Another reason why eggs are among the healthiest foods on the planet

Happy Week-That-We-Really-Need-To-Start-Being-More-Thankful-For-Things!

            I have now made deviled eggs a whopping twice in my life (both this Thanksgiving week) and have since convinced myself that the fluid balance in my recipe is perfect. Given that, I guess the world deserves to know my secret...

First, the recipe for some bomb deviled eggs:

1.      8 whole, hard-boiled eggs

2.      5 Tbsp Mayo

3.      1 Tsp Vinegar

4.      1 Tsp Mustard

5.      SPICE

Note that the recipe is extremely flexible and scalable. I use cage-free eggs, apple cider vinegar, poupon/horseradish mustard, mayonnaise made with olive oil, and a liberal myriad of whatever spices I’m feeling/are available (get creative). Sea salt is the [good] shit. Also note that I prefer to make food that will extend the lives of those who eat it rather than shorten them, hence the non-conventional staple ingredients. Either way, it’s hard to ruin the health benefits of eggs. Note that eggs from humanely raised, cage-free chickens are way better than those eggs you can get at Wally World for 88 cents a dozen. I’m half-Jew and even I can resist the urge to buy the cheapest thing on the shelf when it means I'm supporting something I believe in, so you can, too. Don’t encourage that.

Now for the good part – I think I figured out a new reason why eggs are among the healthiest foods on the planet and you will be among the first to read it:

Eggs contain lots of Sulfur. When anaerobes in your GI tract ferment organic sulfur compounds like the amino acid cysteine, they produce H₂S (the sulfur analogue of water), among other small sulfur-containing molecules. You also naturally produce H₂S and use it as a signaling molecule, albeit in smaller quantities. When you fart, you release a small amount of the gaseous metabolite (which exhibits a characteristic "rotten egg" aroma),¹ that may, believe it or not, actually be beneficial to inhale. Note that H₂S smells strongly because it is toxic in larger quantities and naturally abundant in places like volcanoes, therefore your nose has receptors that have evolved to detect extremely low concentrations of the gas. That being said, if you hold in too many farts, the H₂S will be directly absorbed back into your system and is much more likely to poison you from the inside, since in that case none of the gas is dissipated.

Anyway, recent research indicates that H₂S is a pretty potent anti-inflammatory chemical at low concentrations, suppressing the expression of inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-23, among others, and in some cases increasing the expression of anti-inflammatory IL-10.² The molecule is also involved in mediating NF-κB and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) activity,² the former of which is involved in recruitment of other cytokines and the latter of which is the same enzyme that traditional NSAID drugs like aspirin are thought to inhibit. H₂S is a pivotal player in tissue repair likely due to its stimulatory roles in mitochondria, its ability to modulate the growth, death, and activity of immune cells, as well as its physical reducing power. It has also been found to foster a healthy GI-tract, due both to its engagement in gastric mucosa signaling and likely also to its inherent antimicrobial activity. Experiments suggest that consumption of H₂S-precursor drugs do, indeed, reduce inflammatory symptoms in mice and rats. ²

Take-home message: Fart-gas is actually an antioxidant, so sniff up.

Since this was just kind of meant to be a fun fact, that will be all for now. For more information and an awesome related project, check out this link: 

https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/ee476/FinalProjects/s2009/rac82_mos22/rac82_mos22/

References:

1.      René E Cormier. “Chapter 90: Abdominal Gas”, Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations, 3^rd Edition, Boston, MA: Butterworths. Available from: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201/>. (1990)

2.      John Wallace, et al. “Gaseous mediators in resolution of inflammation”, Seminars in Immunology, 27(3), 227-233. (2015)