Drinking Egg Whites: Benefits and is it Safe?

Every day I am mindful of consuming protein and eggs play a central role in my diet. You have no doubt seen bodybuilders chugging down raw egg whites as part of their protein-rich diet.

Whilst I have yet to drink egg whites I thought I would look to see if there were compelling reasons to start.

Benefits of Drinking Egg whites

Egg whites are low in calories but high in protein, check out the egg white nutrition box below.

There are many reasons to drink egg whites. They are a high-quality protein, low in calories, and have many health benefits.

Drinking egg whites can help you lose weight, improve your cholesterol levels, and prevent heart disease.

Eggs and Cholesterol Debate

For a long time, it’s been thought that eating too many eggs each day is bad for your cholesterol. Even recently my Dad mentioned this to me when I suggested he eat more eggs to increase his protein intake.

Whilst eggs are naturally high in cholesterol it’s present in the egg yolk and not in the egg whites.

This means that consuming egg whites will contain no cholesterol and so is not considered a problem.

It’s worth keeping in mind that recent studies have now shown that for most people, the cholesterol in eggs is not a problem.

Raw Egg Whites vs Liquid Egg Whites

The two most common types are RAW egg whites and LIQUID egg whites. There is a big difference between the two, so it's important to understand what each one is and how to use them.

RAW egg whites come from a whole egg and contain the yolk and the albumen (the white part of the egg). They are usually used in recipes that call for whipped eggs or meringue.

RAW egg whites can be difficult to whip into a stable foam, so they should be mixed with other ingredients slowly and carefully.

LIQUID egg whites are made from just the albumen (the white part of the egg) and have been pasteurized and homogenized. They are perfect for use in recipes that call for beaten eggs or scrambled eggs.

Are drinking Egg Whites Safe?

While there is some evidence that drinking egg whites can be beneficial, there is also some concern about their safety.

The main concern eating raw eggs is that they can contain salmonella.

About one in 20,000 eggs is thought to contain salmonella.

This bacteria can lead to food poisoning, which can be very serious. Symptoms can start within 4 hours to 6 days after eating contaminated raw or undercooked eggs.

Food poisoning includes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps.

For this reason, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends using pasteurized eggs. These eggs have been heated up enough to kill the Salmonella bacteria that was potentially inside (WebMd).

What Does Drinking Egg Whites Taste Like?

Disgusting, well that's what I thought.

Although it doesn't have much of a taste, you could get used to it.

There are alternative ways to drink egg whites though and you don't need to chug it down.

Although you can make drinking egg whites more palatable you may wish to consider cooking them as there could well be benefits to doing so!

Drinking Raw Egg Whites vs Cooking Them

When I was researching drinking raw egg whites I came across this YouTube video that talks about the benefits of cooking egg whites.

When digging into the research on this looks to support this with the bioavailability of cooked egg whites is about 90% compared to the bioavailability for raw egg whites is about 50%.

Eating cooked egg whites clearly is going to give you more of the nutrient goodness compared to drinking them.

Drinking Egg Whites Verdict

Consuming egg whites clearly have benefits for providing a low-calorie, high protein meal.

For convenience sake, it can be easier to drink raw whites compared to cooking them but you could be missing out on absorbing all the nutrient goodness.

Unless you really need to consume lots of protein then having egg yolks too is unlikely to raise cholesterol levels in most individuals.

I will stick with either poaching or cooking my eggs (including the yolk) to get all the micronutrients as I will only be consuming a maximum of 3 or 4 per day.