Eggs - The Best Way

In a 2007 egg-testing project, Mother Earth News compared the official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs with eggs from hens raised on pasture and found that eggs on pasture have 2/3 more Vitamin A, 1/3 less cholesterol, ¼ less saturated fat, 2 times the omega 3 fatty acids (LONG CHAIN) 3 times more Vitamin E, 7 times more carotene.

An egg is considered organic if it is verified that the hen is fed organic food, which means it will not have accumulated high levels of pesticides from the grains (mostly GM corn) fed to typical chickens. It’s important to realize that an egg can be organic without being pasture-raised. Pastured means the chickens forages for its natural food sources outside, with supplemental (organic? grain) and is your best guarantee of a high quality egg. A deep yellow or orange yolk is a telltale sign of high-quality organic pastured eggs. I consider my hens happy, because they are running around taking dust baths, eating grubs and worms and maintaining a pecking order. There is much pleasure having hens in the yard and for this I cannot label or name a price.

Now, how should we cook them? Believe it or not, it is best to eat them raw! But only if they are from a reliable source. I know there is concern for food-borne pathogens, but according to many reliable sources, Joel Salatin, Mark Sisson-Mark's Daily Apple, Dr. Mercola, small clean farms are a safe bet against these pathogens. I put one in my smoothie in the morning.

Not All Eggs are Created Equal

Eggs are also an incredible source of high-quality protein and fat—nutrients that many are deficient in. And I believe eggs are a nearly ideal fuel source for most of us.

However, there are two caveats:

1. Free-range or “pastured” organic eggs are far superior when it comes to nutrient content, and

2. Cooking destroys many of these nutrients.

Eating eggs raw helps preserve many of the highly perishable nutrients and the results in the featured study confirms this, as raw egg yolk lost about half of its antioxidant potential when boiled, fried, or worse, microwaved.

Remember that most of the nutrition in an egg is in the yolk. The yolk is loaded with nutrients, like bioflavonoids, brain fats like phosphatidyl choline, powerful antioxidants and sulfur. Although raw eggs are best, one can soft boil or poach them. Aside from microwaving, scrambling your eggs is one of the worst ways to cook them as it oxidizes the cholesterol in the egg yolk, which may in fact harm your health.

In addition to Mermaid Farm who sells organic eggs for $7/dozen, The Grey Barn Farm here on Martha's Vineyard has organic eggs for $6.50/dozen - I encourage you to stop by these farms and try some!

Photo Credit:  Kelley DeBettencourt