Nov 18th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
The Case for Eggs
I wound up getting up earlier than I meant to on Monday or something and, with slightly more time on my hands than I’d anticipated, cooked myself a slice of bacon and an egg for an unusually indulgent weekday breakfast. Delicious! Emily Thorson makes the case for doing it every day.
63 Responses to “The Case for Eggs”
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November 18th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
So damn cheap, too.
Of course, that’s because of those farm subsidies you hate….
November 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Speaking of bacon, any thoughts on Senate Dems saving Joe Lieberman’s?
November 18th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Umm, one slice of bacon? Thats it? I always thought bacon was one of those foods that had to be eaten in large quantities. Sorta like chips. I have oatmeal, bannana and coffee every morning, which is notable for, among other things, its penchant for making me take absurd dumps in the morning.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
The egg is fine, but if you still look anything like your more recent photos, you should probably lay off the bacon. Stick with the leaner proteins.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Yeah, everyone should know more about eggs:
http://www.eggindustry.com/
November 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Eggs are pretty cheap. It’s like having 12 protein grenades in your fridge. You can pull the pin and add them to just about anything. Ramen noodles got you down? Add an egg. Have bread but no meat? Make an egg sandwich. Bacon is good too. It’s cheap easy fat and flavor for lentil soup, pea soup, any dried bean soup and dried beans are REALLY cheap.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I have an assignment for MattY that will stretch his intellectual abilities to the max. Anyone who’s driven the 5 through CA will have seen signs like the following, but finally MattY can apply the full power of CAP to solving the issue.
How do you make it so this rhymes: “crops grow where water flows”? MattY will immediately notice the problem, and I hope he’ll resolve it as he has so many other questions of our time.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
the case against eggs:
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/eggs/
November 18th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Yes! A post about bacon and eggs!
By the way, Obama has apparently asked Eric Holder to be AG.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
LOL… not all that different except for the fat and cholesterol. I mean really, I’m trying to rain on everyone’s egg and bacon sandwich day parade, but the idea that the nutrition content of an egg and bacon sandwich is roughly equivalent to a bowl of cereal is silly. Sure, the sandwich is going to be way more tasty, but that’s not a reason to fool ourselves.
Now, she might have a point if you really do eat a healthy lunch, whereas with cereal you’d pig out on a full plate of BBQ around 12:30.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
I’ve noticed before that you are a bad Cuban…and now you’re a bad Jew too?
By the way the best eggs come from weekend drives in the country. People will have a few hens and put up a sign offering “Eggs for Sale”. Always stop. Those eggs will blow your mind.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Certainly it’s not complete without haggis?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
How’s the zoning in your new condo? Can you keep your own chickens? How about pigs?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Crops grow where waters flow?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
One slice of bacon? And one egg? Whoa, might want to slow down there.
Must be an East Coast thing – are bacon and eggs an unusual form of breakfast in the northeast? In the rural west, it’s a religion.
An average breakfast for me is three or four scrambled eggs, four or five slices of bacon (if I’ve remembered to buy any), and a can of corned-beef hash fried up with a diced potato, usually washed down with a large coffee.
Or I’ll go out for biscuits & gravy, with fried eggs and bacon on the side.
(Note: I’m 5′ 11″, and weigh 180lbs. High metabolism, and all.)
November 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Eggs are high in cholestoral, and bacon is the worst cut of the pig. It is just fat and gristle. What a horrible recipe for breakfast. Why not eat fresh fruit and lean cuts of meat? Way way better than eggs and bacon garbage.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
So one of those Egg Council creeps got to you too, huh?
November 18th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Bacon is actually quite lean after cooking; most of the fat melts and stays in the pan. Dietary cholesterol is not a problem. The Framingham Nurses Health Study established pretty definitively that intake of dietary cholesterol and animal fat is not significantly correlated with heart disease, or overall mortality.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/337/21/1491
Note that in the summary of the study they suggest that saturated fat intake is positively correlated with heart disease, but mention in passing “not to a statistically significant degree.” That’s a weaselly way of saying, “we can’t establish a connection.”
This study deserves careful perusal, especially table 3. This is the table that has resulted in products all being reformulated to remove trans fats. Which is a good thing – the correlations between trans fats and heart disease are strong. But it’s also the table that put a bullet in the saturated fat hypothesis.
Bottom line: eating bacon and eggs does not appear to be associated with higher risk of heart disease or death.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
bacon is the worst cut of the pig.
I think you misspelled “best.”
November 18th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Yogurt with granola, one slice of bread and jam, and tea for me. I hate frying pans, cleaning up after dinner’s already enough trouble.
My dad got some nifty gizmo that is a toaster and egg poacher in one. It will toast the english muffins and poach the egg in synch. There might even be a bacon attachment.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Cooked bacon is 3/8 fat. I don’t know what planet you live on, but I don’t consider that to be “lean”.
Basically eggs and bacon have no fiber, high fat, and high cholestoral. You can do a lot better for breakfast. To try to defend and embrace it as something people should do regularly is the sort of self delusions that have lead to the current obesity crisis. A once in a while treat, sure. Every day?
November 18th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
The Framingham Nurses Health Study established pretty definitively that intake of dietary cholesterol and animal fat is not significantly correlated with heart disease, or overall mortality.
Ding ding ding.
I had absurdly high cholesterol as a 27 year-old; now as a 32 year-old I have decent numbers (last I checked it was 217 total, but most of that was due to a very high 65 HDL — the LDL was within normal range). My diet isn’t much better, though I do eat less — but the biggest factor has been my weight exercise levels. I picked up running about the same time (I’m now a 3 hour marathoner) and if I keep the mileage over 50 miles/week or so and the weight under 155 pounds (at 5′9″), I’m good no matter what I eat.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Three egg whites on toasted whole grain, please.
Yummm.
Or, lowfat yogurt with granola and fresh or dried fruit.
Yummm.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
A fried egg sandwich on whole wheat toast is not only delicious, but it can be part of a weight loss program if you’re so inclined. How? For whatever reason, like oatmeal, a breakfast egg sammy will speed up your metabolism for the rest of your day.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Eat bacon everyday . . . if you want to increase your risk of cancer.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071210213133.htm
November 18th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Also, don’t forget that Curly from City Slickers ate bacon everyday, and he died.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Exercise is important too, but all things being equal, eating a bunch of fatty foods is not healthy. All things in moderation. If you eat eggs and bacon for breakfast, have some veggies and carbs for lunch.
I’m not going to even go into which diet is more eco-friendly…
November 18th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
the idea that the nutrition content of an egg and bacon sandwich is roughly equivalent to a bowl of cereal is silly.
Of course they’re not “roughly equivalent.” They’re very different. But that doesn’t mean the cereal is better. For one thing, there’s way more protein in the real breakfast. An egg is a damn healthy thing, and one slice of bacon doesn’t exactly ruin it for you.
And so help me god, if I hear any more anti-bacon comments I’ll flip the fuck out worse than Petey. Every entry on this blog will be filled by my pro-bacon propaganda. It will be a jihad for bacon like you have never seen. There is no way “you can do way better than bacon for breakfast.” Those words don’t even look like English to me — they don’t fucking compute. Bacon is god’s favorite food.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’m lazy and I have cereal most mornings. But I do try to fry some eggs (and bacon if I have it) at least once or twice a week. And that’s not counting the small farm I’ll consume if I go out for breakfast on a weekend.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Aha! This post is more Swiss propaganda.
http://www.egg.ch/
November 18th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
It seems that MrBreakfast.com is THE place to go for all breakfast-realted goodness. Recipes (326 ways to make toast?!), restaurant reviews, and articles (Breakfast on Death Row was my favorite).
And no, I’m not Mr. Breakfast. I actually prefer coffee and a cigarette.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
And so help me god, if I hear any more anti-bacon comments I’ll flip the fuck out worse than Petey.
Bacon and it’s anti-leftism make it the most unhealthy breakfast since Carter.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Carter probably didn’t even like bacon. John Edwards, on the other hand, eats bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Goes through a pound a day.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Of course they’re not “roughly equivalent.” They’re very different. But that doesn’t mean the cereal is better. For one thing, there’s way more protein in the real breakfast. An egg is a damn healthy thing, and one slice of bacon doesn’t exactly ruin it for you.
Eggs are very healthy. I have no disagreement with that… but the linked story listen the calories and seemed to indicate that it was roughly the same thing. An egg sandwich and cereal will give you completely different things… generally, we need both, but one is not a good substitute for the other.
Like I said in a subsequent post, I’d go with exercise and everything in moderation. We tend not to do these things well and as a result Americans are fat and have bad health. Bacon and eggs is fine, but I’m not sure that we need to be encouraging Americans to consume more of those items. We’d be better served cutting out some of the animal products and replacing them with food that comes directly from plants.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Bacon and eggs is fine, but I’m not sure that we need to be encouraging Americans to consume more of those items.
Of course we don’t “need” to encourage people to eat more bacon and eggs. Bacon and eggs are delicious. It’s only food that tastes bad that you need to encourage people to eat.
To me, the bacon-and-egg sandwich discussed above is moderation if you stop at one piece of bacon. You could have bacon with breakfast four or five days a week if it’s only one piece, and if you take care of yourself, it shouldn’t be a health problem.
And just think of how happy you’ll be. Every time I start my day with bacon and eggs I have a better day than if I had started it with cereal. I’m smiling just thinking about it. I think I’ll bacon and eggs for dinner right now.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
To me, the bacon-and-egg sandwich discussed above is moderation if you stop at one piece of bacon.
Depends on what else you’re eating. If you’re having a hamburger with a side of fries and a coke for lunch and then spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, I wouldn’t call that moderation. Yet this seems to be a fairly typical diet for Americans.
Generally, I’m with Michael Pollan on diet: eat food; not too much; mostly plants. If that’s what you’re doing, cool…
November 19th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Turkey bacon isn’t as good, but it’s not a huge jump down.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:16 am
I’m not really a breakfast person, but on the one occasion a week or so I do have it, it’s usually a bacon and egg sandwich.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I don’t want to anger Too Many Steves, but bacon is a) expensive, and b) mostly fat. I think James Beard said that cooked bacon is the most expensive meat by weight, because most of it melts off in your pan. I love it, but I’m too cheap to eat it on a regular basis.
For a breakfast sandwich, ham is a better choice. Much cheaper, a little bit healthier, and still super delicious.
And don’t forget the butter! Eggs cooked in bacon fat are amazing, but the next best thing is real butter.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Matt, Matt, Matt. Still eating treif.
November 19th, 2008 at 11:58 am
They take some getting used to, but egg beaters (or similar egg substitute) can taste okay and at 30 calories “per egg” with no fat or cholesterol they are much healthier (lots of sodium though). No where near as tasty as the real thing of course but if you’re looking to add a good amount of protein to your breakfast they can’t be beat.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
– Leviticus 11:7-8
November 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
2 Maccabees 7:1-2
1: It came to pass also, that seven brethren with their mother were taken, and compelled by the king against the law to taste swine’s flesh, and were tormented with scourges and whips.
2: But one of them that spake first said thus, What wouldest thou ask or learn of us? we are ready to die, rather than to transgress the laws of our fathers.
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