day), but they're a great source.
It turns out that choline is beneficial for everyone. In adults, choline is key to cell function (especially neural function), liver metabolism, and disease prevention. For example, a 2008 study linked high choline intake with a 24 percent lower rate of breast cancer. Women over nineteen need 425 milligrams every day, and men over nineteen need 550 milligrams. Research has found that only one in ten Americans gets enough choline every day.
Many people believe that eggs are unhealthy because they are high in cholesterol, but the facts suggest otherwise. There is cholesterol in eggs, but eating it won't harm you unless you oxidize it by overcooking it. That's why we recommend eating yolks soft-cooked or raw but not hard-cooked. A 2006 study in Britain found that eggs have not been linked with heart disease. In 2007, another study found that ninety-five hundred people eating one or more eggs every day did not experience a greater rate of heart disease or stroke. The study also found that eating eggs actually decreased blood pressure. Yet another study, also from 2007, concluded that recommendations to limit egg intake were not based on scientific evidence. It seems that “eggs are bad” is one of those myths based on questionable science from decades ago, but one that refuses to die.
Eating eggs will also help you to avoid excess weight gain before, during, and after pregnancy. Eggs contain a great balance of healthy fat and protein, so eating them helps you to feel both energized and satisfied. The more satisfied you feel, the less you'll be tempted to snack on empty calories like carbohydrates.
There is little or no downside to adding eggs to a Better Baby diet, but there is a significant upside.
Healthy Hens Make Healthy Eggs
As healthy as good eggs are, some eggs are much better for you than others, for all eggs are not created equal. Hens, just like humans, can produce healthy eggs only if their diet and environment are healthy. This means that they are able to graze outside in an organic field. As our local egg seller says, “They eat what they can find: bugs, grasses, seeds, and worms.” The nutrients from pasture grasses, bugs, and sun exposure make the eggs much healthier than commercial eggs from hens raised in confinement, fed poor-quality feed, and deprived of sun exposure.
Experiments done in 1933 found that chickens fed only soy, corn, wheat, or cottonseed meal didn't even lay eggs. They were simply not healthy enough. If, however, they were permitted access to fresh pasture grass and bugs in addition to the feed, they started laying eggs again. The nutrients in the pasture grass and bugs are essential.
Later studies found that eggs from free-range hens are richer in a variety of nutrients than those from factory-farmed hens. In 1974, a British study discovered that free-range eggs were much higher in folate and vitamin B12. In 1998, researchers discovered that free-range eggs have 30 percent more vitamin E than commercial eggs do. And, in 2007, Mother Earth News published a study it conducted comparing the nutrient content of eggs sampled from fourteen free-range farms across the United States with the nutrient content of eggs from hens raised in confinement. The findings were impressive. The free-range eggs contained 66 percent more vitamin A, twice the amount of omega-3 fatty acids, and a remarkable seven times more beta-carotene.
Free-range eggs are pretty easy to find these days, so we strongly recommend buying them to give yourself and your baby all these extra health benefits. They also taste better! Sadly, “free range” from stores usually come from chickens that did not actually have access to outdoor organic pastures to feed on their natural diet of grasses and bugs. “Cage-free” eggs can come from birds raised indoors, in overcrowded conditions and without access to the outdoors. The yolks of free-range eggs will typically be a much richer, deeper
It turns out that choline is beneficial for everyone. In adults, choline is key to cell function (especially neural function), liver metabolism, and disease prevention. For example, a 2008 study linked high choline intake with a 24 percent lower rate of breast cancer. Women over nineteen need 425 milligrams every day, and men over nineteen need 550 milligrams. Research has found that only one in ten Americans gets enough choline every day.
Many people believe that eggs are unhealthy because they are high in cholesterol, but the facts suggest otherwise. There is cholesterol in eggs, but eating it won't harm you unless you oxidize it by overcooking it. That's why we recommend eating yolks soft-cooked or raw but not hard-cooked. A 2006 study in Britain found that eggs have not been linked with heart disease. In 2007, another study found that ninety-five hundred people eating one or more eggs every day did not experience a greater rate of heart disease or stroke. The study also found that eating eggs actually decreased blood pressure. Yet another study, also from 2007, concluded that recommendations to limit egg intake were not based on scientific evidence. It seems that “eggs are bad” is one of those myths based on questionable science from decades ago, but one that refuses to die.
Eating eggs will also help you to avoid excess weight gain before, during, and after pregnancy. Eggs contain a great balance of healthy fat and protein, so eating them helps you to feel both energized and satisfied. The more satisfied you feel, the less you'll be tempted to snack on empty calories like carbohydrates.
There is little or no downside to adding eggs to a Better Baby diet, but there is a significant upside.
Healthy Hens Make Healthy Eggs
As healthy as good eggs are, some eggs are much better for you than others, for all eggs are not created equal. Hens, just like humans, can produce healthy eggs only if their diet and environment are healthy. This means that they are able to graze outside in an organic field. As our local egg seller says, “They eat what they can find: bugs, grasses, seeds, and worms.” The nutrients from pasture grasses, bugs, and sun exposure make the eggs much healthier than commercial eggs from hens raised in confinement, fed poor-quality feed, and deprived of sun exposure.
Experiments done in 1933 found that chickens fed only soy, corn, wheat, or cottonseed meal didn't even lay eggs. They were simply not healthy enough. If, however, they were permitted access to fresh pasture grass and bugs in addition to the feed, they started laying eggs again. The nutrients in the pasture grass and bugs are essential.
Later studies found that eggs from free-range hens are richer in a variety of nutrients than those from factory-farmed hens. In 1974, a British study discovered that free-range eggs were much higher in folate and vitamin B12. In 1998, researchers discovered that free-range eggs have 30 percent more vitamin E than commercial eggs do. And, in 2007, Mother Earth News published a study it conducted comparing the nutrient content of eggs sampled from fourteen free-range farms across the United States with the nutrient content of eggs from hens raised in confinement. The findings were impressive. The free-range eggs contained 66 percent more vitamin A, twice the amount of omega-3 fatty acids, and a remarkable seven times more beta-carotene.
Free-range eggs are pretty easy to find these days, so we strongly recommend buying them to give yourself and your baby all these extra health benefits. They also taste better! Sadly, “free range” from stores usually come from chickens that did not actually have access to outdoor organic pastures to feed on their natural diet of grasses and bugs. “Cage-free” eggs can come from birds raised indoors, in overcrowded conditions and without access to the outdoors. The yolks of free-range eggs will typically be a much richer, deeper
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