i know heating foods usually rids it of protein so i was wondering if this is true for eggs as well because i always hear people saying hard boiled egg whites are good sources of protein, but arent you heating up the egg to boil it? i personally eat egg omeletts and i was wondering if this is different from boiling an egg (for protein)?
thanks

As far as I am aware, you aren't really losing anything when you cook the eggs. I also love omelets. What I do to limit the fat, is use Egg Beaters (2 or 3 egg equivalent) and one whole egg. Not only does it taste like you've used all whole eggs...but it makes the fluffiest omelets ever.

Heating any protein damages it, but it doesn't kill it (hence the "Rocky" fad of gulping down raw eggs). But not cooking most foods presents a higher risk, so you have to make a comprimise. This is why sushi/sashimi is an excellent choice of meat. Undamaged protein and undamaged EFAs.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

I think the serving size on the egg carton goes by 1 cooked egg, not raw (who the hell would regularly eat raw eggs?)

No... nutrition value is for the raw food. That's just the way food is "graded". Same for beef and chicken etc.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

does the protein damage depend on how the food is prepared [ie. scrambled eggs as opposed to hard-boiled]?

Good question... I would think that boiling probably preserves protein content a little better since it doesn't come into direct contact with a searing surface. But I'm not sure... I wouldn't even know who to ask.

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Keep your body lean, your blood clean and your mind sharp. -Rollins

Cooking changes the molecular structure of the protein, causing amino acids to become fused together. It makes no difference what the source of heat is. Whether cooked protein is of any use, still offers some benefit or is actually dangerous from the health perspective is still an issue that has not been resolved by the experts on the subject and is, in fact, quite controversial. It seems quite reasonable to me to believe that "raw", unaltered protein is most beneficial and should be the major source of protein.