We should not have to revisit, I hope, the importance of proteins at every meal, especially at breakfast – particularly for those who find it difficult to stabilize their blood sugar levels. This includes all those individuals who complain of sudden fatigue ("feeling low") who compensate by eating sugary foods, and, of course, all of those with abdominal fat.

There are five major families of protein-rich foods: meats, fish, shellfish, dairy products and eggs. One can see how appealing the last two can be, especially for breakfast where consumption of dairy and egg products represents a conventional way to start the day. These proteins, termed complete, are ideally suited to slow down the absorption of carbohydrates consumed concomitantly at meals.

There are also proteins, which we term incomplete, that are less suitable and should not therefore be consumed with starch (or restricting to a minimum).  We are talking here about legumes and the oleaginous plants (nuts) that we recommend you eat on their own, without carbohydrates: a lentil soup or a handful of hazelnuts being examples of very suitable snacks.

But let’s return to the topic of eggs as it is our main subject of the day. Unfortunately, one can observe many egg allergies that sit on the third step of the nasty allergy podium, after dairy products and cereals containing gluten: the bronze medal of the allergies, which eggs did not need given their reputation…

For patients highly allergic to eggs (we are talking here specifically about IgG allergies), there is nothing to propose apart from total abstinence.  However, for patients with mild allergy, an interesting solution is to vary the origin of the eggs: let’s forget the chickens for now and consider duck and quail eggs as alternatives. In the UK it is even relatively easy to find goose eggs (and even sea gull eggs in Scotland)!

Indeed, the major issue with eggs arises from their origin, which is exclusively and solely from chickens!  We are losing the fundamental principle of rotation that comes more spontaneously from the wide variety of fish and shellfish available and to a lesser extent meats. As far as meats are concerned it is useful to introduce a range of game (during the various  seasons) – game with feathers and game with hair – without forgetting horse, rabbit, turkey, ostrich, buffalo etc. The same principle of systematic rotations also applies, as far as possible, to animal milks, although there are obviously fewer alternatives available.

Another potential trick to reduce the allergic potential of eggs is to always cook the white and preserve the yolk raw, as we do when we eat a soft boiled egg or a poached egg. Having said that, a person who is highly allergic can be tested separately for egg white or egg yolk, to discover more precisely to which component they react to. In fact egg white is often more allergenic. But it is not always the case, so it is best to test both and work out a personalised strategy…

To close this subject let’s look at what represents the most fundamental failure: hens, just like other birds generally speaking, do not lay eggs all year round! Yes, nature – if it is respected – provides us with a spontaneous period of rest from eggs (thanks to the long winter nights), and any tendency to develop an allergy to eggs may disappear with the periodic discontinuation of their consumption.

It is the lack of respect for the nature fundamentals that generates the immense majority of food allergies and their accompanying suffering.  We will talk about this later on. Please take a look also at “LIST EGG” which can be downloaded from my website www.gmouton.com.