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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Easter and eggs go hand-in-hand. After the kids color them, you may find yourself eating more hard cooked eggs or egg salad than at any other time of the year. Will all these eggs make your cholesterol go up? Are they good for you? Which are the best eggs to buy?
In the US, chickens lay over 72 billion eggs yearly and we eat 257 eggs per person each year. It used to be simple, you went to the store and brought home a dozen eggs and stored them on the door of the refrigerator. Wrong! Eggs should be stored in their carton on an inside shelf of the fridge. Egg shells are porous (17,000 tiny pores in the shell of one large egg) and they will lose moisture and take up odors from other foods in the refrigerator.
Do you buy white or brown eggs? Should you choose organic, free-range, cage-free, omega-3 rich or even fertilized eggs? From a nutrition standpoint eggs are eggs. One large egg has 70 calories, 6 grams of protein, no carb or sugar, and is a good source of vitamins and minerals. Most of the nutrients and fat are in the yolk and more protein is found in the white. Omega-3 rich eggs are the results of omega-3-rich feed fed to hens.
Marketers lead you to believe that the color of the eggshell relates to the quality, flavor or nutritional content of the egg. The color of the eggshell only tells you the breed of hen. White-shelled eggs come from longhorn chicken and brown-shelled from Rhode Island Reds. Brown-shelled eggs may cost more because hens that lay brown eggs are larger and require more feed than hens that lay white eggs. Keep in mind you throw away the shell that you may have paid a premium to buy.
Buying organic, free-range or cage free eggs are a value choice that you make as a shopper. Organic eggs are from hens that have been fed a diet free of any animal products. The hens must have access to the outdoors and if a sick hen is given antibiotics it cannot be returned to the flock and have its eggs sold as organic. Free-range eggs come from chickens allowed to go outdoors. The majority of hens raised on commercial poultry farms are housed in cages. Producers say that cage size is adequate and this method lessens stressful living conditions, salmonella, and reduces the need for antibiotics. Opponents say it is not a humane lifestyle for the hens. Be aware that some cage free hens are still raised exclusively indoors.
Fertilized eggs are nutritionally equal to unfertilized eggs because egg laying does not depend on mating. When the rooster does get in the henhouse an egg will contain the genetic material of both the rooster and the hen. Fertile eggs could develop into a chick but this does not happen without incubation. Fertilized eggs are not found in the supermarket because egg producers and inspectors remove them from wholesale supplies. You can buy them in specialty markets and from farms.
Eggstra egg facts:
Can you use cracked eggs? Don’t buy cracked eggs but if one is cracked accidentally, break the egg into a clean container, cover and use within 2 days. If an eggshell cracks during cooking, the egg is safe to eat.
Is the green ring around the yolk of a hard cooked egg safe? Yes. Sulfur and iron compounds leech out of the yolk due to overcooking. It can also be caused by the high iron content of cooking water. It does not affect the egg’s safety, taste or quality.
Will eating eggs raise your cholesterol? Research has shown that the cholesterol in eggs is not likely to raise blood cholesterol. .
Enjoy all those leftover Easter eggs.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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