For years we have been told to stop eating eggs.  Why? Americans are often recommended to eat a low cholesterol diet to lower their cholesterol levels and reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. Eggs have gotten a bad rap in the past because they are considered to be a high cholesterol food due to the cholesterol content of the yolk.  But now they are discovering something entirely different. 

  

The yolk contains lecithin, which aids in fat assimilation.  Eggs actively raise the level of HDL and they have the most perfect protein components of any food. Besides providing all eight essential protein building amino acids, a large whole, fresh egg offers about six to seven grams of protein and five grams of fat (with about 1.5 grams of it saturated), which comes in handy to help in the absorption of all the egg's fat-soluble vitamins. One egg also serves up around 200 milligrams of brain-loving cholesterol and contains the valuable vitamins A, K, E, D, B-complex and minerals iron, phosphorus, potassium and calcium.

Eggs are an ancient food. Man has always eaten the eggs of all animals that produced them: chicken, duck, goose, turtles. Additionally, eggs are a wonderful source of nutrition and can greatly strengthen your health. Eggs provide a vital source of protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, folic acid, phosphorus, sulfur, and the adrenal-building minerals: choline, sodium, and potassium.

• Keep your brain healthy. Choline is an important nutrient found in egg yolks that is required by the body to keep cell membranes normal and healthy as they function.Choline, another egg-nutrient, is a fatty substance found in every living cell and is a major component of our brain. Additionally, choline helps break up cholesterol deposits by preventing fat and cholesterol from sticking to the arteries. So the bottom line is, don't be chicken about eating eggs, especially the cholesterol-rich yolks!
• Prevent Alzheimer's disease. Phosphatidycholine is a nutrient in eggs essential for concentration, attention, and retaining information in the memory to ultimately prevent Alzheimer's disease.
• Improve heart health. Homocysteine is a substance in the body that can damage the blood vessels and leave you at risk for heart disease. Luckily, the choline found in eggs will convert homocysteine into harmless material. Eggs can also decrease your risk for heart attacks and stroke thanks to the anti-clotting agent found in yolks.
• Enhance your vision. The lutein found in eggs can help prevent macular degeneration.Egg yolks are the richest source of two superstar carotenoids-lutein and zeaxanthin.  Not only are bright yellow yolks loaded with these fat-soluble antioxidant nutrients, they are more bioavailable than those found in vegetables, corn and most supplements.
• Aid in fat assimilation. Eggs yolks contain lecithin to help break down fats.

So don't be chicken about eating eggs, especially the cholesterol-rich yolks!

 

It is extremely important to get eggs from a farm where the chickens are free to roam and not fed any antibiotics or chemicals.  Without a doubt, fresh, pastured eggs are superior in taste and nutrition to conventionally raised commercially available varieties. 

  

Unfortunately, commercial chicken farms today pack 500,000 animals into close quarters where they feed them genetically modified (GM) grains and emphasize production over health, not to mention the inhumanity of it. These conditions create sick chickens that lay sick eggs. You don't ever want to eat these poor quality eggs anyway. They may not be contaminated with salmonella, but the eggs aren't fit to eat. Commercial eggs have much lower levels of essential omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients. 

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The best way to prepare eggs is "over easy" (with a soft runny yolk) in organic coconut oil. You never want to overcook proteins, or they become difficult to digest. In spite of the popular myth that egg white omelets are good for you, the yellow yolk has the most valuable nutrition and is easier to digest than the white.  It is best to combine eggs with lots of alkaline vegetables (especially fermented) and some Celtic sea salt to balance their acidic nature. 

If you find eggs difficult to digest try eating them with cultured vegetables and only the yolk. Once you have built up your inner ecosystem, many foods you could not eat before will be well tolerated and you can starting eating them again.  

 

1 bunch Swiss chard

1 Tb olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

Celtic Sea Salt

6 Eggs

2 tsp olive oil

Pepper

Cayenne

4 cloves garlic chopped

2 Tb olive oil

1 Tb olive oil

• Cut stems of the Swiss chard into ¼" slices. Chop leaves
• Heat pan add the olive oil
• Add onion
• Cook 5 minutes and add chard stems season with salt
• Cook 4 minutes add leaves cook until leaves are tender adding a splash of water if the pan dries out
• Turn out of the pan onto a plate
• Crack eggs into a large bowl
• Add salt and beat lightly. 
• Gently squeeze the chard with your hands, ringing out most but not all of the liquid.  Stir the card into the beaten eggs
• Thoroughly preheat a heavy  10" heavy pan over medium low
• Add 2 Tb olive oil
• After a few seconds, pour in the egg mixture.  As the eggs set on the bottom, lift the edges to allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath.
• Continue to cook until mostly set.
• Invert a plate on top of the pan; turn the plate and pan upside down to turn out the frittata onto the plate
• Pour in 1 Tb olive oil
• Slide the frittata back into the pan.  Cook for 2-3 more minutes.
• Slide onto a plate and serve warm or at room temperature.

 

 

Jennings-Sauer,1988

2 Warner, Jennifer. Eating Eggs Daily May Not Be Risky for Heart. WebMD News.
http://onhealth.webmd.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55676

Eggs: The World's Healthiest Foods, WHFoods.com.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=92

Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. Gail Damerow. Schoolhouse Rd. Pownal, Vermont. 1995. p 141.

http://bodyecology.com/07/03/15/eggs_controversial_food.php

The Five Things You Need to Know about Eggs, SupermarketGuru.com, 26 Dec 2006.
http://www.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/31487

Garber, Barbara, "Real Eggs from a Real Farm: Beneficial Farm turns a hatchery egg machine into a barnyard animal," WestonAPrice.org.
http://www.westonaprice.org/farming/realeggs.html

Omega-3 and Omega-6: Essential fats are the answer to most athletes' prayers, PPOnline.com.
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/omega-3-omega-6.html