Mucho Guide to Eggs

Unscrambling the truth…

Eggs. They’re just one of those foods. It seems that there is never a moment when eggs aren’t surrounded by controversy. Healthy vs naughty; free range vs caged; brown vs white — the list goes on. There are few foods more controversial than the humble egg (except for maybe milk, but we’ve already covered that for you). Recent studies have even claimed that eating egg yolks is just as bad for you as smoking — which would be bad news for us, because we’re egg fanatics. No, seriously. Eggs are like goats cheese. How? They go with just about everything. We’re here to unscramble the truth.

The Lowdown

They’re also insanely popular. Why? It’s in the simplicity — they’re relatively inexpensive & they can be prepared in minutes, in many different ways.

The debates about eggs go far outside the box, or in the case, the cage. How many eggs should we be eating a day? If we eat more than 2 yolks a day, are we going to die of high cholesterol?! Should we be eating more egg white omelettes?! We see them on lots of health food café menus, so that stands for something right?! How do I know that my eggs are 100% coming from chickens that have access to the outdoors?! Can somebody, anybody, please shed some light on this madness?!

Oh, that’s my job. Okay — let’s unscramble the truth about some of the misconceptions about eggs.

Should you be eating brown eggs, or white eggs? The answer? Both! There is literally not a single reason to opt for brown eggs instead of white, except for aesthetic purposes. The colour of the egg’s shell is simply a reflection of the colour of the chicken — so chickens with white feathers are more likely to produce white eggs, and vice versa. Neither taste better, neither are more nutritious, and neither are more humane. So, that’s sorted.

Okay — here’s another one. Should you be eating free range eggs? The answer? Obviously! 100%. No, wait, 110%. We’re not going to link through to any videos of chickens being ‘beaked’, because we all know the reality of the situation. But every time you buy caged eggs, just remember that they might as well say that they’re beaked eggs. It’s cruel, & it’s inhumane, & nobody should be supporting it by perpetuating the practice through purchasing these eggs.

Beware of “cage free” eggs as well, as these may be crowded into barns or warehouses, while free-range chickens have access to the outdoors. But the best thing to do is to buy organic in all cases — as unless you do, there is no independent auditing of these practices unless the eggs are certified organic.

Organic eggs come from hens that are raised on feed that is pesticide & fertilizer free. It’s no more nutritious, but it’s certainly much more humane, and just between us — we’re big believers that eggs taste better when they come from happy chickens.

But the best of the best egg are from pasture raised hens. Sure — you have to fork out a little more for these bad boys, but the juice is most certainly worth the squeeze. Not only are they more nutritious, & more humane, but they’re also definitely tastier. Pastured hens move about freely outdoors, have an organic diet, and are allowed to eat grass, worms & bugs — you know, all the stuff that chickens love. Grass, worms & bugs are to a chicken what pizza is to me. So not only are the chickens happy — but you, as the consumer, are too — because you have a nutritious, humane egg that has a deeper-coloured yolk with a creamier & richer flavour. Talk about #winning!

You may see cartons around the traps with certified humane written on the carton. So, what does this mean? In short, it means that the eggs, and the treatment of the chickens has been verified by an independent third party. Where possible, always get these eggs.

The Catch

Alot of the controversy surrounding eggs strays simply from caged vs uncaged, and it does have a lot to do with the amount of cholesterol found in eggs — specifically, in the yolks. But yolks are so damn delicious! Surely something that delicious & sunny can’t be the source of bad health?

Well, a large egg contains about 185 mg of cholesterol. Many nutritionists recommend a limit of 300 mg per day. Yep — I’m sure you’ve already done the math. According to these measurements, once you’ve eaten 2 eggs, you’ve already exceeded your daily limit. Cue the post-omelette shame.

So, should you be feeling guilt & shame every time you chow down on an omelette? No. This doesn’t mean that eggs are bad. It just means that there is a serious paranoia around eggs — a paranoia that has been around for far too long.

Simple: Egg paranoia has been based on the old assumption that eating the yolks will raise blood cholesterol (and increase your risk for artery and heart disease). The fact of the matter is — research has disproven this hypothesis many times. Sure — there are many outside factors that certainly impact the amount of yolks one should be eating a day, but in the grand scheme of things, other studies have repeatedly shown that consuming eggs does not raise cholesterol levels, or your risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke.

So, be gone egg paranoia! Let me eat my omelette in peace!

In fact, when downing my next, totally organic pasture raised egg from the farmers market (all this writing about eggs has only made me crave a delicious runny yolk), I will simply think of the positive health benefits of my daily poachy, including the protein, vitamin B2 & iron.

In fact, there is even evidence that egg consumption may protect against breast cancer. Woo!

The Cheat Sheet

Eggs are really something you should be putting in the effort for. If you’re going to do it for one thing — make it this. Wherever possible, head to the farmer’s market to get your eggs. You can talk to the farmers directly about where the eggs come from, the eggs always taste more delicious, and they have those gorgeous rich yellow yolks that everybody loves.

But, we totally get that you can’t always make it to the market, and we also understand the pain of trawling through the supermarket, scanning the ingredients labels, so we’ve done the hard work for you. Drum roll, pleaaaaaase:

The Free-Range Ones — Happy Eggs.

The Pastured Ones—Duchy from Ocado, Daylesford, Laverstoke Park, Woodwards Farm.

The Organic Ones — Riverford Organic Farms.

The Omega-3 Ones — Intelligent Eating Eggs. These eggs come from hens that are fed a very specific omega-3 rich diet. Any vegetarians who don’t eat fish may want to try omega-3-enriched eggs.

Happy egg eating everyone!