EAT MORE EGGS: "Egg yolks are . . . an alternative to antibiotics."

Martie Whittekin of Healthy By Nature frequently cites and interviews health journalist, Bill Sardi.  In the context of fighting viruses and bacteria of any kind, or specifically one of the coronaviruses, she points to the value of eggs, writing, 

Mr. Sardi suggests “you might add eggs to your diet, and the diet of your kids.  An egg contains 100-150 milligrams of immunoglobulins – proteins in blood serum aka antibodies that bind to antigens such as bacteria and viruses, resulting in their destruction.  Egg yolks are actually an alternative to antibiotics.  Whereas specific monoclonal antibodies are what modern medicine relies upon, polyclonal antibodies in eggs provide broad protection against all strains of flu viruses and cold viruses, like coronavirus.  Egg yolk powder is also an alternative.  You can read about the history and application of egg immunoglobulins at  Knowledgeofhealth.com.  Egg yolk powder is also widely available.”   

I admit that I do like reading medical journals.  I like the technical language and the specificity of the information.  Bill Sardi, has produced an excellent review on the health benefits of eggs that go beyond praising their protein content.  Eggs can prevent disease.  Citing Dr. Alvin F. Coburn, he writes, 

It was 1960.  Dr. Alvin F. Coburn published a landmark report in British medical journal, The Lancet.  He had found cases of childhood rheumatic fever dramatically declined among children who ate eggs.  Dr. Coburn had actually opened a clinic to treat rheumatic fever that had to be unexplainably shut down in 1955, which he associated with higher egg consumption among families under his observation.  He also observed that children who developed rheumatic fever may better diets rich in animal protein, milk, vitamins A and C, but did not eat more eggs.  Another published survey reported children with rheumatic fever disliked eggs.  The incidence of rheumatic fever was 2.8% among who ate the least eggs and only 0.6% among kids who ate the most eggs, almost a 500% difference. 

So Dr. Coburn put eggs to the test.  Here were the results:

Group A:  Normal diet, many nutritional deficiencies; recurrence in 11 or 29 children. 

Group B: Children with reinforced diet of two eggs, milk, meat, butter, fish-liver oil (vitamin A); 3 or 35 had a recurrence.

Group C: Normal diet reinforced with powdered egg yolk only: 1 of 25 had a recurrence.

Dr. Coburn then launched a two-year study with half of the children given four egg yolks a day.  Among 28 children who developed a sore throat who received no medication and no eggs, 10 experienced recurrence of symptoms.  Among 28 children who ate yolk powder equivalent to 4 eggs a day, only 1 showed fresh rheumatic fever. 

That's impressive.  But you don't need to know this to know why you love eggs. 

EGG IMMUNOGLUBULINS

Eggs contain ~ 100 to 150 milligrams of immunoglobulins. These are proteins in blood serum that are also known as antibodies that bind to antigens such as bacteria and viruses, resulting in their destruction.  Whereas modern medicine has developed monoclonal antibody drugs that target a single cell receptor site, egg immunoglobulins are polyclonal antibodies, they have many targets and can protect against a broad variety of bacteria and viruses. 

Egg yolk antibodies are being considered as an alternative to antibiotic drugs that induce germ resistance.  Whereas multiple monoclonal antibodies may be required to deal with mutating flu viruses, polyclonal antibodies from eggs provide protection against the broad spectrum of influenza viruses.  Store-bought eggs have been reported to produce full recovery from the flu.  The ramifications of this are obvious in the event of a flu pandemic.  Eggs are available worldwide and are cheap. 

About 40 grams (40,000 milligrams) of egg immunoglobulins (identified as IgY—immunoglobin y) is produced in a year’s production of eggs from a single chicken.  These immunoglobulins also afford widespread protection from entero (intestinal) viruses such as polio and coxsackievirus as well as rotavirus that causes diarrhea in children and bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus, tuberculosis, Clostridium difficile, and H. pylori. 

A super-egg can also be produced by injection of specific bacteria or viruses to that chicken eggs specifically address gastrointestinal infections.  These super-eggs would serve as alternatives to antibiotics and even problematic vaccines.  Egg immunoglobulins are already beings used among farm animals in order to avoid use of problematic vaccines to induce germ resistance.  Animals that eat from the ground frequently consume coil organisms that induce diarrhea.  Egg antibodies can bind to these pathogens and nullify their adverse effect. 

Egg yolk powder may become modern man’s preferred immune booster.

Dr. Coburn reported that eggs contain a sub-fraction called palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) that has potent anti-inflammatory activity.  PEA is available today as a medical food and dietary supplement.  It is extolled for its pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory properties and has application for a variety of maladies including mental depression, autism, even the common cold.  

Though my initial recommendation was to not overcook eggs, any eggs are better than no eggs.  I like mine sunnyside up, over easy or scrambled.  Here are ten additional health benefits of eggs as if you really needed this list to help you decide to prepare an omelet this morning or this evening or this afternoon. 

Sardi engs his report with this

Readers can assess the terrible consequences of the mistaken cholesterol phobia that has been the ruling paradigm in modern medicine for the past four decades.  With cholesterol phobia came a reduction in egg consumption and the obvious onset of new diseases (Crohn’s, autism, Clostridium difficile deaths, to name a few).  Egg yolk powder is widely available for bulk purchase.  PEA hasn’t hit store shelves yet but is sold as a dietary supplement online. 

That’s interesting; I’d never heard of these supplements. 

Should a predicted pandemic ensue, vaccines would predictably be in short supply, taking months to produce, while eggs would be readily available to save the planet from an otherwise historic calamity.  

BEST BOTTLED WATER

There are lots of categories by which people judge the quality of water.  One is taste.  But taste has two components--the upfront taste and aftertaste.  Another category is the effect of the water.  Does it energize you or make you feel weak? A third category is hydration.  Does the water hydrate you enough? Does it quench your thirst?  

Spending a lot of time in and around Denver, I found myself constantly dehydrated. I found a great wine store in Denver, Total Beverage, that had different bottled waters.  One brand that I tried was El Dorado.  On taste it was pretty good.  Taste was refreshing.  And little to no metallic after taste.

One popular brand of bottled water is Aquafina, owned by PepsiCo, Inc., which alone should alarm any food or beverage consumer.  Every time that I have tried Aquafina I have found a metallic aftertaste that gives me worrisome images.  Aquafina's claim to fame is their HydRO-7 purification system that involves seven distinct steps to remove "impurities."  

Here are the 7 steps of their purification system: 

1  1.    Pre-filtration process.  But they don’t explain what is involved in that process.

    2.    Polishing filters.  They do not explain what chemicals are used on or in the filters to polish the water.

    3.    High intensity UV light to eliminate organic matter.

    4.    Reverse osmosis using pressure and hyperfilters to remove 98% of dissolved solids or TDS.

    5.    Charcoal filtration is used to remove trace elements that affect taste and smell.

    6.    Polishing filters to give the water a crystal clear appearance.

    7.    Ozonation.  Water is exposed to oxygen-rich air via a generating cell.

Another brand is Dasani.  It sounds Persian.  The company boasts that 30% of the materials used to manufacture the bottle are from plants.  But from what plants?  It doesn't say.  Dasani is owned by CocaCola, another company that any consumer of food or beverage should be concerned about.  Calgary, Alberta Canada is the source of Dasani's water.   

"The first source of Dasani water in Canada was Calgary, Alberta.^[3] A second bottling plant was later opened in Brampton, Ontario. The Calgary and Brampton plants produce Coca-Cola's plain-water (Dasani) and sugar-water (soft drinks) products. The company's administrative and marketing activities continue to be based in Atlanta, Georgia."

Here are the ingredients it uses to clean its water:

"Coca-Cola uses tap water from local municipal water supplies,^[13] filters it using the process of reverse osmosis,^[13] and adds trace amounts of minerals, including magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt), potassium chloride and table salt (sodium chloride)."

I have in the past drank Arrowhead bottled water, whose water comes from the springs in the San Bernardino mountains north of Palm Springs, CA.  Here is a little history on the springs and on the company.  The Arrowhead water I usually drink is Arrowhead's distilled water. 

I like the taste and purity of the water has been reliable, but I do not always like drinking water out of plastic bottles that sit in freight trucks for days or hours in the hot sun where the heat softens the plastic and the chemicals in the bottle's structure leech into the water. And while on the road, I generally drink Arrowhead's Spring Water.  

I have recently enjoyed the Mountain Valley Spring Water from the springs of Arkansas.  They have distribution centers in Downey,CA.  Their spring water tastes clean and their mineral water is the best on the market in my opinion.  And their water comes in glass bottles, which is a wonderful alternative to all the plastic that we consume.  Also, at least according to this list, it contains no fluoride.  That to me is unheard of.

But in Denver I began drinking Fiji bottled water.  Its claim is that it is a Natural Artesian Water.  What is that and what does that mean in terms of purity and taste?  Wikipedia says that "According to marketing materials, the water comes from an artesian aquifer in Viti Levu."  

The other question is where is Fiji?  And if the wisdom of local is better, what then does this say about the quality of Fiji Water?  It seems to me that the water is ladened with a successful marketing campaign, one that is felt when you pay $3 for a 12 or 16oz bottle of Fiji Water.  I am not saying that the water isn't any good.  I like the taste.  But I have felt a mild pain in my kidneys following a drink of the water.  Is that me passing a kidney stone?  No.  Clearly the water is bottled in Fiji, which means that the plastic bottles sit on a freight tanker for as long as it takes for the tanker to reach Long Beach.  From there how long does it sit in harbor or how long does it take to be loaded onto trucks and then delivered to retail outlets?  Or does the water sit for an extra two or three days or longer in the trucks prior to being loaded on the shelves in stores?

One does wonder what standards and regulations of water from a New Zealand neighborhood can do for thirsty drinkers here in the US.  Does the US not have Artesian wells?

ALKALINITY OF WATER
 
MY RANKING OF THE BOTTLED WATERS REVIEWED ABOVE
If I were to rank the waters, it would look like this:
1.  Mountain Valley Spring Water.
2.  Arrowhead Distilled Water.
3.  Arrowhead Spring Water.
4.  Fiji water.
5.  El Dorado.
6.  Dasani.
7.  Aquafina. 
8.  Kirkland, a CostCo product.