Eggs are good for the brain and absorb cholesterol
It is not true that eggs produce cholesterol; human beings generate it when they are tense, stressed, or in conditions of suffering. To mark World Egg Day, we remind you that eggs contain most of the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids required by the brain.
Mexico is a global leader in egg consumption. It is false that eggs produce cholesterol; human beings generate it when they are tense, stressed, or in conditions of suffering. On the occasion of World Egg Day, it is worth remembering that eggs contain most of the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids required by the brain.
Egg consumption in Mexico had an approximate 50 percent increase between 2019 and the end of 2020, going from two million tons to three million, according to the Agricultural Markets Consulting Group (GCMA), an increase caused by the pandemic, its low cost, ease of cooking, flavor and protein content, considers José Antonio Quintana López, an academic at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry of the UNAM.
It is a protein that does not require refrigeration like meat and has a unique natural envelope. This is, perhaps, one of the reasons why during the COVID-19 health emergency it has been the favorite food of Mexicans. GCMA assures that chicken and eggs became the favorites of 2020, since the drop in income caused by the pandemic weakened the consumption of high-priced proteins and increased the demand for the more accessible ones.
Regarding World Egg Day 2021, on October 8, Quintana Lopez explains: while food businesses such as fondas and taquerias suffered the confinement, especially in the first months of the pandemic, pork and beef products fell from 30 to 50 percent in consumption, in contrast to eggs. Now it is possible to obtain and order the product through cell phones, the academic points out.
Myths and benefits of eggs
The zootechnical veterinarian, a specialist in animal production, comments that Mexico is the world's leading consumer and is among the first five places in production, "which has been achieved in the last 20 years". "The preference has increased especially in Latin countries; Colombia is the second nation in the region that consumes it the most. All this has increased due to the dissemination of its characteristics, and also because myths that were detrimental to it have been eliminated," he said.
Among the three biggest myths that specialists have tried to dispel are: that eggs are harmful to health because they increase cholesterol. On the contrary, it is now known that the lecithin it contains inhibits the intestinal absorption of cholesterol. It has even been proven that if the human being is tense, stressed, or in conditions of suffering, he produces more cholesterol, a situation that has nothing to do with eggs, says the advisor of the National Poultry Institute.
The second comes from Europe, where it is said that laying hens suffer too much because they are caged, but this is not so. By being protected, they are protected from potential attacks by other species, such as macaws, dogs, cats, among others, because when they feel threatened, they run and suffer, in addition to the fact that neither they nor the egg, are in contact with the excrement in the henhouse, he explains.
The third and most recent is that the "organic" egg is better because it does not produce cancer and does not contain hormones or chemicals: false: "You go to the supermarket and you see a legend that says: 'organic egg, from free-range hens, healthy and happy hens...', or 'vegan egg', that is inaccurate, the hen does not eat meat! The only real thing is that consumers only pay more for the product," he stresses.
The poultry farmer, who graduated from the Royal Official and Higher School of Poultry Farming in Barcelona, Spain, emphasizes that egg protein has the same excellent amino acid profile as mother's milk. It contains most of the vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids of animal origin required by the brain. It contains a nutrient called choline, which plays an important role in brain and memory development, a determining factor in the prevention of Alzheimer's and presenile dementia.
"It is a one hundred percent natural food, the egg is not manufactured by anyone," concludes the co-author of the book "The Egg: Myths, Realities and Benefits", together with María Covadonga Torre.
