An Egg, by Any Other Hen

Deciding to include eggs in your weekly diet is the easy part. Deciding where to buy your eggs and how picky to be, is the hard part. At least it was for me. I mean, I want to buy the tastiest, healthiest ones, but I don't have the time or budget to drive to a small-town New Hampshire farm stand and spend $4.50 every time I want a carton of eggs. So I decided to check out what you get for your money here in the city, and what all those carton labels really mean.

A year ago in July 2010, TIME magazine reported in bold headlines that organic cage-free eggs are "More Expensive but No Healthier" than other supermarket eggs. I'm going to go out on a limb and say, that is incorrect! Not because I want hens to run around the barnyard like they used to (although I do), but because... well, I'll get to that. First, a little snooping around the dairy aisle, a farm in Lincoln, MA and the Internet.


First, my trip to the farm, to find out where brown eggs come from.

From chickens with brown feathers. White eggs come from chickens with white feathers. So there you have it. Pink and blue Easter eggs... I'm not sure, and the farmer assured me he'd not raised any blue chickens. Both brown and white hens produce equally edible, equally nutritious eggs.


Next question, does the color of the yoke make a difference?

You can see evidence of beta-carotenes. They give carrots that lovely orange color, and they give egg yolks an orangey tint. The carotenes eggs contain are Lutein and Zeaxanthin. (There won't be a quiz later.) Both are antioxidants that protect against macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 55 yrs old. So yes, when the yolks are more orange, the eggs have higher amounts of health-enhancing carotenoids.

How do you decipher an egg carton label?

1. Cage Free vs. Free Range. The label "cage free" means that the chickens were not caged. However, that doesn't mean they got any exercise with their little chicken legs. On commercial farms they are often packed tightly into barns with virtually no room to "roam". And if you think that's a misleading label, try "Free-range". Commercial free-range eggs are given outdoor access as little as 5 minutes a day.* We're kind of being fleeced by these labels, doncha think? I mean, if I told you my dog lived "cage free" you wouldn't expect to find him confined to a closet, would you?
   
   
   
2. Omega-3 Enriched. This label means that the chickens laying these eggs were given flaxseed in their feed. Flaxseed is rich in Omega-3 antioxidants, or EFA's. Since our body can't make it's own omega-3 EFA's, we have to get them from food. Research shows that these same antioxidants help build cell membranes in our brains and protect our vision. So, omega-3 eggs may indeed be better-for-you eggs.
   
   
   
3. Vegetarian Fed. That means the chickens weren't given any animal products or by-products to eat. I can't find a report that they are any healthier for humans than non-vegetarian fed eggs, so this is a matter of personal preference and how you feel about feeding chickens bits of animals higher on the food chain than they are.
   

OK, NOW I'm going to throw in the monkey wrench. There's another egg category, Pasture Raised. Those are hens who actually graze on pasture, outside. Like the pictures in children's books. Often on organic farms. (They cost more to buy.) And that is a bird of a different feather. (sorry, these puns are sooo easy!) Remember that TIME article I mentioned? Well, Mother Earth News did their own test, and dispute TIME's egg findings, too. They say:

"Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain: ~averages from 14 studies, compared with USDA results~

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene"

So how can the USDA study, reported by TIME, say that organic, cage-free eggs are no healthier? Easy, they only analyzed the egg-white. No yoke. (I know, please don't shoot me.) The USDA study used an egg-quality metric developed by food technologist Raymond Haugh in 1937 that measures only the protein in the egg-white. You read that right, 1937. You know, ten years before the disposable diaper was invented. Now that's what I call a low-tech study. Low tech, irrelevant... I rest my case.

* source: www.weightwatchers.com
** blogger would like to thank NPR, Mother Earth News online, and TIME.com
Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx#ixzz1SD3M06aX

What Eggsactly is Going on Here?

One egg a week, one a day, egg whites only, brown eggs only, pasture-raised, vegetarian fed... enough choices to crack open your brain, aren't they? OK, I'll lay off the puns. (oops) Starting now. Everyone seems to have an opinion on how many eggs you should eat and what kind of eggs to buy, from the makers of Eggland's Best to the urban chicken owner.

It's another Bountiful Bite conundrum. So I decided to see if I could unscramble (dang, sorry) the differences between one egg and another, and to figure out how many eggs we should feel comfortable eating in say, a week.

How Many eggs per week?

Eggs are often shunned by dieters hoping to avoid a doctor's report of high cholesterol. Eggs do contain about 70% of the USDA's recommended daily 300 grams of cholesterol. A large chicken egg also contains 6 grams of protein (more than your average breakfast bar). The USDA used to recommend no more than three eggs a week, but has since withdrawn that, and replaced it with advice to consume no more than 300 grams of cholesterol per day. Translate to my breakfast plate, please?

Yes, eggs top the cholesterol list. But butter, cream, cheese, sausage, shrimp, and organ meats (like liver) are all high in cholesterol. A Harvard University study of almost 120,000 health professionals (mostly nurses) who ate one to four eggs per week showed no increase in their likelihood of getting heart disease. Not the folks who ate one, or the folks who ate four. Of course, they had to factor in all the other reasons these subjects might get heart disease and then compare.

So lets lay it on the breakfast table. Let's say, every Tuesday and Sunday "Carter" sits down in front of a 2-egg cheese omelet cooked in lots of margarine, with a side of bacon, and his girl "Tamra" opts for one hard-boiled egg sliced and topped with salsa. Who's playing heart-disease roulette, Carter, Tamra, both or neither? Nutritionists might never have the answer to the chicken or egg question, but they may be able to answer that one.

Until recently, I believed in a myth. I thought when you eat an egg, all that cholesterol goes straight to your bloodstream and then into your arteries. Wrong city, says Harvard Medical School. I thought saturated fat and cholesterol were just two names for the same thing. Wrong again.

"For most people, only a small amount of the cholesterol in food passes into the blood.
Saturated and trans fats have much bigger effects on blood cholesterol levels."
So you see, it's likely that Tamra's twice-weekly breakfast would be Harvard approved but Carter's would come with a side of Caution.
Reminder: a lot of baked goods contain eggs.

Bon Apetit!

Next up: Eggsactly, part II. Free-range eggs or what?