Are eggs all they’re cracked up to be?!

Let's Talk Truth with Dr. Taryn!

Alright, let's talk about [chicken] eggs!

​Last night I had my son help me with this little experiment. We bought a carton of conventional, white eggs from the grocery store and collected a carton of our own free-range chicken eggs. For those of you that don’t know, I live on a grass fed, organic, dairy farm and with that, comes our free-range chickens!

First let’s break down the type of chicken eggs that are readily available for purchase in supermarkets-

Battery-Cage Eggs AKA Regular Conventional Eggs: These hens are confined to a space that’s roughly the size of a piece of computer paper, unable to spread their wings- for their entire lives. They are fed grains, usually genetically modified organism (GMO) grains.
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Brown Eggs: The color of your eggshell means absolutely nothing. You wouldn’t pay more for a black iPhone than a white iPhone, would you? Eggs come in a variety of colors- brown is no better than a white, green, or blue egg. 

All-Natural, Farm Fresh, Hormone-Free: Just like your brown egg, these words mean nothing when it comes to egg selection. These words are greenwashing at its finest!

*”Greenwashing is when green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organization's products, aims or policies are environmentally friendly.”*

Cage-Free: I hope you haven’t been spending money on these! The 12 count conventional eggs we purchased for this experiment were $0.89. Sitting right next to those eggs, were the cage-free 12 count for $2.48. These chickens are packed by the thousands into multi-level aviaries (glorified chicken coops)! Essentially these chickens live in a warehouse, not in battery-cages, but still never get to see the outdoors.

Free-Range: When I think of free-range, I think of chickens frolicking through fields. WRONG! The USDA just mandates these chickens “have access to the outdoors.” Access to the outdoors is very different than actually going outdoors.

​Wait, didn’t I just say I collected my own free-range chicken eggs? Yes, I did. Free-range chicken eggs purchased in stores just must have access to the outdoors. Our chickens are only in the coop to sleep and sometimes lay their eggs where they’re supposed to. Most local farm raised free-range chickens are happy and healthy, which in turn makes for healthier eggs. 

You are what you eat! Think about it, if you lived on grain, would you be healthy? Chickens are omnivores by nature and will eat (or try to eat) just about anything they can get their beaks on. When outdoors, chickens will usually eat protein and vitamin-rich foods like insects, grubs, vegetation and seeds.

When a chicken is fed mainly grain, they miss out on the flavonoids and carotenoids that bring increased nutrition value to the eggs we eat- along with their own health.

​Flavonoids are found in almost all fruits and vegetables. They are a group of phytonutrients (plant chemicals) that provide health benefits through cell signaling pathways and produce antioxidant effects. Carotenoids are yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants in many fruits and vegetables. They have an important antioxidant function of deactivating free radicals. Check out the difference in yolk color of our conventional, white egg compared to our free-range egg!

What does this mean? It means that on top of functioning like a chicken should, free-range chickens eat a surplus amount of flavonoids and carotenoids! This is good for us egg-eaters.

​According to a study done by Mother Earth News, here’s how real free-range eggs compare to traditional, commercial eggs:

• One-third less cholesterol
• One-quarter less saturated fat
• Two-thirds more vitamin A (Vitamin A is involved in immune function, vision, reproduction, and cellular communication)
• Twice as many omega-3 fatty acids (An essential nutrient that the body cannot make on its own)
• Three times as much vitamin E (An antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals)
• Seven times as much beta carotene (Converted into vitamin A, an essential vitamin)

My suggestion is, do everything you can to buy local free-range chicken eggs! Go to the farmer’s market, stop and visit an Amish family selling eggs, branch out and find friends that have their own chickens, etc. Sure, spending $0.89 at the store seems a whole lot easier, but so does keeping chicken in cages- and we now know that consequence.

​Let’s get back to health,
Dr. Taryn