# Is is ok for 1-yr-old to eat eggs everyday? UPDATE msg #26



## pelirroja (May 9, 2008)

My gut tells me it's not good for her. But I eat eggs and toast nearly every day, and it's so easy for me to feed her the same thing I'm eating. I've tried to change things up a bit with french toast and pancakes, but those contain eggs too.

So, I guess I have two questions here: 1) Is it healthy to eat eggs everyday (and if not, why?), and 2) Can you suggest some alternative breakfast foods?

BTW, we only eat organic eggs, and dd only eats about half an egg at most in one sitting. She hasn't shown any signs of allergy/sensitivity to eggs or any other foods.

Thanks!


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## NatureMama3 (Feb 25, 2004)

why not? kids that age NEED cholesterol and that *is* the only objectionable thing in eggs right? otherwise they've got b-12, protein, etc that are great.


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## JElaineB (Nov 12, 2005)

I think it would be very healthy for her. I wish my DS would eat more eggs!


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

Very ok. My 2 year old loves eggs and eats them whenever I do. Eggs are very good for you.


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## pelirroja (May 9, 2008)

oooh, I love the responses so far!







I actually thought you all would shame me into getting more creative with breakfast. I'm happy to keep up the eggs and toast routine if there's no reason to change. Are you sure there's no "too much of a good thing" to worry about?


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

I think if you were feeding her a dozen eggs a day, it'd be bad, but one or a half? I think that's just fine.


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## Rainbow2911 (Dec 16, 2004)

My kids eat eggs everyday, including the 1 year old. They are a great source of nutrition and I can't think of any reason why not. My exMIL for some reason thinks that if you eat too many eggs you will become 'egg-bound' (I think she means constipated but honestly - who knows!







) but that has never happened here.


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## Vancouver Mommy (Aug 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rainbow2911* 
My kids eat eggs everyday, including the 1 year old. They are a great source of nutrition and I can't think of any reason why not. My exMIL for some reason thinks that if you eat too many eggs you will become 'egg-bound' (I think she means constipated but honestly - who knows!







) but that has never happened here.

I thought egg-bound was when a chicken couldn't push her own egg out.


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## Rainbow2911 (Dec 16, 2004)

Thats how I've always heard it before. Perhaps she just got really confused but she is convinced and I can't dissuade her!














Perhaps she is swallowing the eggs whole or something....







:







:


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## Kristofsmom (Jun 15, 2007)

Eggs are very healthful. HOWEVER... I'd be concerned about allergies. I only feed my family eggs three times a week because we are prone to allergies. When my son was 1, I only gave him eggs 1-2 times a week for the same reason.
Also, it's good to know that egg whites are more sensitizing than egg yolks. Besides, it's the yolk that has the bulk of the nutritional value, anyway. So you could approach it that way too...


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## Bad Horse (Mar 17, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Vancouver Mommy* 
I thought egg-bound was when a chicken couldn't push her own egg out.

No kidding! I have a bearded dragon and she was at some point egg bound... Birds and reptiles, yes, people? That would be weird if nothing else!









I wonder what the heck your mil was thinking of?


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## sharr610 (May 14, 2008)

My 1 year old eats eggs every morning for breakfast. I mix up the other things...sometimes its fruit and yougurt, sometimes oatmeal, sometimes a multigrain cracker...but the eggs, i eat them and he loves them, so we share. I mix up the eggs as well. Sometimes fried, sometimes a cheese omlette, sometimes scrambled with veggies...


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## goodygumdrops (Jan 25, 2007)

I give my 16 month old poached eggs often. I just watched him the first time to see if he was going to be allergic and now he's fine.

Kristofsmom- I don't understand why you only feed 1-2 times a week. If you babe was going to have a reaction to the eggs, it would have already happened, right?


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

Eggs are like a one-stop-shop for nutrition, really. The only "objectionable" thing in them is cholesterol, and little children don't need their cholesterol restricted-- quite the contrary. (Many people would even say that adults don't need it restricted, either, but that's another story.) No, I think eggs are GREAT for a toddler. My DD2 is crazy about hardboiled eggs.


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

I fed my son eggs every day and he became iron deficient. I did some research and found out that eggs (yolk and white) contain things that bind/block iron absorption. And if you get enough in diet they will bind the iron not only in that meal but in the whole day.

So from my perspective my only concerns would be allergies and impact on iron absorption.

I know that perspective on eggs isn't popular among traditional foods folks especially (which I do follow and why I was doing so much egg!). So:

http://www.cdfin.iastate.edu/update/...6/project5.htm

Quote:

Egg yolk protein is well known to decrease the absorption of iron because of the strong binding of iron to the phosvitin molecules, making iron unavailable for absorption (Juneja and Kim, 1997; Callender, 1970). It is estimated that a 20% egg yolk protein in the diet, which is equivalent to consuming 3 eggs per day, would contain enough phosvitin to bind all iron in the whole diet. Therefore, iron deficiency may be a problem in populations who consume large quantity of egg. The effect of yolk protein on the bioavailability of other essential multivalent ions, such as calcium, magnesium, and zinc is largely unknown.
Realize that the three eggs per day is for an adults 20% of diet....not a child size. And I wasn't surprised my son developed low iron as he had at least one for one meal almost every day but I was upset.

You can find a lot on google on the effect of egg white on iron absorption (well known inhibitor) so I won't link that.

I just don't think this is well known.

Alternative meals...around here we have "smoothies" for breakfast a lot. We don't do dairy but if you did it would be even easier--like yogurt and fruit. Cooked grains could be breakfast. Healthy muffins. Fruit and avocado. Sourdough toast with sausage. Cooked grain cereals (soaked too...he's young so he can form a good taste for healthy foods). Breakfast also doesn't have to be breakfast foods. You can do leftovers for breakfast even!


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## tanyalynn (Jun 5, 2005)

Quote:

I fed my son eggs every day and he became iron deficient. I did some research and found out that eggs (yolk and white) contain things that bind/block iron absorption. And if you get enough in diet they will bind the iron not only in that meal but in the whole day.
This sucks! And I was curious about my recent bloodwork in which my ferritin was a bit low--not out of range, but my doctor commented and thought I should supplement (which, of course, I ended up doing with a pill in the morning, when I eat eggs for breakfast every day). Because I didn't think I'd _ever_ had iron problems before, so this was a bit out of the blue.








What a bummer, now I need to think about the kids. Because we eat eggs daily, they are a staple.

Thanks for sharing sbgrace!!!


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## almadianna (Jul 22, 2006)

i am sure it is fine, mine does almost every day. she loves them and they are very good for you.
as usual everything in moderation but i dont see why not.


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## Polliwog (Oct 29, 2006)

My daughter has low iron and her pediatrician encourages her to eat eggs. She's 16-months-old.


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BethNC* 
My daughter has low iron and her pediatrician encourages her to eat eggs. She's 16-months-old.

Her pediatrician is misinformed. This can only make the situation worse. Please consider the link/research studies I posted above. Also google egg white and iron. Lots of research on that. It blocks it too; even worse possibly and that is well known. Most doctors would at least know that egg white would make egg a poor source. Most probably wouldn't know that eating yolk only is also not good. Anyway, no way is your pediatrician giving good advice.

If you'd like a food source red meat is the best if you aren't vegetarian. If you are look into things like black strap molasses. There are other "iron rich" foods that actually block iron too--dark fruits like raisins and red grapes and some greens like spinach that are high oxalate and unsoaked nuts/seeds. So if your daughter has low iron you do want to look into that closely.


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## A&A (Apr 5, 2004)

Just FYI, vitamin C increases iron absorption.

And peas are a good source of plant-based iron, if you're vegetarian.


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## Polliwog (Oct 29, 2006)

I spoke to her doctor. She's fine with having one egg a few times a week. She said that the egg might block iron absorption at that meal but wouldn't have any effect on early or later meals.

I don't like eggs so I don't make them very often, anyway.


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## pelirroja (May 9, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sbgrace* 
I fed my son eggs every day and he became iron deficient. I did some research and found out that eggs (yolk and white) contain things that bind/block iron absorption. And if you get enough in diet they will bind the iron not only in that meal but in the whole day.

Wow, that sucks. Dd is slightly anemic (at least, she was two months ago), and we've been trying to remedy it with diet rather than giving her iron supplements. I thought eggs were a good iron source, but guess I was wrong!







We're getting her tested again this week so we'll see if the eggs made things worse. Thanks for sharing this info, sbgrace.

I also wonder if all the eggs I've been eating are making me iron deficient as well. Maybe my fatigue isn't entirely due to dd's frequent night waking. Guess I should get myself tested as well.


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## Rafaela (Apr 11, 2008)

I had no idea about eggs and iron. I know someone people who has iron/thyroid issues, and she's been avoiding certain food that are known to block iodine absorption--I don't think she knows about eggs.

Here's a list of other goitrogenic foos.


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## Kristofsmom (Jun 15, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Gavin'smom* 
Kristofsmom- I don't understand why you only feed 1-2 times a week. If you babe was going to have a reaction to the eggs, it would have already happened, right?

No, not necessarily. You can develop allergies - particularly if you are prone to them and especially if you consume the certain food in question every day.


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## sora (Oct 7, 2006)

I remember reading from mercola.com that eating eggs everyday can cause allergy to eggs. I ignored it and ate them everyday. But I seemed to have developed allergy. I don't trust a lot of what Dr. mercola says though. He is promoting particular products on his website, by which he makes money.


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## pelirroja (May 9, 2008)

Well, turns out the answer to my original question is NO - it is NOT ok for a 1-yr-old to eat eggs every day. I just got the results from dd's blood work - she is MORE iron deficient and anemic than she was two months ago, despite our best efforts to boost the iron in her diet. Of course, I can't say for sure that it's the egg that prevented her from absorbing iron, but...

I'm feeling pretty dumb for not figuring this out earlier. Now we have to give her an iron supplement - yuck! Thanks to all of you who offered your insights. MDC is such a good resource!


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## JenLiz (Sep 17, 2006)

pelirroja -- how much did your doc say is "OK"? thanks for updating us!


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## kjbrown92 (Dec 13, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *pelirroja* 
Wow, that sucks. Dd is slightly anemic (at least, she was two months ago), and we've been trying to remedy it with diet rather than giving her iron supplements. I thought eggs were a good iron source, but guess I was wrong!







We're getting her tested again this week so we'll see if the eggs made things worse. Thanks for sharing this info, sbgrace.

I also wonder if all the eggs I've been eating are making me iron deficient as well. Maybe my fatigue isn't entirely due to dd's frequent night waking. Guess I should get myself tested as well.

What do you consider "frequent" night waking? Because that is a symptom of food intolerance, and if she has a food intolerance, then that may be why she's iron deficient, since it can cause malabsorption...


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