People have been eating eggs for the longest time. Eggshell fragments are often found in the coprolites (fossilized poo) of ancient humans. While in the past, humans ate a variety of eggs, today we eat mostly chicken eggs.
Bad Rap
Egg yolks are full of cholesterol which is still public enemy No 1 in some medical circles. The egg aversion has led to the egg-white menu revolution where most trendy restaurants offer egg based meals in both ‘normal’ and egg white versions. Some supposedly health conscious people eat only the egg whites, which I think is a health travesty that is a poor health choice on many levels; too much protein and too little of all the goodness contained in a whole egg.
Fortunately, today eggs are being ‘rehabilitated’ as in a similar way to the old Soviet euphemism they applied to ‘bad egg’ citizens who were returned back to society after a few years in the Gulag.
When you order egg whites, you will be missing out on:
Brain Food: Choline which is critical to nerve function.
Minerals: Like selenium which is vital for thyroid functioning and management of free radicals. Also included are reasonable levels of molybdenum, phosphorus and iodine.
Vitamins: Vitamin A, vitamin B5, vitamin B7, vitamin B12 and most critically vitamin D.
And of course protein which is in the egg white.
Colors
There is one area where color is important and that is the color of the egg yolk you are about to eat. As a rule of thumb the deeper, the yellow color of the egg yolk, the higher the omega-3 content of the yolk. And consequently the higher the overall health value of the eggs is.
Low cost, store-bought eggs made in mass production environments have pale yolks because of the grain that is fed to the hens that lay them. Organic eggs made by chickens that are free to roam and scrounge for grubs and insects are deep yellow in color, reflecting higher the omega-3 concentrations that result from insect consumption. (The insects eat greenery, which is pound for pound the highest concentration of omega-3 fat on the planet.)
While we are talking about color, here is an interesting fact about egg color that may amuse you…
White and Brown Eggs
I am often asked if there is a nutritional difference between different color chicken eggs. There is none, they are nutritionally equal. As a matter of interest, the color of chicken eggs is related to the color of a hen’s ears. White eared hens normally produce white colored eggshells and red earlobed chickens lay brown eggs.
Take Home Message
Eat more whole eggs!
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