Eggs: Healthy Superfood or a Heart Disease Causing Breakfast Food?

Eggs: Heart Disease Causing Breakfast Food, or Healthy Superfood

Eggs provide a natural, single source of complete protein. They contain all the essential amino acids that the body cannot manufacture on its own. Eggs have consistently gotten a bad rap. In my opinion organic eggs from free-range hens are the healthiest, most versatile protein source on the planet.

A study from the University of Eastern Finland investigating “Associations of Egg and Cholesterol Intakes” found that a relatively high intake of dietary cholesterol, or eating one egg every day, is not associated with an elevated risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence [1]. This finding also held true for the segment of the population that was genetically predisposed to be at high risk for CHD. This is as true in Finland as it is here in Charlotte, NC or Columbia, SC or anywhere else in the United States.

Eggs don’t have nearly the negative effect on cholesterol that they are professed to and are a case study of modern nutrition advice failing us once again. Even so, if you decide to eat more eggs and saturated fats, keep an eye on your blood chemistries and identify any cause-and-effect relationships that may occur. This is particularly true if you are not eating eggs from pasture-raised chickens eating their natural, biologically familiar foods. Eggs from these chickens naturally possess higher anti-oxidant levels. Don’t read the “vegetarian fed” label on the egg carton from the grocery store and think that’s a good thing. Chickens aren’t vegetarians unless forced to be. The best eggs will come from hens that are free- range. They eat vegetation (increasing omega-3 fatty acid content) and scratch for insects and earthworms. Chickens are omnivores, their physiologies evolved eating nearly everything available. Eggs purchased from Open Pasture Meats are raised this way and have some of the highest, if not the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids available. Eggs from wheat and corn-fed chickens in cramped cages are just not natural (healthy) and that goes for the meat of these birds as well. The evidence points to the fact that eggs can indeed be a healthy superfood if they are sourced from a humane, sustainable, pasture raised, naturally foraged chicken.

1. Virtanen JK, Mursu J, Virtanen HE, et al. Associations of egg and cholesterol intakes with carotid intima-media thickness and risk of incident coronary artery disease according to apolipoprotein E phenotype in men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016;103(3):895–901.

Wayne Coolidge Jr., M.Ed., CHES is a scholar-practitioner, author, and speaker. He owns Healthy Dynamic Living, an innovative health promotion consulting firm.