I recently got a query from Grow Community member Dave D. who wanted to know if it was OK to eat eggs every day. Chicken eggs is one of the three-part systems for producing half of your own food in less than an hour per day (check out this free 27-minute webinar here to see for yourself how quickly you could be having homegrown food on your table.)
Here is my experience, and then some articles by sources I trust. I’ve been eating 3 to 6 eggs a day for at least the past seven years. I really like eggs – what can I say? They are so versatile scrambled, poached, on top of sauteed veggies, egg salad, egg drop soup, quiche, egg nog, in milkshakes, a meatloaf extender… Oh let’s not forget to simply eat them raw – talk about fast food! The list goes on and on.
I also get my blood checked every other year or so. My cholesterol levels are always in the correct range.
So I don’t worry at all about eating a lot of eggs – every day, year in and year out.
I remember growing up there was this whole story that eggs could be bad for you – and then, later on the research was found to be faulty – but the story about eggs and high cholesterol persisted.
Dr. Mercola is an independent medical pundit who recently wrote a good article about eggs. Here is a quick quote “Eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat, and it’s a shame they’ve been vilified for so long in the United States”. The full article is here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/10/the-sunny-side-of-eggs.aspx
Another researcher I highly respect is Sally Fallon, the author of the cookbook “Nourishing Traditions” (available at Amazon here). Sally Fallon is best known as the co-founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation. The Price Foundation is dedicated to “restoring nutrient-dense foods to the American diet through education, research, and activism.”. Sally has a lot of great information on the value of eating quality eggs. How many eggs do you think you could eat? On page 440 of Sally’s book she talks about this one incredible case; “In one study, volunteers fed 18 eggs per day actually showed reduced levels of cholesterol”.
You probably don’t need to go to that extent of eating eggs, but it sure looks like you could.
Note that both of these researchers emphasize the eggs need to be quality eggs; like the ones you are producing with your backyard flock… the eggs that are coming from your chickens that ate only good food – got to eat lots of bugs and greens and kitchen scraps, yes?
Got any egg experiences? Please write them down below.
5/30/17 UPDATE: Check it out! Helen Sanders at Health Ambitions contacted us with a wonderful blog post about the Health Benefits of Eggs. Thank you, Helen for this comprehensive article!
Marjory Wildcraft is an Expedition Leader and Bioneer Blogger with The [Grow] Network, which is an online community that recognizes the wisdom of “homegrown food on every table.” Marjory has been featured as an expert on sustainable living by National Geographic, she is a speaker at Mother Earth News fairs, and is a returning guest on Coast to Coast AM. She is an author of several books, but is best known for her “Grow Your Own Groceries” video series, which is used by more than 300,000 homesteaders, survivalists, universities, and missionary organizations around the world.
COMMENTS(13)
I want to chime in about the eggs. A local farmer is rising about
40 birds and they are truly free range and fed organic feed. They
took one of their eggs and a grocery store egg and had them analyzed.
Their eggs had 30 percent more nutrient and 30 percent less cholesterol.
Go ahead and eat those eggs.
Greg
Thanks Greg.
Eating eggs is not good, because it means ruthless animal exploitation….
Christian, I am guessing you are a vegan then? Hmmm, ruthless animal exploitation? I see it as fair exchange. I offer the chickens shelter, water, protection from predators, food, and generally a good life. In exchange I get eggs.
The same relationship applies for the plants. I offer them water, food, wind and predator protection, freedom from weed competition – and in exchange they offer me their leaves, fruits, or seeds.
Even with ‘wildcrafting’ there are ethics to giving back something in return for what is taken.
It is not exploitation.
When I die, I hope to come back as one of my chickens. They putter around free on two acres scratching and clucking to their hearts’ content. What could be bad? There is no rooster on the place, so the eggs they lay are wasted to them. They don’t seem to mind of I take them.
One of my favorite movies is “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” and of the many one liners that Dolly throws out the one I like the best is when she is re-assures an old client that his woman probably won’t mind. Dolly says “you know, the cows really do enjoy a break when the bull is off in another pasture”. Having owned a small herds of cattle – with a bull – I will testify that it is true about the girls being a bit relieved when the man is gone.
My wife and I were on cholesterol medicine. We changed our diet – eat 4-6 eggs every day, cook with lard, butter, olive oil or coconut oil (in very enerous amounts). Off all cholesterol medicine within 6 months. No other changes in our diet or exercise.
Wow, thanks Richard.
Good article Marjory. 🙂
It ain’t the cholesterol that’s killing us. It’s the chronically high insulin levels brought on by our high simple-carb American diet. High insulin levels are very inflammatory to the tissues and actually cause the artery walls to be more “sticky” so the cholesterol gorks them up.
Take home message: Eat eggs not Twinkies.
Patrick
“My cholesterol levels are always in the correct range.” I hope that your total cholesterol is below 150. If not, you are at high risk for vascular disease.
Please watch this video on eggs:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/who-says-eggs-arent-healthy-or-safe/
Take care!
The latest research on consuming eggs can be found at http://www.nutrition facts.org. Dr. Greger, MD, is a leading researcher, speaker, expert in the field of nutrition. His video “Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death” contains the latest scientific facts concerning egg consumption…and it proves that eating eggs is a definite health risk, and can be compared to smoking cigarettes! Check it out for yourself. After all , we are the only species on earth that consumes the milk and eggs of another animal, which were meant for them, not us. Eggs have the entire genetic makeup of a chicken! there are delicious, nutritious alternatives for creating “egg-like” dishes that we all used to enjoy.
So good to hear that eggs do not cause high cholesterol? I do have a problem but don’t want meds. Suggestions?
I always find it amusing when people say things like “we are the only species on Earth that consumes the milk and eggs of another animal.” almost all egg laying species on Earth has to protect the nest either individually or by stealth, ie. hiding, etc., otherwise other species raid the nest and consume (eat) the eggs. I mean no disrespect to anyone nor do I wish to be disagreeable; but such statements are not logical. Kind of like the “highly educated” college protestor holding the sign saying “Stop hunting and killing animals and buy your meat in the grocery store like everybody else”. Explain the sense in such a statement and I will listen. I may still disagree; but I will listen and try to understand if there is actually some reasoning behind it.