Eggs are an exceptionally nutritious food, as are all foods destined to nourish a growing animal. However, one concern lies in eggs' high concentration of arachidonic acid (AA), a long-chain omega-6 fat that is the precursor to many eicosanoids. Omega-6 derived eicosanoids are essential molecules that are involved in healing, development and defense. Some of them are inflammatory mediators that can contribute to disease when present in excess. Eggs are one of the main sources of AA in the modern diet.
The percent long-chain omega-6 fats (including AA) in red blood cell membranes associates quite well with heart attack risk. You can see the relationship in this graph compiled by Dr. Bill Lands. However, egg consumption has never been convincingly linked to heart attack risk or any other disorder I'm aware of, despite dire warnings about eggs' cholesterol content. Nevertheless, conventionally raised eggs are unnaturally rich in AA, and unnaturally low in omega-3, due to the hens' diet of grains and soybeans.
The ideal egg is one that comes from a hen raised outdoors (often on pasture), in a place where she can eat a variety of green plants and insects. Hens raised this way typically still eat grain-based feed, but supplemented with a significant amount of foraged food. This dramatically increases the nutritional value of the eggs, as I've noted before. Modern hens lay nearly one egg a day, which is a rate of production that can not be sustained without a large amount of calorie-dense food. They can't eat enough to lay at this rate by foraging.
Not everyone has access to pastured eggs. "Omega-3 eggs" come from hens fed an omega-3 enriched diet*. Not only do they have a much higher omega-3 content than conventional eggs, they also contain less AA. One study found that omega-3 eggs contain 39% less AA than conventional and organic eggs. Omega-3 eggs were also rich in short- and long-chain omega-3 fats. Omega-3 eggs are certainly not nutritionally equivalent to pastured eggs, but they're a step in the right direction.
I don't really know if the AA content of eggs is a concern. Eicosanoid biology is complex and it doesn't like to fit into simple models. I'll look forward to seeing more research on the matter. In the meantime, I'll be eating pastured eggs, and when they're not available I'll eat omega-3 eggs.
*Typically from flax seeds, but some operations also use seaweed. The hens in the paper I cited were fed flax. The hens managed to convert a substantial portion of the alpha-linolenic acid into the important animal fat DHA, and presumably EPA although it was not measured.
61 comments:
Stephan, where should I try to find pasture-fed eggs? Maybe Whole Foods or Akins+
Something I've always wondered. Wouldn't cooking the eggs destroy the Omega 3?
Jim, you need to contact a farmer directly in most cases to get pastured eggs. Best to visit the farm and actually see the chickens running around.
I purchase Christopher Eggs brand eggs at my local Kroger owned store. Each egg has 660mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acid.
Looking at http://www.christophereggs.com
website, they say they have developed a better nutritional program for their layers which was developed in Belgium.
"The formula for Christopher Eggs was designed by Belovo, a Belgian egg processing company with expertise in developing health oriented food ingredients, oils and egg based powders.
"In developing Christopher Eggs, Belovo researched nutrition and the human and animal diet, both historic and contemporary. The natural diet of the ancestors of our modern chicken was far more varied, including an extended range of seeds, pulses and green vegetation. This diet yielded eggs with a better nutrient content and a better balance of essential fatty acids.
Currently, many other eggs are from chickens fed primarily wheat and soya. This results in eggs that are much lower in Omega-3 than Omega-6 fatty acids, and does nothing to adjust the shortage of Omega-3 that is widespread in Western diets."
It would be great to have an independent researcher test
Enova's claim regarding their omega 3 eggs.
I was originally made aware of these eggs on the website for Slankers grass fed beef.
http://www.texasgrassfedbeef.com
There are NO pastured eggs sold at any of the grocery stores I'm aware of, including "health food" stores like Whole Foods. Those eggs are "cage free", which does not mean the chickens actually have access to pasture. It simply means their cages have no doors.
Michael Pollan wrote about this in The Omnivore's Dilemma. He visited a so-called "free range" egg producer in Northern California. The chickens their were in small cages with no doors, and had access to a small enclosed patio (no grass, greenery, insects, or anything like that). The chickens are kept inside the first couple months of their lives to protect them from catching disease, and as a result even when they have the opportunity to go outside later they don't.
The only place to buy truly pasture-raised eggs is from a local farmer's market or a local farm.
Or, of course, you can get chickens and raise them yourself. This is what we're doing. We live in a very urban area, but we've got nine chickens. We feed them an organic grain mixture, but they have access to our yard each day and eat a lot of greens, insects, grubs, etc. I also sprinkle some flax seed on the ground each day to increase the n-3 content of their eggs.
Stephan, I've just looked at "Omega-3" eggs from Whole Foods, and it says on the box that each egg provides 260 mg of omega3. However, just below it is specified that 112 mg come from ALA and only 56 mg from DHA. So I'm not sure just how efficient those chickens are in converting flax ALA to DHA!
You can get truly pastured eggs at some groceries in the Indianapolis area: see http://sevenspringsindiana.com/aboutus.aspx.
I allow my little flock to free range, but also give them a commercial laying mash. They largely ignore the mash when they're free ranging. The birds I've butchered have crops stuffed mostly with green leafy plants.
Stephan, in that graph, is the ordinate CHD deaths per 100,000 people per year?
I do not know about US, but here the omgea-3 eggs are always from caged hens. Now, IF stress and such has any meaning on hens (as it has on people, and as it seems to have on many animals), I bet that cage-free living is on the winning side, even with less-than-optimal food.
So, I prefer any non-caged variety eggs to eggs from caged hens... while dreaming on a hen house at our back yard, like my auntie did for decades.
With regards,
LeenaS
Hi Jim,
Some health food stores will carry pastured eggs. Whole foods might, but I doubt it. Your best bet is a local farmer's market or local farmer. "Free range" eggs, while better than conventional eggs (mostly for humane reasons), are not the same as pastured eggs.
Hi Ellen,
Cooking eggs in typical ways will not destroy the omega-3.
Hi Roman,
That's actually quite a high conversion rate. It's less DHA than you'd find in fish oil, but for a land animal, that's a lot of DHA.
Hi John,
I believe so.
Hey Stephan!
I always like it when you post that n-6 HUFA graph... turns me completely OFF TO VEGGIE OILS... that is why I stopped canola... and try to be like the Greenland Inuits. I think Cordain's research shows they consume about 4-5 g n-6 daily but apparently the RBC lipid bilayer content of n-6 and AA are much lower. Their n-3 PUFA intake on the other hand is like ASTRONOMICAL 13-14 grams EPA DHA daily. That probably influences the lower n-6 membrane contents reported. Do you think?
BTW Omega-3 free-range eggs also contain 8-10 X more lutein and other anti-inflammatory carotenoids, thus the richer, distinctly deeper yolky colors and tastes! Every hormone, cholesterol, iodine and vitamins that we need to maintain perfect vision, hearing and other senses is found in egg yolks, God's perfect food.
Thanks for yet another perfect and fine post!!! *wink* You are PERFECT.
Stephan,
As per Ellens comment and your reply. I have always wondered why it's not OK to heat flax seed oil, but it is OK to heat Omega 3 in meat,fish and eggs. What makes them different than flax?
Inconveniently, chickens raised naturally (pastured) are subject to an aspect of nature we don't usually encounter in the grocery store: seasonality. Egg production slows to a crawl and often stops entirely in the winter months unless coops are artificially lighted and the hen's diets supplemented to a caloric level well beyond what's typically available around the farm in winter. The local farmer here in Colorado who holds my cowshare for raw milk also provides me with pastured eggs every week (a side of grass feed beef too - I'm all in!), but the eggs have pretty much stopped for the season. Other producers who sell at the weekly farmer's market are producing less and are selling out in the first few minutes where just a month ago they all had eggs left over at the end of the day.
As fall progresses and winter approaches, if you're seeing pastured eggs in the northern climes there is a good chance the hens are eating grain.
I've taken to hardboiling the eggs, eating the yolks and throwing away the egg white. I do this out of personal preference, but I don't think I am missing much in the way of nutrition.
Egg whites are mostly protein with minimal vitamins and minerals. Here:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/112/2
Egg yolks are 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs. They are loaded in vitamins and minerals. Here:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/113/2
EGG CONSUMPTION ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORTALITY, DIABETES RISK
Men who ate one or more eggs daily were nearly 25% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than men who ate one or fewer eggs weekly, according to newly released results from a study of more than 21,000 American physicians.1 The results were gleaned from a 20-year study of male doctors’ health and dietary habits. Eggs are a rich source of cholesterol; a large egg contains about 212 mg of cholesterol.
The study also concluded that diabetic subjects who consumed the greatest number of eggs per week were twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as diabetic subjects who consumed the fewest eggs.1 A related report concluded that daily egg consumption significantly increases a person’s risk of becoming diabetic.2
Interestingly, the last definitive study to address the subject of eggs and heart disease, published nearly a decade ago, failed to find a significant link between egg consumption and cardiovascular disease. But even that study identified an increased risk of coronary heart disease among egg-eating diabetics.3
1. Djousse L, Gaziano JM. Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Physicians’ Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):964-9.
2. Djousse L, Gaziano JM, Buring JE, Lee. Egg consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in men and women. Diabetes Care. 2008 Nov 18.
3. Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Rimm EB, et al. A prospective study of egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women. JAMA. 1999 Apr 21;281(15):1387-94
I've tried a few times, but I really can't tolerate the taste of Omega-3 eggs.
I've never tried Omega-3 pastured eggs though...
This is unfortunate, because I'm really trying to eat less AA ...
I take only 3-4 Omega3 eggs weekly due to its AA content, but for me its taste is the same, maybe they are pasturated eggs, I dont know.
I added a touch of organic butter to my dinners weeks ago, but I am really concerned about some clear conections between these saturated fats and neurological diseases. There are so strong epidemiologic studies alzheimer-saturated fats. Now I think virgin coconut oil is fine, but I go on nothing convinced about a generous use of long-chain saturated fats.
@Adolfo
the funny thing with eggs is that people do not know how many they eat. It's quite easy to count 'em when they are hardboiled or fried sunny side up, but it's a whole other story to count them when used in cakes, desserts, confection or in a zillion different food products. Without reading in detail the study you provide to look for the hidden varaiables, I would not worry about eggs.
The problem I find with the Omega-3 eggs that are in my supermarket (eggland's best) is that they also have the label 'Fed a vegetarian diet' and therefore have paler yolks than the non-omega 3 eggs!
Fortunately it's not hard for me to get to the health food store every week or two to pick up real pastured eggs which have a yolk the shade of a school bus.
Another option for supplementing the feed of pastured chickens is by using fish meal rather than, or in addition to flax. Our farmer has always used fish meal.
LPaForLife,
There is inevitably some oxidation of n-3 fats when cooking meat, seafood and eggs. That's one reason the Weston A. Price foundation (and others) suggest that consuming at least a portion of the egg yolks you eat raw is the best choice. Some folks eat raw meat for the same reason, but obviously the vast majority of people aren't going to do this.
However, there are also saturated fats and antioxidants like CoQ10 in red meat which at least in part protect against oxidative damage. Overall I don't think eating cooked red meat is a problem for this reason. Still, it's probably best to sear it and eat it rare.
Adolfo,
Here's an excerpt of an article I wrote on my blog a while back about eggs, cholesterol and heart disease.
-------------
A recent review of the scientific literature published in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care clearly indicates that egg consumption has no discernible impact on blood cholesterol levels in 70% of the population. In the other 30% of the population (termed “hyperresponders”), eggs do increase both circulating LDL and HDL cholesterol.
You’ve probably been conditioned to believe that anything that raises LDL cholesterol (so-called “bad” cholesterol) should be avoided like the plague. But even the medical mainstream has come to recognize that all LDL cholesterol is not the same. It’s true that small, dense LDL particles have been linked to heart disease. This is primarily due to the fact that they are much more susceptible to oxidative damage than normal LDL cholesterol particles.
However, egg consumption increases the proportion of large, buoyant LDL particles that have been shown to be protective against heart disease. Egg consumption also shifts individuals from the LDL pattern B to pattern A. Pattern B indicates a preponderance of small, dense LDL particles (risk factors for heart disease), while pattern A indicates a preponderance of large, buoyant LDL particles (which protect us from heart disease). This is a good thing.
As fall progresses and winter approaches, if you're seeing pastured eggs in the northern climes there is a good chance the hens are eating grain.
David,
As I mentioned in a previous comment, even the most progressive farmers I know of (including Joel Salatin, who many look to as a "guru" in this area) feed grain to their pastured chickens year-round. They don't get enough calories with foraging alone to lay 5-7 eggs per week, which is what's expected of them these days.
Nevertheless, even with grain supplementation the fatty acid profile of these eggs is very favorable when compared to battery-raised eggs. The n-6/n-3 ratio is close to 1:1 in eggs from pastured chickens, whereas it can be up to 20:1 in supermarket eggs
Adolpho,
"Men who ate one or more eggs daily were nearly 25% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than men who ate one or fewer eggs weekly, according to newly released results from a study of more than 21,000 American physicians."
This summary you copy & pasted is really terrible.
The results of the referenced study found no association between egg consumption and CVD at any level.
Additionally, the only number approaching 25% is that physicians eating >7 eggs per week were 23% more likely to die from any cause, not just CVD.
My feelings on AA and eicosanoid synthesis are far less simplistic than that offered by guys like Barry Sears. I don't think a fatty acid balance could ever determine what your body does with those fatty acids. Human biology is never that simple.
There still has to be cellular damage going on somewhere to invoke pro-inflammatory eicosanoid synthesis. Like glycation or excessive free radicals from vegetable oils and so on.
Only pastured eggs for me though! 3 this morning.
That eggs are high in AA is a reality, and not good. This is enough for me.
High AA diet is linked with many diseases in so many controlled studies.
http://omega-6-omega-3-balance.omegaoptimize.com/
Eicosanoid field is so complex, but anyone can note that what Barry Sears says is much common sense (low glycemic carbs, no vegetable oils, good fats, enough protein..) and the fatty acids metabolism seems clear in medicine.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/images/ss2007_report_epa_dha_03.jpg
Interesting stuff as always, Stephen.
For myself, O3 eggs only make sense. 4 eggs daily for the past 2 years, everyday. High HDL, low LDL, wicked low TG. Would I eat this many conventional eggs? Probably. Supplementing with high-dose fish oil more than likely offsets the AA/EPA ratio.
Hi LpAforLife,
There are a few reasons. One is that eggs are not as rich in PUFA as flax. The more concentrated the PUFA are, the more susceptible they will be to damage and the more concentrated the oxidation products will be. The second reason is simply that the PUFA in eggs or meat don't get as hot as they would if you were using flax oil to saute in a pan. They generally don't exceed the boiling point of water, whereas oil directly on a metal pan is much hotter. The third reason is that PUFA within a solid medium are not exposed to much oxygen, which is the main thing that breaks them down. There isn't much oxygen penetrating into an egg or a steak (or an intact flax seed baked into a loaf of bread). Some small fraction of it will inevitably be oxidized, but I don't see that as a concern.
Hi Adolfo,
Thanks for posting the study. It appears to be at odds with most of the other studies that examined the same question, as mentioned in the introduction of the paper itself:
"other large prospective cohorts... did not observe any association between egg consumption and CAD or mortality (18 –21)."
Here's why I'm skeptical that the association in this study reflects eggs actually increasing mortality: the people eating the most eggs were totally different from the people eating the least eggs. Four times more of the people in the "one egg per day" group had a history of diabetes than in the group that ate less than one egg per day. More than twice as many were smokers.
They "controlled" for these factors, mathematically, but my concern is that these two populations are very different in many ways. There are likely to be major differences that were not measured and thus cannot be controlled for.
Not controlled factors is a great problem always.
There are many negative studies about long-chain saturated fats, here my concern. Reading some evidence from GOOD CALORIES BAD CALORIED by G. Taubes, probably these saturated fats are dangerous essentially in presence of glycemic carbs.
This is my current conclusion about saturated fats, nutrient most difficult to valorate for me!
Stephan,
You gave a very good anaysis about heating PUFA fats. I forgot that although the oven or bbq gets quite hot, the internal meat or fish temperature doesn't usually exceed 200 deg. However, with overcooked eggs or well done meat, you could get to higher temperatures. Also when you eat scrambled eggs and ground meat, perhaps you can get more oxygination because of the larger surface area. I am not sure what is worse oxidized cholesterol or oxidized PUFA. My prefered method of egg preparation is lightly poached.
Your sound analysis gives me better ideas on healthy food preparation. Thanks
I sent your study in this article Stephan to Dr Barry Sears team, who I talk through mail about omega3 eggs two months ago. His answer:
He notes that individuals with chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease, etc.) need to limit or avoid all AA. Cage eggs with lower AA offer more flexibility in consuming whole eggs.
"He [Dr Sears] notes that individuals with chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease, etc.) need to limit or avoid all AA. Cage eggs with lower AA offer more flexibility in consuming whole eggs. Dr. Sears notes the quote, “Consumption of omega-3 eggs has the potential to confer health benefits through the increase in intake of omega-3 fatty acids” is misleading as the majority of health benefits are derived from the long chain omega 3’s found in fish oil and not the short chain omega 3’s in eggs."
Hi Adolfo,
Omega-3 eggs contain both short-chain and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, due to the fact that chickens are efficient converters. It may well be true that people with certain chronic diseases are better off limiting AA, but I haven't seen anything conclusive to support that position yet.
not sure about feeding fish meal and seaweed to chickens. i've heard it affects the taste of the egg in a very negative way, which makes sense given an egg's ability to absorb flavors. Seems pastured eggs make the most sense since they are naturally the most correct- chickens don't eat fish.
Good question about cooking eggs and the omega 3s, but there are methods like soft boiling or even hard boiling (by bringing the water to a boil turning the heat off and leaving the egg in the hot water for under 30 minutes, then into ice cold water immmediately) that should be a far gentler introduction of moderate slow heat than say frying. Plus super tasty.
Lastly, as long as they don't come into contact with the outside of the shell, raw eggs are pretty safe and raw egg whites keep for quite a long time; maybe you don't have to cook them at all. Put them into some grass fed steak tartare!
Overall eggs should be one of the safest sources of omega-6 poly-unsaturates. They are encased in two layers of protection from oxidation (shell and egg white), carefully handled, and always refrigerated. Eggs and omega-6s are handled in nearly precisely the opposite manner as industrial vegetable oils.
Great blog.
I just eat the yolks raw for the nutrition. Eating eggs scrambled makes me feel sick to my stomach. Same thing with processed milk. Processed milk makes me feel slightly ill if I drink a significant amount. Raw milk, same thing. Sometimes I find myself actually craving a raw milk, never had that with store milk. Eggs and milk are the only foods my body strongly prefers in the raw state.
Bringing things down to a simpler point here: I've worked on different farms for a while now (on the road of buying our own). If I had to buy eggs at a store I would steer clear of the Omega 3 eggs. If the flax is ground in the feed (which it should be if the chicken is to be able to benefit from it), it is always rancid before it's even ingested by the bird.
Sites like www.eatwild.org have links to farmers all over the place that are raising their animals on pasture. We've moved every two years for the last 16 years of our lives and every where we have gone, it was my first priority to find farmers that were producing the kind of food I wanted to buy. My husband eats 6 eggs every morning. My kids eat two each. We couldn't gag down a commercial egg if we tried. They make us nauseous. That says enough to me.
The best option, of course, is to let chickens eat meat. I once worked on a pastured bison farm. On slaughtering day, we would grind up all the trim for the birds. Anyone who thinks a chicken is a vegetarian, would be amazed at the sight of hundreds of chickens, running through the grass like savages to eat up the fat/tissue/muscle mix. Those were the best tasting eggs, and chickens, I have ever had in my life.
One other thing to consider is the soy in chicken feed. It is everywhere! Our farmer had to ship in some pea protein for the winter to help with the bird's rations as they won't be foraging too much in the snow. It's very difficult to find chicken feed without soy - there are no commercially raised birds available without.
Hi Tara,
Good point, I'm sure the flax isn't freshly ground in most cases. I wonder what effects that has on the chickens and eggs.
I checked out your blog- looks great!
I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to find a grain feed for our backyard chicks that doesn't include soy. We use an organic layer mash but it has soy. Argggh!
If anyone knows where to find an organic grain feed that doesn't have soy, I'm all ears.
We've been feeding whole flax seeds. Are you saying they should be ground up in order for the chickens to be able to utilize them?
Hi switters,
Actually, I bet chickens can grind up whole flax seeds themselves in their gizzards. Just guessing.
That's what I thought too, Stephan. They eat all kinds of seeds in pasture and certainly don't have anyone grinding it up for them.
I just wish I could find some grain feed without soy.
Switters,
thanks for the tip on flax- I tried some today and my chickens love it!
I just found this site for soy-free feed- there may be others:
http://www.countrysidenatural.com/home.php?cat=4
Hi all, sorry for this question, but...
One whole egg (50 gr.) has about 0.058 gr. of Arachidonic Acid, which is less than 1% of its total lipid contents (6.11 gr.).
(http://www.nal.usda.gov, look for egg, whole, cooked, scrambled)
Do you really think that quantity of AA to be of some concern if you consume 2-3 eggs a day?
Switters, do you live in Canada or the U.S.? I know of a company here in Canada, around Ottawa and there's some in Alberta that are making organic feed without soy. Another option is mixing your own. There's a lot of information available on the internet on how to do that. Kitchen scraps are great too!
This is purely anecdotal, but I grew up on a farm and all our chickens ever got to eat was scratch, whatever grain was handy, meat and veggie scraps. Of course, they had bountiful bugs, grubs, and grass.
Thanks Sandra!
We do feed kitchen scraps and flax seed, and our chickens get about 4-5 hours of "free range" time in the backyard each day so they're eating grubs, bugs, etc.
We've definitely considered mixing our own grain feed using instructions in a backyard chickens book we have. I think we'll get to that eventually, but lately we haven't had the time for it.
We're in Oakland, CA and my preference is always to buy locally if I can. So far I haven't been able to find a local supplier for soy-free grain mixes, so I may have to order online from the producer that Sandra linked to.
Just a supplement: This an article I wrote for my website and it contains an image of pasture raised eggs vs. conventional eggs.
http://www.garagestrength.com/?page_id=896
I get my Omega-3 acids from quail eggs, which are more nutritious than chicken eggs and do not cause allergies. They are safe to eat raw - I just mix 5-6 eggs with some tomato juice in my blender, and drink it for breakfast.
I found a great recipe for making your own organic soy-free feed. Check it out here. We're going to start doing this.
Is it useful to think of pasture egg as similar nutritionally to a morsel of organ meat?
My wife generally separates the yoke from the white when she hard boils her eggs because she's concerned about too much cholesterol. Does doing that diminish the benefit of having Omega-3 eggs? Does the Omega-3 that is fed to the hens store differently in the yoke than in the white of the egg?
My wife generally separates the yoke from the white when she hard boils her eggs because she's concerned about too much cholesterol. Does doing that diminish the benefit of having Omega-3 eggs? Does the Omega-3 that is fed to the hens store differently in the yoke than in the white of the egg?
Unfortunately your wife has it backwards. If anything should be separated out and not eaten, it is the white. The yolk contains the bulk of the nutrients, including omega-3 fats, folate, vitamin A and vitamin D (the white has none of this).
And she needn't be worried about the effects of egg consumption on cholesterol. A recent review of the scientific literature published in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care clearly indicates that egg consumption has no discernible impact on blood cholesterol levels in 70% of the population. In the other 30% of the population (termed “hyperresponders”), eggs do increase both circulating LDL and HDL cholesterol.
Egg consumption increases the proportion of large, buoyant LDL particles that have been shown to be protective against heart disease. Egg consumption also shifts individuals from the LDL pattern B to pattern A. Pattern B indicates a preponderance of small, dense LDL particles (risk factors for heart disease), while pattern A indicates a preponderance of large, buoyant LDL particles (which protect us from heart disease). This is a good thing.
Eggs one of the most nutrient-dense foods available. One egg provides 13 essential nutrients, all in the yolk (contrary to popular belief, the yolk is far higher in nutrients than the white).
Eggs are an excellent source of B vitamins, which are needed for vital functions in the body, and also provide good quantities of vitamin A, essential for normal growth and development.
The vitamin E in eggs protects against heart disease and some cancers; eggs also contain vitamin D, which promotes mineral absorption and good bone health.
Eggs are rich in iodine, for making thyroid hormones, and phosphorus, essential for healthy bones and teeth.
For more see this article on my blog: Three eggs a day keep the doctor away.
Hello All,
I have enjoyed reading the discussion going on here about the nutrition of eggs. I am currently a student of holistic nutrition and an avid health foodie and would like to leave a few of my thoughts. First, I do not believe a lot of the data arising from studies. Many are flawed and the methodology and purpose (interest group funded?) must be scrutinized for any accurate conclusion. Secondly, I believe the negative effect of AA is mitigated by the positive / balancing effect of the omegas. However, when looking at omega 3 for health benefits, it should not be exposed to oxygen or heated. I think heating the yolk (the fatty content of the egg) until it is solid would damage the omega 3 and render it lifeless or at worst, damaging. I believe if a person chooses omega 3 eggs over pastured the health benefit is best if the yolk is kept raw or only slightly heated and not broken. I use them raw in smoothies, or lightly poached or fried (in gasp! natural saturated oils!). Consuming the yolk uncooked also keeps the lecithin and b vitamins intact, and eggs are a very important source of these nutrients. And, while the white is mostly protein, protein is such an important mood and sugar stabilizer I think it is essential in breakfast, especially for kids! And eggs are such a wonderful breakfast food. Many breakfasts do not contain much protein at all, so eggs are an essential in my home. Also, feeding the chickens chia seed would seem to me to be more stable than flax for omega 3's. As for my family, we consume pastured, whole eggs over any caged eggs, regardless of omega 3 content. The stress on the chicken is an essential component we don't yet know how to measure in terms of nutrition value. Similarly, we consume our eggs whole - the way nature makes them. So many other foods have been shown to be best in thier whole state, rather than being mined for the known nutritional benefit. Think mixed vs single tocopherols. Think cod liver oil once mined for it's EPA and DHA, but now also valued for its vitamin D. I know it's been said before, but I trust nature over science - even that of the omegas - anyday.
Is there any data on the nutritional content of preserved eggs and salted eggs? Are these useful ways to preserve the Omega-3 content?
Looks like DrGreger's latest video is out - 2011:
http://tinyurl.com/drgreger2011autoplays
What do you make of this? Arachidonic acid and mood:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMKstAUhC8&feature=BFa&list=PL53AA35449C7DD652&index=51#t=4m14s (@4m48s neuroinflammation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPjd_W5EfGU&feature=BFa&list=PL53AA35449C7DD652&index=46#t=15m54s
--
Old videos: http://tinyurl.com/drgregercomplete http://tinyurl.com/drgreger07-10pdfs
Does anyone know if the phytoestrogens in flax are present in the eggs? I wish they feed the chickens chia or hemp seeds instead, which are phytoestrogen free and contain just as much or more omega 3.
I have free range chickens and their eggs are for sell. 4.00 a dozen. I will send pictures to those who would love to the chickens out in the field with no wire around them. The only bad thing about true free range chickens is Bobcats love to eat them. I went from 50 hens to 8 hens left now. Bobcat trapped and moved. shinycfarms@gmail.com email if you like to buy my eggs. Atoka , Oklahoma Dianne
Barry Sears is totally in the fear and avoid saturated fats as much as possible camp which I believe is totally erroneous. He really is in the fear fat period camp, recommending only miniscule amounts, like a teaspoon of olive oil per meal. The studies of Weston Price showed that large amounts of saturated.fats could be eaten with little to no disease in various populations. The thing that Dr. Price found that most highly correlated with increased disease rates of heart disease diabetes etc. was change over from a traditional diet with no processed depleted unnatural foods, ( like seed oils that are highly processed and were never eaten because the machinery capable of extracting them didn't exist. Also stripped sugars and grains, etc) and the resulting vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Whole foods has eggs that claim to be pasture raised; however, they are not. You can always tell a pastured egg from a conventional one by the yolk. Simply break open a regular egg next to an egg from a manufacturer with wild claims scribed on the carton and you will see just how real those claims are. Eggs from pastured chickens have dark, orange-colored yolks while the yolks from conventionally raised hens will be a very pale yellow color. In Utah, you can buy pasture raised eggs from "Real Foods", where you can also buy raw milk from grass-raised A2 cows that are never fed grain. Whole foods also has eggs that claim to be pasture raised, but they are just eggs with dishonest marketing.
Eggs can be fortified with two different omega-3 fatty acids: DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ALA (alpha linolenic acid). DHA is found in oily fish like salmon, trout and sardines. It’s crucial for the proper development and maintenance of brain cells. Higher intakes of DHA and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), the other omega-3 fatty acid in oily fish, are also thought to guard against heart disease.
Regards
George
Free Diet Ebook
Mackerel has the highest quantity of heart-healthy omega-3's of any fish with 2,300 mg per100 gram serving. Mackerel may be a good source of omega-3's, but king mackerel is quite high in mercury and should be avoided. When eating mackerel buy the small canned varieties which have a much lower mercury content.
Thank you for this post, I learned lots. I own a small pasture fed flock and I have always preferred eggs and meat from pasture raised chickens, but I am just now learning the importance of my technique. If it is okay with you, I would like to use your article in my own study. Of course I have included your name, the website, and reference to your own research.
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