Fun Facts and Answers to FAQs about Eggs You May Not Know

Did you know that May is National Egg Month?

The Noah’s Pride Eggs are certainly eggs-cited to share this unique hol-egg-day month with you by providing some fun facts about eggs that most people probably don’t know! Today’s post will also answer a few frequently asked questions about egg nutrition.

Let’s cel-egg-brate all the things that make eggs such a special, incredible food!

Top 5 Egg Facts You Should Know

As you get together with family for eggs-traordinary summer vacations beginning later this month, you can share your eggs-pert knowledge and surely impress everyone!

Egg yolks and whites are both good for you

While it’s true that many people believe yolks are “bad” compared to egg whites because they contain much of the egg’s fat, there’s more to this story. In other words, don’t ditch those egg yolks!

Our friends at the Egg Nutrition Center explain that you should not be afraid of the fat content in egg yolks. Much of the fat found in yolks is unsaturated and aids in the absorption of other essential egg nutritional components like fat-soluble vitamins D, E, and A, plus choline, lutein, zeaxanthin, and more. In fact, if you throw away the yolks, you will lose much of that nutrition, as well as nearly half of the egg’s total protein (just over 40%)! Keep those yolks, folks!

Eggs do not increase your risk of heart disease

Although it is a fact that eggs contain cholesterol, the effect of egg consumption on blood cholesterol is minimal, according to the Mayo Clinic and other medical experts. It has been proven through long-term research that healthy adults can eat up to seven eggs per week without impacting their heart disease risk.

The even better news? Newer studies have shown that eating up to one egg a day is associated with a 12% reduction in the risk of stroke!

Eggshells are great for your garden

Are you a home gardener who enjoys enriching your soil with compost and healthy nutrients to grow stronger, more resilient food and ornamental plants? Adding crushed eggshells to your compost will naturally increase calcium and other essential nutrients that plants need.

Just know that for best results, it’s a good idea to prep your eggshells a bit before tossing them in your bin or compost heap. Many experts suggest allowing shells to dry out for a few days or baking them dry in a warm oven, and then pulverizing them (using a food processor is great for this) to encourage absorption into the soil.

Eggs are a protein “MVP”

Especially when combined with vegetables, such as on a delicious and refreshing summer salad, the high protein content in eggs becomes that much more valuable. Our friends over at the American Egg Board break it down like this—the nutritional value of eggs and veggies eaten together is greater in total than each would be alone. These healthy foods have complementary vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant values that boost absorption in the body. For example:

• A salad eaten with whole cooked eggs increases carotenoid (lutein, zeaxanthin, and more) absorption.
• Dietary fat contained in egg yolks may help increase the bioavailability of carotenoids found in co-consumed fruits and vegetables.
• Vitamin E absorption is increased, too, when eating a salad with whole cooked eggs because it is a fat-soluble vitamin.

Eggs are good for your brain

While we like to believe that eating eggs actually makes you smarter, the jury is still out. But, eggs do help with cognition by nourishing your brain in healthy ways. Science has proven this!

Two essential nutrients for brain health and cognition are found in eggs: choline and lutein. What do these amazing carotenoids do?

Choline

Important for during pregnancy to help with fetal brain development, choline is also good for children and adults later. It benefits areas of the brain that are used for memory and learning.

Lutein

While it has long been known that lutein is vital for keeping your eyes healthy, more recent studies suggest that it is also important in the brain development of babies and young children.

A Few Big Egg FAQs Answered

You’ve got questions about eggs. We’ve got the answers!

Is it bad to eat eggs every day?

Absolutely not! In fact, a daily egg may be better for you than the legendary old “apple a day” to keep the doctor away! As we talked about above, healthy adults can eat up to seven eggs per week without affecting their heart disease risk. And there are so many other powerhouse nutrients in eggs that you’ll want to get in the habit of eating them regularly to benefit your health.

 

Why are Noah’s Pride eggs brown?

Many people don’t realize that an egg’s shell color simply has to do with the breed of the hen that laid it. Different chicken breeds lay different colored eggs, and in fact, while our Noah’s Pride hens lay brown eggs, our family farm—Kreider Farms—is also home to hens that produce white eggs!

The nutritional content of brown eggs and white eggs is similar. Additionally, an egg’s grade (AA, A, or B) and how laying hens are raised (organic, free-range, and conventional) does not significantly alter how good eggs are for you!

Does egg yolk color mean anything about nutritional value?

There is a lot of speculation out there over what the color of an egg’s yolk means—it can vary between shades of yellow to dark orange, after all. Unlike shell color, yolk color is dependent on the hen’s diet, and specifically, her carotenoid intake. (Here we go again with the carotenoids!) This means that it does signal some facts about nutritional value—mostly in terms of what the laying hen eats—but it’s not as simple as “the darker the yolk, the healthier the egg.”

As the Egg Nutrition Center shares, hen feed can be enhanced with carotenoids (via extracts such as marigold and red pepper), which can lead to a darker yolk. Whether or not the carotenoids added for color enhancement lead to amounts that further impact human health is unknown at this time.

Discover our Noah’s Pride Eggs at Your Local Grocery Store!

At Noah’s Pride, we care about our hens, and we care about your food! Pick up our eggs-tra special eggs on your next shopping trip at your favorite participating Central PA grocery stores.

And save with this special offer!