Why Did Rocky Drink Raw Eggs? Boiled Eggs Challenge Myths.
The scene is iconic!
Rocky gets out of bed at 4AM. He turns on the radio and goes straight to the fridge. He cracks 5 eggs into a glass and drinks the whole thing in about 5 seconds! (I timed this on YouTube)
Everybody knows what this man accomplishes with just five eggs.
But this brings up the two questions:
- Why did Rocky drink raw eggs?
- Did they improve his performance?
Can clinching the title be so simple?
Dr. CJ Fuchs and his team decided to figure out if you might gain more benefits with boiled versus raw eggs.
What was Their Suspicion?
Dr. Fuchs and his team read the prior works of Dr. Evenepoel et al. and knew that only 51% of the protein in raw eggs were digested versus 91% of protein in boiled eggs (2).
Dr. Evenepoel et al. also showed that that about 65% of protein from raw eggs was digested and absorbed versus about 95% of protein from boiled eggs (3).
Therefore Dr. Evenepoel’s team discovered that more protein can be digested and absorbed into the blood stream after boiling the eggs instead of having them raw.
So could you see better muscle gains with boiled, poached, or sunny-side up?
Dr. Fuchs and his team suspected that there would be better repair of muscle tissue if there is more protein available to support the process of recovery after a workout.
In other words Dr. Fuchs et al. thought that if there is more protein available in the blood stream after eating cooked eggs, then there might be more muscle repair and growth after exercise.
A very exciting idea from a very astute observation!
Let’s see what they found out and how you can use this information for your health.
The Surprise
Let’s talk about the unsurprising results first.
- Eating eggs (both raw or boiled) caused the essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein) to go up
- Boiled eggs created higher levels of essential amino acids than raw eggs
- The extra essential amino acids helped with muscle repair and growth
Now here’s the truly astonishing thing that Dr. Fuchs’ team found:
- Even though less protein was digested and absorbed from raw eggs, there was no significant difference in muscle repair between raw versus boiled eggs (1).
Some people might incredulously say, “But wait, the muscle repair was 2% higher with raw eggs”. And you would be right.
However statisticians know how to recognize a possible fluke when they see one.
A small “advantage” of 2% may not be an advantage at all. The numbers are so similar that they could easily be the same or reversed.
Therefore the numbers do not necessarily show a clear benefit of raw versus boiled eggs in muscle recovery after exercise.
So can you challenge Rocky and take the title by eating boiled eggs instead?
You’re Not Beating Rocky without Hard Work
Raw eggs are no better than boiled eggs for recovery and muscle growth (1).
If you have dreams of snatching the title, you need to do it the old fashioned way.
Hard work, diligence, persistence, and all the boring habits most people think is irrelevant.
But some people know that being 1% better than the other guy means being 1% better than yesterday.
Beware of Avidin
Avidin is found in egg whites and stops biotin from being absorbed.
Biotin is a pivotal B vitamin in metabolism.
My professor warned my class about avidin. He told us many men were inspired by Rocky.
However they did not meet their harshest opponent in the ring. They met their opponent in the kitchen.
These men suffered “egg white injury” (4).
Avidin wreaks havoc on the skin and brain by playing “keep-away” with biotin.
Biotin is necessary for optimal skin and brain health. But low levels can cause problems within 5 weeks. Biotin relieved symptoms within 5 days (4).
However you need to replenish biotin fast enough to avoid irreversible brain damage.
One way to avoid egg white injury is to cook your eggs. Cooking will neutralize avidin and let you keep all the biotin for brain and skin health.
Top 5 Tips
- Cook the Eggs
- There was no benefit to eating them raw.
- Avidin, if uncooked, can cause problems.
- Everything in Moderation
- Eggs are wonderful for general nutrition.
- They do have cholesterol.
- Too much of a good thing can be bad.
- Supplement your Nutrition
- There is no “one size fits all”.
- Everybody has different nutritional needs.
- We can use supplements to fill in the gaps.
- Work Hard, but Rest and Recover
- Working hard is important.
- Rest and Recovery are equally important.
- Find the right balance for your optimum health.
- Check in with Your Doctor
- Your Doctor can track your progress and offer feedback.
Reference Articles
- Cas J Fuchs, Wesley J H Hermans, Joey S J Smeets, Joan M Senden, Janneau van Kranenburg, Stefan H M Gorissen, Nicholas A Burd, Lex B Verdijk, Luc J C van Loon, Raw Eggs To Support Postexercise Recovery in Healthy Young Men: Did Rocky Get It Right or Wrong?, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 152, Issue 11, November 2022, Pages 2376–2386
- Evenepoel P, Geypens B, Luypaerts A, Hiele M, Ghoos Y, Rutgeerts P. Digestibility of cooked and raw egg protein in humans as assessed by stable isotope techniques. J Nutr. 1998 Oct;128(10):1716-22. doi: 10.1093/jn/128.10.1716. PMID: 9772141.
- Evenepoel P, Claus D, Geypens B, Hiele M, Geboes K, Rutgeerts P, Ghoos Y. Amount and fate of egg protein escaping assimilation in the small intestine of humans. Am J Physiol. 1999 Nov;277(5):G935-43. doi: 10.1152/ajpgi.1999.277.5.G935. PMID: 10564098.
- Saleem F, Soos MP. Biotin Deficiency. [Updated 2022 Mar 2]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK547751/
