I believe I have stumbled onto a solution to bradycardia, or low pulse rate. I first heard about bradycardia, when a man at the gym I attend fainted in the shower. My wife and I took him to his home, and later he went to a health facility, and was wired up to read his pulse for several hours. His pulse went down to about 30 during the night. He is very fit, and swims about a mile a day. He is probably in his 60s. He said that if his pulse rate had gone below 25, the doctors would have recommended a pacemaker.
Now for my case. I am 74, and I am also fit. When I was in my 40s, I ran 13 marathons over about a 5-year period. My best average pace was 7:03 per mile in the 1980 Woodlands Marathon. My resting pulse would routinely be around 50, then. I took it as a sign that I was healthy. The last few years I have been working out a lot, either walking on the hike and bike trail or at the University of Texas Gregory Gym, or on a rubber track at a nearby junior high, or in the neighborhood, or in a mall. I also walk on a treadmill at the gym, up to 4 mph, and I stop the motion if my pulse gets over 140. My wife and I try to get a mile or two in every day. When I have been training for the Capitol 10k, which I did the last three years, I walked as far as 8 miles in a day a couple of times, and 6 miles three times (Race days). I have a theory, that since it is harder for me to walk because of a balance problem, (and age) that maybe I am working out as much, now, as I was in my 40s. It's easier to tire me now, and my pulse rate at night can get down to 30 or less. The following explains why I tried raw eggs: I read a book by Dr. Al Sears, P.A.C.E., the 12 minute Fitness Revolution. In it, he recommends eating a couple of raw eggs per day. He says:
"Eggs are the highest quality protein you can eat, cooked or raw. However, you'll absorb a raw egg in as little as 30 minutes, where it takes 2 to 4 hours to digest cooked eggs. Raw eggs are an excellent source of the essential fatty acid, DHA. Docosahexaenoic acid or DHA can ease hypertension, depression, brain function, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and cancer....It seems the cooking process may reduce other nutrients in the eggs. Cooking eggs denatures their DHA. Along with their DHA, other nutrients and proteins collapse in the cooking process.” Al Sears, MD, P.A.C.E., the 12 minute Fitness Revolution (Page214).
There is a lot more, but I will just give his web address, and you can choose whether to read it :
After reading this, I found my own method. My wife buys locally produced organic eggs, and I rinse a couple of them, then ladle a little boiling water over them, one at a time, so that the surface is covered, then ease each of them into room temperature tap water. Then I crack them into a bowl and with an electric egg beater, I whip them up, add a half cup of milk per egg, with a little nutmeg and salt. Voilá! Eggnog. I usually pray for protection from salmonella, then bottoms up. (If the eggs crack during the sterilization, I put them in the refrigerator for later cooking).
I started taking 1 egg a day, and I noticed that during that time, my pulse would get down to 50 or so in the night, when I was relaxed. When I was taking 2 eggs, it would stay above about 60, pretty consistently. Since that time I've decided to do two a day. I have a friend at church who is an M.D., a urologist, and I told him about Dr. Sears' idea and my application of it. He thought it might be the protein that made the difference. The egg idea needs to be tested by a larger group than one! And another thing: I eat the shells of the jumbo brown eggs. It could be that they make my teeth whiter, plus the calcium is not wasted. I read that Dr. David G. Williams, from whom I get two kinds of probiotics and prostate herbal medication, recommended eating egg shells, at least in broth:
“Bone broths are easy to make. Begin with bones from fish, poultry, beef, lamb, or pork. The bones can be raw or cooked, and they can be stripped of meat or still contain meat remnants and skin. I also add leftover eggshells because the membrane that separates the white from the shell contains four joint-boosting nutrients—hyaluronic acid, glucosamine, chondroitin, and collagen.”
In Dr. Williams’ Unabridged Library of Medical Lies, p. 51, he tells how to use Irish Coffee as first aid for stroke. (His website is
Experience: From 14 May 2010 to 30 July 2010, 77 days, I had 112 eggs, either large or jumbo, 2.5 oz or 3 oz., respectively, (typically). After 112 eggs and 98 egg shells, I had settled on 2 jumbos a day, usually in the morning, anytime from 3 AM to 7 AM. My resting pulse rate, when I’m properly fortified, is usually about 60 beats per minute. I made several course corrections. Before I started doing the egg routine, my resting pulse was measured every few days from 3 May 2010 to 10 May, with numbers 38, ––, 35, ––, ––, 30,––, 32. During the time I was “taking” one egg a day, the resting pulse came up somewhat, which encouraged me, although they were in the low 40s. Then I missed a day three times in four days, and my pulse got down to 28. When I started taking the eggs again, the minimum pulse came up to the 40s, but one day when I had an egg at about 8:40 PM, my pulse at about 5:30 AM, about 9 hours later, got down to 23. Not wanting to be a candidate for a pacemaker, I got up and had an egg. For insurance, I started taking 2 large eggs a day. Things seemed to be going along smoothly, and then my pulse got down to 38. I decided to do 2 Jumbo eggs a day. My pulse is strong and regular. Latest thing: Since the only time I might have a problem with bradycardia is at night, I think, I’ve started doing this: I make up a cup of “egg nog,” according to the recipe below, and drink half at bed time, and half at a later pit stop, e.g., 3 to 6 AM. Tonight, 30 July 2010, was the eighth time I’ve tried this. Each night I had the shells with the first batch. I haven’t experienced really low pulse rates when I have had 1 or 2 eggs in the last six or seven hours.
My web address is
Egg nog Recipe
My recipe for unsweetened “egg nog” is 2 jumbo (~3 oz.) brown organic eggs, one cup milk, 2 or 3 shakes of nutmeg, a quarter tsp. of vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. I use an egg beater, because it’s a lot easier to sterilize than a blender. To prevent salmonella, etc., I am careful to make sure the bowl, beaters, etc. that come in contact with the eggs or milk are very clean. I whip up the eggs on high until they are well mixed, then add the milk, etc. and beat the combination a few seconds. I drink half at bedtime and the other half goes to the refrigerator until early in the morning. (As I usually drink about a half gallon of liquid during the day, I can usually count on 2 or more pit stops during the night).
PS On 26 July 2010 I had a substantial steak at home, rare, (and rarely)and didn’t have the eggs, but didn’t experience any low pulse rates. So maybe protein is a major player, as Dr. Steve H. mentioned. DWC
PPS Flossing the teeth after eating egg shells is interesting. It might be a boon for the makers of floss. DWC
PPPS I take Resveratrol Plus, Restful Night Essentials and advice from Dr. Whitaker. DWC
PPPPS I am descended from Reverend William A. Whitaker through my great-great grandmother, Anna Augusta Whitaker. Dr. Whitaker was Master of St. John's College, Cambridge University in the 1500s. I wonder if Dr. Julian Whitaker is my kinsman. My grandfather and great grandfather on my mother's side were doctors. My web page is
