The Truth About Eggs

Over the past year I’ve been contemplating eggs.  I know, weird.  Who does that?!  Like everyone, I used to buy my eggs at the supermarket – 99 cents a dozen.  Cheap food.  Then I started reading about eggs—particularly, factory eggs.  Very quickly my fantasy image of chickens running around in the grass, squawking and pecking, dissolved into mist as I learned how laying hens are actually raised in the real world of factory hen houses.  I guess I was pretty naïve. 

So I started buying the “organic” eggs, which by the way, are three to four times more expensive—but worth it, in my estimation, because they were bound to be a healthier product. Right?  Well... maybe.

Knowledge is progressive, you know.  As soon as you’re confident you know the truth about something, up pops another inconvenient fact to throw your confidence to the wind.  Last year I picked up a book with an intriguing title, Folks, This Ain’t Normal, by the notorious naturalist farmer, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm fame.  And I discovered the significant difference between “organic” eggs and authentically free-ranged eggs.  Many of the egg brands claiming “free range” or “cage free” merely house their chickens in a giant barn instead of cages.  They may or may not get any actual ranging.  One brand claims to allow a 1.75 square feet indoor space and a whole 5 square feet outdoor space per hen… except in California where they’re worried about avian flu.  Generous, don’t you think?  But hardly what most people would consider free-range.  Pastured chickens are actually allowed – even encouraged – to run around in a pasture or field and peck in the grass.  Don’t be fooled by the “organic” label.

Chickens are scavengers by nature. If left to run around on their own, they eat grass and wild plants and scratch around for bugs.  They require protein in their diet, and a strictly vegetarian-fed chicken will be undernourished. If you buy eggs certified as “vegetarian fed,” those eggs will be short-changed in the nutrition department.

In a recent study sponsored by Mother Earth News, the USDA standard nutritional egg profile (factory egg) was compared to eggs from twelve different pastured egg producers.  One of those pastured egg producers was the aforementioned Polyface Farm.  The results were notable.  Salatin’s pastured eggs had more than 7 times the vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3s, twice the vitamin A, and over 10,000 times the folate (a B vitamin) of factory eggs.  Not only that, they contained about half the cholesterol and about 30% less saturated fat (if you worry about those things).  It’s fair to assume that all eggs from chickens allowed to roam freely in a pasture or grassy field will have similar results.  You can see the difference in the yolks.  Pastured egg yolks have a rich orangey color to them.  It's true - you're going to pay more for real pastured eggs, but, like the old saying goes... you get what you pay for!

Eggs have had a bad rap over the years, primarily due to the misunderstanding of the role of dietary cholesterol on the body.  But eggs are loaded with nutritional goodness.  For starters, the protein in eggs is the highest quality protein found in any food, according to the experts at IncredibleEgg.org.

In addition, egg yolks are the richest source of choline, an important nutrient that helps with the body’s chemical processes.  The body is capable of making some but relies on the diet for most of what it needs.  Choline is a key component of acetylcholine, the primary chemical responsible for sending messages between nerves and muscles.  It is also a main component of many fat-containing structures in cell membranes, keeping them flexible and maintaining structural integrity.  Choline also helps protect the body against inflammation.  Most people are deficient.  The recommended intake of choline is 550 mg/day for men and 425 mg/day for women—two large eggs (yolks, not whites) provide roughly 225 mg.  Getting enough choline is especially important for pregnant women because it is essential for brain and memory development in the baby.

Another valuable nutrient in eggs is lutein, which supports eye health and is thought to be important in preventing macular degeneration and cataracts. Though spinach is also high in lutein, the body absorbs this nutrient more readily from egg yolks.  The reason for this is lutein is a fat-soluble nutrient, and cannot be absorbed unless fat is also present.  Make a spinach omelet, and you'll get a very tasty double-dose of this nutrient!

Nutritionists still worry, though, about the dangers of eating too many eggs.  They recommend one a day, though no reason for this restriction is given (that I have found), and I suspect it’s related to the lingering fear that dietary cholesterol is connected to heart disease, a belief that is being gradually debunked by research—specifically a total lack of evidence for such a connection.

So unless you’re allergic to eggs, eat up! 

Finding good quality eggs is not easy these days; but with a little effort, it is possible.  If you live in a rural area, check around for farmers that may have eggs for sale.  If you’re more of an urban dweller, look for farmer’s markets.  Make sure you ask questions about pasturing and feed.  Avoid eggs from hens that are fed a soy-based feed.  The dangerous soy protein isoflavones have been found to transfer into the eggs of the chickens that eat it!  

Once you’ve experienced real eggs, you’ll never go back to those imitation factory eggs again!