When I eat eggs I eat the WHOLE egg.  I don’t eat them nearly as often as I used to, but I do eat a few each week.

egg

The Zone Diet told me NOT to eat egg yolks because of the arachidonic acid the yolks contain (AA is an essential fatty acid – and we do need SOME AA in our diet.)  Body for Life preferred I eat only egg whites so that I would avoid the fat of the yolk to consume a ‘lean protein’.  Beverly International’s bodybuilding diet was a bit more lenient offering me one yolk to three whites.

It always felt a little wasteful to me to toss out a perfectly good yolk – like having a dollar’s worth of quarters and throwing two of them in the garbage.  Then I learned more about the goodness that is the egg yolk.

Did you know that a whole egg contains all vitamins except for Vitamin C?  Throw some chopped red pepper into your omelet and now you’ve got Vitamin C covered too!

Egg yolks contain lutein and zeaxanthin which are thought to be protective for our eyes. If you throw out the yolk, your eyes are missing out on the antioxidant properties of these nutrients.

Over 90% of the following nutrients are housed in the yolk portion of the egg vs. the white:  iron, calcium, phosphorous, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, B12, A, D, E, and K. 

In a nutshell eggshell, an egg is like nature’s prepackaged multivitamin. 

On top of all the nutritional reasons to eat the whole egg, I learned what a hen endures just to produce that egg for me.  I don’t want to waste half of her effort by separating my whites out.  And I no longer support large factory farms by purchasing their eggs because I would prefer that my food ‘vote’  goes to farms where the hens at least get to see the outdoors, foraging for their own food and preferably not having the tips of their beaks removed. 

I recently learned that a close family member of ours has a chicken coop in their backyard (in a city!) I am envious!  I’d love to take care of my own chicken and know exactly where the eggs came from.  And what a great way for their kids to learn the importance of knowing that all food does have a source.  I think in today’s society, it was WAY TOO EASY for us to detach from the process of how the food just happens to arrive on our tables.

I’m not a vegan as I still eat eggs and fish.  And who knows what the future holds for me?  But for now, I will continue to eat the WHOLE egg when I do eat one and be thankful of the hardy little hen that so kindly produced this nutrient rich gem for me.  

How about you?  Do you eat eggs?  Just whites or yolks too? Drop me a comment!

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