The Truth About Eggs: Debunking Myths and Understanding Quality - A Comprehensive Guide
As a health coach, I find eggs fascinating. For years, eggs were wrongfully demonized for their high cholesterol content, but as we began to question the nutritional narratives handed to us by the corporate 'Diet Dictocrats' that run this country's shit-show of a food system, we began realizing as a collective that eggs play a critical role in the management and maintenance of health.
First and foremost, eggs are among the most nutritous foods on the planet! Not only are eggs considered the gold standard for protein, but they contain massive amounts of bioavailable micronutrients such as Choline, Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Vitamin K2, Biotin, and Folate (among many others). These nutrients are essential for brain, blood, and reproductive health. Not to mention, those pesky cholesterols we have all been warned about are actually good for us and are necessary for building cells in the body and boosting brain health.
Contrary to popular belief, eggs do not negatively impact heart health. In this blog and my coaching practice, I actively reject the purported "research" that cholesterol and saturated fat cause heart disease. It's industry-funded propaganda designed to push Americans away from nourishing traditional foods that we can provide ourselves with and into the arms of industrial food products where profits can be made.
Moreover, eggs are incredibly filling and can help with weight management. Eating eggs for breakfast has been shown to reduce calorie intake for the rest of the day, leading to significant weight loss over time. Pairing eggs with other nutritious foods like well-sourced meat products or raw dairy and cooking them in grass-fed butter amplifies your meal to create sustainable support that will carry you through the entire day.
Before we get too excited thinking all eggs are treated the same, it's important to acknowledge that quality and sourcing are important. Heading to the grocery store is more empowering when you are armed with the information to know what your options are. Here is a rundown of egg labels and what they mean.
Conventional Eggs: These are your standard, low-cost white eggs that you can find at any grocery store. These eggscome from chickens that are confined indoors in cramped cages, never seeing natural sunlight, and are fed exclusively on GMO grains like corn and soy. These eggs are of the lowest nutritional quality due to their poor dietary diversity and low-quality living conditions. They even have higher ratios of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, making them more inflammatory.
Cage Free: these eggs come from chickens that aren't technically in cages but are still crammed together indoors and arefed a similarly low-quality diet, resulting in eggs of lower nutritional quality.
Free Range: Slightly more ethical, with more consideration for the instinctual behavior of the chicken, these hens get access to limited outdoor space for parts of the day, and probably don't get the opportunity to forage on actual grasses or plants. These chickens are also still fed conventional grains and food products.
Pasture Raised: This is where we start to see improvements in chicken health, well-being, and egg quality. These chickens are allowed to forage on pastures. They are more than likely still being fed supplementary conventional grains. Chicken instincts and behavior are accommodated here, and if animal happiness is important to you, pastured eggs are a great way to optimize this. Pastured eggs have a better balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, even more so when organic!
Organic Pasture Raised: The conditions are the same as above, except the supplemental feed given to the chickens is certified organic, which means it is also non-GMO. This further improves the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid profile and helps to optimize nutrition in the quality of the eggs produced. Organic grains are also not contaminated with as many chemicals, pesticides, and herbicides. Chickens live a better quality of life, enjoy more nutritious food, and get plenty of time outside in fresh air and sunshine. The downside to this list is that the further we go, the more expensive these eggs get.
Regenerative eggs: These are the cream of the crop, the best eggs you can get. Regenerative agricultural practices ensure that soil health is the basis for plant health, which in turn is the most nutritious food source for healthy chickens to lay healthy eggs.
Moral of the story? It matters what our food eats!
Want to take it a step further for quality eggs? You can search for local farmers selling eggs and buy them directly. As grocery store prices increase based on egg quality, you may save a lot more money by purchasing your high-quality eggs straight from the farmer, cutting out the extra costs of the middleman (grocery store). Then you can ask your farmer what their practices are (cage-free, pastured, regenerative, organic fed, etc.), and you can select products based on your preferred practices!
For example, the woman I used to get my eggs from (shout-out to Tiffany at Dynamite-acres) charged me 4 dollars per dozen for her pastured, conventionally fed chicken eggs, a much nicer rate than what my grocery store was charging for the same quality. I could argue that the eggs from my farmer were better quality in that I was able to form a relationship with the person raising my food. I was also able to see the conditions of the birds and confirm the quality of the eggs.
I eventually decided to get my own chickens so I could have all the eggs I wanted. I was able to save even more money to feed my chickens an organic, non-GMO diet while letting them roam on pasture to eat bugs and grass, run around, and interact with nature the way chickens were born to do. The price of the quality of eggs I am now producing at home is $11.45 per dozen at my local grocery store! It's comforting to know that if we fall on hard times, we can lean more on our nutritious eggs laid right here at home to support us.
As a primal health coach, I know eggs can truly play an important role in a well-balanced diet! They help nourish the body, curb carb cravings, increase satiety, stabilize blood sugar, manage insulin spikes and increase energy. Now that you know eggs are healthy and can source them for your preferred quality, go ahead and enjoy as many as you'd like, guilt-free!
Can't have chicken eggs? This is a common problem for many people. Those who cannot have chicken eggs tend to do really well on eggs of other species such as ducks, quail or even goose eggs!
Questions about nutrition, coaching, or both? Fill out the contact form on my website here or book a free 30-minute consultation with me here! I would love to meet you!
Need help finding eggs locally in your community? Do a simple google search, or use these resources to track down local farmers with animal products you can buy directly.
My Health Forward Local Farm Map
Weston A. Price Foundation Raw Milk Locator
Happy healing,
