed goat milk .Egg produces (Brown or white) more heat in fact it is not true persons says it because it is highly nutritious & heat is produced from eating calories. One egg has 80 kcal of energy which is less than total energy requirement as compared to 400kcal/100gms of grains or pulses. In fact more energy comes from yolk lipid. As per recommendation of Indian council of medical research more energy is required from lipid. Egg provides 80 kcal of energy from yolk lipid.
Brown colour (local bird) egg has more nutrition & yellow colour of egg gives more nutrition. This is untrue as Brown eggs feathered birds give brown eggs & even dark colour yolk depends upon the nature of diet. Birds eating greens, maize gluten, maize carotenoids produce more yellow orange colour. Birds producing brown eggs from local breed are less nutritive as compared to farm eggs. Because their weight is generally 50 gms while farm eggs vary from 55-65 gms while composition of both eggs remain same. Heavier eggs have more energy & protein except that the local bird. It consumes variety of green food etc & difference in fatty acid content but from nutrition point of view it is poor to farm eggs.
Brown colour is due to colouring:-
So such practice is followed now days in fact such practice were followed in early nineteen’s. When brown birds were not commercialised but now we get brown birds on commercial basis which produce brown colour eggs which have no correlation with nutritive value of eggs.
Birds need hormones?
Giving one egg daily from bird is like woman produces one ovum (menstrual cycle) in a month. It is a biological process in both cases hormones are not required even 1% of someone gives hormones they are so expensive & costlier than the cost of egg.
FOOD STUFFS CONTAIN SO MANY TOXICANTS & ANTI NUTRITIONAL CHEMICAL WHILE EGGS ARE SAFE:-
Farm egg is like potatoes?
It is untrue as composition of both is already explained .Fertilised egg (local bird) has some semen which does not add nutritive value to egg.
Birds eat dirty things & there is common opening for eggs and faces, so we eat faces of birds (Hindu saints)?
In medical science it is untrue if it is so than we should also understand that egg was composed by nature for not human composition but for producing chicks nature had provided all vitamins and essential nutrients. Only Vitamin C is missed by nature in eggs because Vitamin C is synthesised in body of chicken. So any other deficiencies of vitamin or nutrients have not been kept by nature. If there is any deficiency of any nutrient in like Vit. D, E or K, We practically observe Chicks from these eggs either Lame or suffer from Multivitamin deficiencies.
So eggs are composed by nature for production of chicks. Any nutrient if missing or consuming dirty things do not reflect in egg composition as same egg if contaminated will spoil. So there are many Myths and religious taboos attached to eggs while medical science do not approve them eggs is only item which cannot be adulterated. Cheapest with 99 % digestibility can replace 20 % of human energy (required 2400 K cal) and 60 Gms Protein. So highly recommended even cholesterol present in egg 300 mg per egg remain deficient for body as human body require 400 – 500 of cholesterol. Yes it may be stopped in high risk of patients but egg Phobia for general growing or adult human is wrong.
