Eggs, why do you taunt me so?
August 21, 2010 1:54 AM Subscribe
Why do eggs give me a stomachache...but only sometimes?
For a long, long time, eggs have given me a terrible stomachache...but only prepared in certain ways.
Bad: scrambled, omelettes, sometimes quiche.
Good: hard-boiled, soft-boiled, sunny-side-up, mixed into other foods in small amounts.
It's definitely not an undercooked-egg issue because soft-boiled is ok.
It's definitely real--I get stomachaches and bloating for almost a day after eating eggs in one of the Bad ways.
Does it have something to do with the whites and yolks being mixed? But why would that make a difference? Or is there some other factor I haven't considered? Help me solve this mystery!
For a long, long time, eggs have given me a terrible stomachache...but only prepared in certain ways.
Bad: scrambled, omelettes, sometimes quiche.
Good: hard-boiled, soft-boiled, sunny-side-up, mixed into other foods in small amounts.
It's definitely not an undercooked-egg issue because soft-boiled is ok.
It's definitely real--I get stomachaches and bloating for almost a day after eating eggs in one of the Bad ways.
Does it have something to do with the whites and yolks being mixed? But why would that make a difference? Or is there some other factor I haven't considered? Help me solve this mystery!
Do thinks like cakes and french toast and the array of other things baked with beaten eggs usually bother you?
Nthing sbutler.
posted by royalsong at 4:55 AM on August 21, 2010
Nthing sbutler.
posted by royalsong at 4:55 AM on August 21, 2010
are you cooking these egg dishes yourself? i am lactose intolerant, and butter sometimes bothers me. are you using butter?
posted by janepanic at 5:15 AM on August 21, 2010
posted by janepanic at 5:15 AM on August 21, 2010
Based on my similar digestive weirdness with only some sausage, some of the time, I'm going to suggest that it's psychological. Which doesn't mean the stomachaches aren't "real". Did you really dislike eggs, or eggs prepared in certain ways, as a child?
Also nthing the idea of lactose intolerance, though scrambled eggs usually don't have much butter or milk in them compared to any other cooked food. There's more milk in pancakes than in an omelet, for instance. And if you can eat other foods wherein butter is the base fat used to cook the dish, scrambled eggs are no different. And a lot of restaurants use neither butter nor milk in the preparation of those dishes, anyway.
posted by Sara C. at 6:29 AM on August 21, 2010
Also nthing the idea of lactose intolerance, though scrambled eggs usually don't have much butter or milk in them compared to any other cooked food. There's more milk in pancakes than in an omelet, for instance. And if you can eat other foods wherein butter is the base fat used to cook the dish, scrambled eggs are no different. And a lot of restaurants use neither butter nor milk in the preparation of those dishes, anyway.
posted by Sara C. at 6:29 AM on August 21, 2010
Its the yolks of the eggs. Do you take synthroid or anything like that. I never had the problem UNTIL I got my thyroid taken out and had to start taking levoxyl for it. The yolks give me horrible stoch aches.;
I suggest trying egg whites from now on. Besides not giving you stomach aches they are better for you.
posted by majortom1981 at 6:35 AM on August 21, 2010
I suggest trying egg whites from now on. Besides not giving you stomach aches they are better for you.
posted by majortom1981 at 6:35 AM on August 21, 2010
I was actually considering asking a question about this.
Have you ever tried just egg whites? I started eating just the egg whites this week, and what a difference! In the past when I ate the whole egg (scrambled, over easy, medium, or hard), I wouldn't always get a stomachache, but I would almost always feel queasy. Sometimes I would feel like if I really thought about it, I could throw up. I love eggs and have eaten them my whole life and am not lactose intolerant.
posted by alice ayres at 7:09 AM on August 21, 2010
Have you ever tried just egg whites? I started eating just the egg whites this week, and what a difference! In the past when I ate the whole egg (scrambled, over easy, medium, or hard), I wouldn't always get a stomachache, but I would almost always feel queasy. Sometimes I would feel like if I really thought about it, I could throw up. I love eggs and have eaten them my whole life and am not lactose intolerant.
posted by alice ayres at 7:09 AM on August 21, 2010
If you're eating scrambled eggs or omelettes at restaurants, they are probably using a premixed liquid egg product rather than fresh eggs to make them. So maybe it's something about that mix that's the problem?
posted by cabingirl at 7:51 AM on August 21, 2010
posted by cabingirl at 7:51 AM on August 21, 2010
I have a similar problem and the only advice I can give you is that if ever in the future you need medication that has to taken with meals then don't forget to stop eating eggs completely during that time because the fine distinction of how the eggs are prepared won't matter then and it hurt like heck.
posted by furtive at 8:13 AM on August 21, 2010
posted by furtive at 8:13 AM on August 21, 2010
Response by poster: Hmm, well, I'm sitting here drinking a glass of milk as I type this, so I'm pretty sure I'm not lactose intolerant. But that reminds me of a similar, possibly weirder problem: sometimes, if I eat too much cheese, I get a headache. Maybe there's some kind of issue with certain kinds of protein...? I am a vegetarian.
Cake is no problem (nom nom nom). French toast...maybe sometimes?
I don't take anything.
I mostly eat homemade things, not restaurant food.
I don't think the yolk is the problem because boiled eggs are ok. But that would be an interesting experiment, to try a scrambled white.
Definitely not psychological. I loved scrambled eggs up till the moment I couldn't tolerate them anymore.
OK, is it possible that I'm just lactose intolerant enough that consuming dairy--while causing no other pain--sensitizes me to eggs? Can that happen with lactose?
posted by the_blizz at 8:59 AM on August 21, 2010
Cake is no problem (nom nom nom). French toast...maybe sometimes?
I don't take anything.
I mostly eat homemade things, not restaurant food.
I don't think the yolk is the problem because boiled eggs are ok. But that would be an interesting experiment, to try a scrambled white.
Definitely not psychological. I loved scrambled eggs up till the moment I couldn't tolerate them anymore.
OK, is it possible that I'm just lactose intolerant enough that consuming dairy--while causing no other pain--sensitizes me to eggs? Can that happen with lactose?
posted by the_blizz at 8:59 AM on August 21, 2010
I have no answer for you, just confirmation that either you are not crazy or we both are. For me, the more other stuff I eat with eggs and the more they're cooked, the less of a problem I have. And it comes and goes - last year, it was significantly worse than right now, and it's been on and off like that all my life.
I'm operating under the theory that it's a mild allergy because Zyrtec seems to help most times, but on really bad days I have to take something for gas because I do not have time to spend an entire day belching.
(My mother insists it's my gallbladder, but I think it would be more consistent if that was the problem.)
posted by Lyn Never at 9:04 AM on August 21, 2010
I'm operating under the theory that it's a mild allergy because Zyrtec seems to help most times, but on really bad days I have to take something for gas because I do not have time to spend an entire day belching.
(My mother insists it's my gallbladder, but I think it would be more consistent if that was the problem.)
posted by Lyn Never at 9:04 AM on August 21, 2010
As with you and Lyn Never, I have this problem. The more stuff I eat with the eggs, the lower the discomfort. Avoiding yolks does seem to help me though. The only time I asked a doctor about it, he said it was probably an allergy, and I didn't bother to pursue it any further. Allergies can develop spontaneously, so if you're really interested you could try an allergist.
posted by thermogenesis at 9:52 AM on August 21, 2010
posted by thermogenesis at 9:52 AM on August 21, 2010
Maybe it's the oil/fat content in scrambled eggs that's giving you a stomach ache vs. eggs sunny side up, hardboiled...
posted by gnutron at 10:45 AM on August 21, 2010
posted by gnutron at 10:45 AM on August 21, 2010
Best answer: I have this exact problem, too. Love eggs, was never forced to eat them, not lactose intolerant and it definitely isn't a psychological issue. Hard-boiled doesn't cause it, nor do foods with eggs in them. Just your basic breakfast egg dish.
I don't know why this happens to me, but I have learned that if I have a small amount of something carbonated as I eat them or right afterwards, I have no unpleasant reaction at all. No stomach ache, no bloating, nothing. It can be as little as one swallow of a pop and I feel fine.
If I don't have something carbonated within about 45 minutes of starting to eat the eggs, I've missed the window and will usually get the stomach ache and resulting unpleasantness.
Oh, and I had my gallbladder out and I still have this reaction, fwiw.
posted by Brody's chum at 10:45 AM on August 21, 2010
I don't know why this happens to me, but I have learned that if I have a small amount of something carbonated as I eat them or right afterwards, I have no unpleasant reaction at all. No stomach ache, no bloating, nothing. It can be as little as one swallow of a pop and I feel fine.
If I don't have something carbonated within about 45 minutes of starting to eat the eggs, I've missed the window and will usually get the stomach ache and resulting unpleasantness.
Oh, and I had my gallbladder out and I still have this reaction, fwiw.
posted by Brody's chum at 10:45 AM on August 21, 2010
I often feel badly after having fried eggs or omelettes on an empty stomach. I'm totally fine if there's lots of home fries, toast etc. and I have never had a problem with eggs, butter, oil or milk in other contexts.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:25 PM on August 21, 2010
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:25 PM on August 21, 2010
Response by poster: I'm marking Brody's chum's answer as the best because even though it doesn't explain anything, I am fascinated by this possible solution. Even if it ultimately doesn't work for me.
Hilarious complication: I mostly hate carbonation! But I think I can stomach a swallow of fizzy apple juice, especially if it works the magic!
Also, thanks to the you're not crazy chimer-inners.
posted by the_blizz at 4:01 PM on August 21, 2010
Hilarious complication: I mostly hate carbonation! But I think I can stomach a swallow of fizzy apple juice, especially if it works the magic!
Also, thanks to the you're not crazy chimer-inners.
posted by the_blizz at 4:01 PM on August 21, 2010
I think the key difference between the egg dishes you describe as good and the bad ones is the temperature at which the yolks are cooked.
Scrambled eggs, omelettes, and quiche all involve exposing the yolks to temps >300F; hard and soft boiled eggs and sunny side up (arguably) do not.
The difference this makes, I think, is that harder cooking causes some yolk proteins to coagulate beyond the capacity of your stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to break them down.
Organisms lower in your digestive tract, however, suffer no such limitations, but unfortunately, their digestion of these coagulated proteins produces a lot of gas.
You can perform a quick and dirty test of this theory the next time you are prescribed a course of antibiotics for any reason. Try eating one of your problem egg dishes then. I'd guess it won't bother you much, but make it a small amount, because if the egg digesters are more resistant to the antibiotics than the rest of your intestinal flora, your reaction could be worse.
Carbonation enhances the production of stomach acid, by the way, and if you have a visceral reaction against it, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a sub-clinical case of GERD that your system is coping with by dialing down your stomach acid, and that could be the root of the entire problem.
posted by jamjam at 12:48 PM on August 22, 2010
Scrambled eggs, omelettes, and quiche all involve exposing the yolks to temps >300F; hard and soft boiled eggs and sunny side up (arguably) do not.
The difference this makes, I think, is that harder cooking causes some yolk proteins to coagulate beyond the capacity of your stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to break them down.
Organisms lower in your digestive tract, however, suffer no such limitations, but unfortunately, their digestion of these coagulated proteins produces a lot of gas.
You can perform a quick and dirty test of this theory the next time you are prescribed a course of antibiotics for any reason. Try eating one of your problem egg dishes then. I'd guess it won't bother you much, but make it a small amount, because if the egg digesters are more resistant to the antibiotics than the rest of your intestinal flora, your reaction could be worse.
Carbonation enhances the production of stomach acid, by the way, and if you have a visceral reaction against it, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a sub-clinical case of GERD that your system is coping with by dialing down your stomach acid, and that could be the root of the entire problem.
posted by jamjam at 12:48 PM on August 22, 2010
You might find this article interesting:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/seasonality-for-the-birds/
posted by Ness at 4:00 AM on August 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/seasonality-for-the-birds/
posted by Ness at 4:00 AM on August 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sbutler at 2:29 AM on August 21, 2010 [1 favorite]