Eggs: A Comprehensive Guide To America’s Favorite Breakfast Food

Scrambled, boiled, poached, or sunnyside up?

Americans, on average, eat over 300 eggs per year. It is a pretty lucrative market if you have ever considered raising chickens and selling their eggs. They are incredibly nutritious with bountiful health benefits… if you are buying the correct ones.

Eggs are excellent sources of:

Vitamin E
Omega 3s
Riboflavin
Cholesterol
Lutein
Folate
Vitamin B12

…and so much more! They improve your liver and eyesight, assist with weight loss, and research suggests they help reduce the risk of nearly all diseases. Contrary to many beliefs, the yolk of the egg is the healthiest part. It is overflowing with vital nutrients like healthy cholesterol and fat.

Getting what you pay for remains a consistent rule. Buying the cheapest carton of eggs is no different. IF the hens laying the eggs are treated humanely, the egg production tends to be better and much more nutritious than their counterparts, who may live in confined conditions fed an unnatural diet of grain and byproducts. Farmers of both types of chickens desire to minimize costs. However, those with the lower quality product often tend to minimize at ALL costs, leaving you, the consumer, to pay out of the pocket of your health reserve.

The inhumane side of this industry is gut-wrenching, literally! This goes not just for the chickens but for the consumer as well.

The humane side of raising chickens can be wonderful! The chickens live in spacious coops, fed a premium diet loaded with nutrients, and lead genuinely happier, less stressed lives!

If you are anything like me, you become bewildered staring at the refrigerated section looking at the 10 options for eggs. Actually, you look less like a consumer and more like a deer caught in headlights. You see all the fancy stickers boasting the “benefits” of their products with words like natural, real, and 100%. None of that means diddly-squat. You also shouldn’t default to buying the most expensive eggs out of the bunch. Your best move is to buy organic pasture-raised eggs. If you can not find this glorious combo, then choose pasture-raised, with organic being next in importance.

Remember as you are in the store, the important labels in order are:

Pasture-Raised
Organic
Cage-Free (Although, I have many reservations on this one.)

I think it goes without saying that allergies or sensitivities to eggs cause problems that do not outweigh the benefits. Sensitivities can be detected when the following reactions occur after eating eggs:

Sore/Itchy Throat
Itchy Eyes
Itchy Ears
Stomach Pains/Bloating
Headaches
Nausea
Fatigue
Irritated Skin
Breathing Problems
Congestions
Fatigue/Lack of Energy

If you experience reactions to eggs, you may only react to the chicken variety. Get adventurous and test different types of eggs:

Duck
Quail
Pheasant
Guineafowl

I am not going to lie, these alternative options can get pricey, so if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly substitute for the nutrients, you can incorporate:

Riboflavin