Jump to content

Eggs & Nightshades


Bee Cee

Recommended Posts

Hi, I noticed you recommended we eat (as many?) eggs as we want, along with raw nightshades, such as peppers. I am running a paleo challenge at my gym right now. How do I know if these foods are right for everyone? One of my athletes is still having breathing problems (asthma) so I recommended she cut the eggs and nightshades. Do you guys have any advice/help on this topic? Thanks!

Also, about the eggs... is the yolk full of just saturated fat? Because when I plugged them into a paleo diet counter... I was told I went over in omega-6, and it was because of the eggs! Is this thing wrong? What's the deal and should we be eating "as many eggs" as we want....?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is my understanding that a serving of eggs should be how many you can hold in one hand. For me, that is 3. As far as the other nutritional breakdowns, I have no answer for you because I block that ish out of my head now :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

All foods are not right for every person. Some people have sensitivities that mean they should not eat some things. Most people do very well with eggs and nightshades, so there is no need to worry about sensitivities with most people.

Eggs are among common foods associated with allergies, but WebMD says that it is not common for food allergies to cause asthma symptoms. Anyone with asthma should probably be tested for food allergies and not simply cut something out of their diet on the chance that it would matter.

It is true that we need a good balance of omega 6s and 3s and most of us need to reduce our omega 6 intake. But the place to make real progress cutting omega 6s is with seed oils and processed foods. Eggs are so much more than their fat content just like an orange is more than its vitamin C content. Eggs include a complex range of nutrition that makes us more healthy. It would be a mistake to parse out the omega 6/omega 3 content and write off eggs as being a bad thing because commercial eggs may have more omega 6 than omega 3. By the way, the eggs I get from my farmer are likely to have a good balance of omega 6s and 3s because his chickens live in the barnyard and eat a great farm diet. For example, they finished off the kale and chard when it got too big and tough these past few weeks. No soybeans for these chickens!

To put it in slogan form, you would be penny wise and pound foolish to stop eating eggs because you might get some omega 6 fatty acids from them. And remember, we need omega 6s. We just don't need as much as a conventional diet gives us.

Some of the best nutrition in an egg is in the yolk, so you don't want to waste them. To create balance, eat more salmon or grass fed beef.

Maybe I should disclose that I may eat 24 eggs in a week. That's more than the farmer from whom I buy my eggs, but he has been reading It Starts With Food lately and is beginning to get the picture…

The Whole9 recommends that people with digestive issues cook their veggies to make them easier to digest. In general, eating veggies raw or cooked is a matter of personal preference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think, though Tom, that it is worth a shot for her to cut the nightshades and eggs - she could be ALLERGIC to eggs (I have a friend who is, and it makes it hard for her to breathe when she consumes them) I mean, at this point, it can't HARM her to nix the eggs and nightshades, right? There are plenty of other ways to get PUFAs (omega-3/little omega-6) from other sources. I also get my eggs from a local farm, so I know they aren't eating soy, etc. But... thanks for your advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bee Cee -

I would agree that, as long as she is getting adequate amounts of protein, fat and veggies from other sources, it may be worth it to see if cutting these foods makes a difference. If, after a couple of weeks, she wants to do a challenge test and bring one or two items back in - that's fine! If, however, she is really attached to the eggs and nightshades (I would cry if I had to cut eggs), you could also try that in reverse. She can start with them included and then remove them if things don't improve by day 21ish or so.

PS: Ditch the tracker. It will make you crazy and totally distract you from the purpose of a Whole30. And it also shouldn't be recommended to folks participating in the challenge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I have an egg allergy or sensitivity. I don't have breathing problems but when I eat eggs, about an hour afterwards I get intense stomach pains/cramps for about 3 to 4 hours. However I find that eggs cooked into things or hard boiled or even over cooked scrambled don't seem to bother me as much. I haven't noticed any problems with nightshades, though I will admit adding onions and peppers to my eggs has always been my favorite. I found out all this before going paleo in May. I'm currently 3 days in to a Whole 30 and wonder if I should/could reintroduce them at some point and have success? They are one of my favorite things to eat for their nutritional punch, especially for breakfast, but I frequently ate them for snacks or even a quick dinner. Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

I'm liking the feedback and ideas presented here...just have a couple notes to add:  

 

 - Like Robin says, make sure to get enough fats, proteins and veggies, but also focus on getting the best types of all three (such as olive oil, animal fats or coconut oil for best cooking fats or avocado, cashews, and olives for best eating fats - see page 193 for the list).  

- On what Tom said regarding eggs, I've heard recently that the yoke and the whites work together to provide the ideal balance of nutrition to the eater...that eating only the whites is actually a bad thing.  I don't remember the details, but after a quickie google search I hear that the whites contain lots of albumin which isn't the best thing in large quantities, and that the yolk not only contains healthy fat but also Vitamin D and Choline which is good for memory.  I try not to eat eggs every day, but when I do, I decide the number that I eat (usually two or three) on how active my day will be and/or how long it'll be till I get time for lunch.

- See page 200 for a section on living without eggs, and how you can eat any type of meal anytime of day...how the idea of "breakfast foods" is only a societal thing...how you can have "dinner foods" for breakfast, just like how many people like to eat breakfast for dinner.

 

I really do want to learn more about the nightshades topic as I regularly eat several types that are apparently included in their list, such as cayenne pepper, tomatoes and potatoes.  I have s moderate problem with joint pain in my knees, right shoulder and elbows related to my extensive history of playing rugged sports, the most rugged and ones primarily including running and nine years of football (I tore my meniscus in this sport at age 17 and am twice that age now).  The Whole 30 doesn't seem to spend much time focusing on it (I haven't finished the book but made use of the index and only found two pages that are listed: 65 & 103) but I'm hoping It Starts with Food will tell more.  If anyone else has more reliable info on the topic please share!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...