A question I often hear asked when making a protein shake without using protein powder is: Can you make a protein shake with egg whites?

Now that protein smoothies are in vogue, many people would like to drink a protein shake as a meal replacement, without using protein powders: partly because they are not used to using them, partly because they are really wary of the product, considered the exclusive prerogative of those who play sports.

So many people would try egg whites instead, which are now sold in most supermarkets.

Can you make a protein shake with egg whites?

The answer is: it depends. From what? By the type of egg white.
If we buy pasteurized egg whites, we can also consume them raw. This is because the pasteurization of the egg white, obtained by subjecting the egg white to a temperature of about 60 °, neutralizes the two main problems of ingesting raw egg white.
Which are the following.

• Avidin. Egg white contains a glycoprotein known as avidin , which is closely related to the vitamin biotin. This bond is split through cooking, while if we ingest the egg white raw, the combination of avidin + biotin can cause intestinal absorption problems of the biotin itself and also be toxic.
  So the problem is not that avidin does not allow the absorption of egg proteins: but that the compound itself is not absorbed by the intestine, remains there, and can trigger as a result of allergic actions, as well as a deficiency from biotin. One thing is clear:it’s not that if one day you drink or eat something with raw egg white you feel bad and who knows what happens to you. Toxic reactions occurred for the most part in the cattle farm fed on raw egg whites. In that case, the biotin deficiency is also a consequence of the fact that there was no variety in the diet, while in an omnivorous diet, the problem of biotin deficiency is rarer.
• Risk of salmonellosis, and in general of bacterial contamination. 

So if we use pasteurized egg whites these two problems do not arise. If, on the other hand, we use unpasteurized egg whites, even from very fresh eggs, these problems exist and we cannot eat them raw.

How can we use egg white in our smoothies if we don’t find pasteurized ones on the market?

Simple: the egg white can be cooked. I know it may sound strange, but if you cook one part of egg white and two parts of water in a saucepan until boiling, you will get a whitish cream. I recommend turning off immediately when it boils. Let it cool (if you want you can also keep it in the fridge: when it cools it will tend to thicken, but not much) and use it as a base for your protein shakes.
I remind you that 100 grams of egg white (to be cooked) provide over 100 grams of easily assimilated proteins and 52 calories.

You can add the mixture of water and cooked egg whites to fruit and vegetables, vegetable milk, seeds, dried fruit, cocoa, normal milk and Greek yogurt without problems to create your combinations: I recommend not to add water then if you do not want to further dilute the protein shake.