My boyfriend swears that there is poison in eggs, and that if you eat more than a few that it is bad for your liver and will make you very sick… I think this is just an old wive’s tale, but I can’t convince him of that! Please clear this up!
Amy
I can’t imagine what he’s thinking of; the only dangerous component in eggs is cholesterol (which isn’t a poison; it’s just something affluent humans get too much of). While the liver is intimately involved with cholesterol handling, it’s unlikely to be a problem in healthy people.
Some people are allergic to eggs, and some have conditions which do not permit them to eat eggs, and eggs can be polluted by a laying hen’s diet; this is far from “eggs containing poison.”
What your boyfriend may be talking about is salmonella poisoning. Eggs can carry salmonella bacteria which, if not properly destroyed in cooking, can make you very ill. The way to avoid this is to eat fresh eggs and to make sure they are properly cooked throughout.
I’m not sure about eating “too many eggs” though - the only factor that this would affect is that the more eggs you eat, the more likely you are to be exposed to salmonella bacteria. It doesn’t accumulate the more you eat or anything.
This is a duplicate thread. I’ll close this one and direct posters to the longer version here: Poison in eggs?
DrMatrix - General Questions Moderator