Eggs are a great breakfast meal. They are packed with proteins and other nutrients. For years, cholesterol content of egg yolks was questioned but now doctors agree that it is not bad for your heart.
Eggs are easy to prepare and fun to eat. If you enjoy eating eggs but if you get diarrhea after eating them then all pleasure to eat them is lost.
If this is just one off experience then it may have nothing to do with eggs. But, if you wonder why do eggs give you diarrhea every time you eat them then you need to examine why?
Eggs Nutrition
It is important to understand the nutrient contents of eggs to zero in to find why it causes diarrhea.
Eggs are a low-carb (1 gram per large egg), low sugar sugar and no fiber food. Contains 5 grams of fat from which about 1.6 grams is saturated fat. The balance 3.4 gram is polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat.
Most of its fat is in the yolk. If you prepare eggs in fat then extra fat and calories are added.
An egg contains 4 to 5 grams high-quality complete protein in the egg white. (1) Yolk hardly contributes to any protein.
They are rich in vitamins and minerals too. They contain vitamin D , vitamin A ,Viamin E and Vitamin B-complex vitamins, riboflavin, phosphorus, selenium, and choline.(2)
Diarrhea Basics
Diarrhea means your stools or bowel movements are loose and watery. It’s common and usually not serious.
You may also begin to feel bloating in your belly, cramps, nausea and throwing up. It may also induce frequent and urgent needs to rush to the toilet to have a bowel movement.
The whole purpose of eating healthy eggs to keep you healthy gets defeated by these bouts of rushing to the toilets.
When you lose so much water through the stools, you begin to get dehydrated and feel exhausted.
You may decide to never eat eggs again. But hold on, you need to really know what is happening in your body after eating eggs before taking such a drastic decision of not eating them.
Let’s explore...
Why Do Eggs Give Me Diarrhea After Eating them?
There can be many reasons for your diarrhea through eggs. Following are the 3 main ones.
Lack of Fiber
Eggs are rich in proteins but have no fiber contents. For a healthy bowel movement you need fiber to make mass as well as push the stools. Since there is no fiber in eggs you can get diarrhea.
Solution is simple in this case. Eat your eggs with fiber containing foods. A whole meal bread or green salad will fit the bill at breakfast time.
Egg Intolerance
Some your body may not be able to tolerate eggs. What it means is that your body doesn’t have enough enzymes to digest proteins in the eggs.
This may lead to diarrhea, low energy, headaches and joint pains etc immediately or within the next 24 hours or so.
In this case you can start with a small quantity of egg at a time such as half a boiled egg and gradually increase your quantity as the body begins to accept it by producing the required enzymes.
Egg Allergy
If you have an allergy to the proteins of eggs then you will have to give up eating eggs. The immune system misreads them as harmful intruders and responds to them to protect the body.
You may get one or more of the symptoms of allergy which may or may not include diarrhea. But irrespective of the symptom of allergy you have to stop eating eggs. Food allergies can be life threatening in some cases.
Always check with your doctor if you have allergy symptoms such as runny nose, rashes in addition to diarrhea after eating eggs.
Lack of hygiene can also be one of the other reasons for your diarrhea after eating eggs. Salmonella and other bacterial contamination on the surface of the eggs or even inside the perfectly looking egg can cause diarrhea.
So always wash the surface of the eggs and prepare them by cooking thoroughly. Don't consume raw yolk.
Take away
Eggs are nutritious tasty food. You don't have to give up on them if you get diarrhea after eating. Identify the cause and rectify it to continue to enjoy eggs. If you have egg allergy then you have no choice but to stop eating eggs.
1.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14778801/
2.https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/renewable-agriculture-and-food-systems/article/vitamins-a-e-and-fatty-acid-composition-of-the-eggs-of-caged-hens-and-pastured-hens/552BA04E5A9E3CD7E49E405B339ECA32