I began keeping chickens because I wanted eggs that came from healthy, well-treated animals. The fabulous eggs they produced would have sufficed, but somewhere along the way, I became mesmerized by the chickens themselves, from their almost musical communication to the way they trick one another out of getting the best scraps, to the way they reliably know exactly one hour before sundown to go to their roosts and sleep. Studies done on chicken intelligence show that they are equal to preschool-age children in empathy, self-control, and even numeracy.1 Sure, some are as dopey as you might imagine—no different from humans!—but others walk over to me and cluck until I pick them up and pet them. I always say someone forgot to tell them that they’re chickens and not dogs!
Chickens eat just about anything—scraps from meals, foraged greens and seeds, plenty of bugs and worms. But they always prefer fresh foliage over scraps. And when I say fresh, I mean still alive, as in still attached to the living plant. If I drop plants clipped seconds earlier from my garden, they forsake those clippings for the live stuff every time. They instinctively know that living food is higher in nutrition, phytochemicals, and other elements of secret chicken ambrosia.
They transform these scraps and dirt candy into luscious eggs with bright golden yolks. Talk about the Rumpelstiltskin Effect! My eight chickens give me as many as 55 eggs a week, depending on the season. They also act as built-in composters for my garden. Their nitrogen-rich droppings, mixed with the carbon-rich wood chips we layer over their run, become microbial- and nutrient-dense perfectly balanced fertilizer for my garden. This, of course, draws lots of worms and bugs and microbes to the soil, which allows for more (and better) fruits and veggies to grow, and then becomes more forage and scraps for them. It’s a perfect cycle.
You don’t have to keep chickens to recognize that honoring a chicken’s natural habits and habitat makes for healthier animals, and, in turn, healthier humans.
Egg yolks from pastured chickens are filled with fabulous nutrition: essential fats like omega-3s and omega-6s, as well as CLA, healthy saturated fats, cholesterol (yes, cholesterol!), plus vitamins and minerals. They are the most concentrated source of choline, which plays a wide range of roles in neurological health and is particularly crucial for brain and memory development in pregnancy, nursing, and toddlerhood. Eggs from pastured hens contain significantly more naturally derived omega-3s than eggs from factory hens.2,3 Adequate levels of omegas (in the ideal ratio with omega-6s, 4:1) improve symptoms from asthma, ADHD, seizures, depression, and cognition.4,5 I mention this proper ratio because in purely grain-fed, indoor animals (which we’ll talk more about in a bit), the ratio may be 14:1 or much more.
Hens that spend time in the sun lay eggs with yolks three to six times higher in vitamin D than eggs from confined hens.6 Yes, you can actually obtain your daily vitamin D by consuming pastured eggs rather than supplements! This crucial vitamin, best known for its role in building strong bone, is also a gene transcription factor that boosts immunity, improves mood, reduces blood pressure, and lowers risk of cancer as well as autoimmune, neurological, and psychiatric disorders.7 Deficiency may play a role in autism.8,9 But vitamin D in eggs comes only from hens free to graze fresh greens and bask in the sun. Healthy chickens, healthy eggs, healthy people.
Pastured eggs have higher levels of B12, folate, and vitamin E. Eggs also are a uniquely abundant source of two carotenes, lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant vitamins essential for macular protection, the part of the retina responsible for central vision. They also have a protective effect against colon cancer, with an enhanced benefit in younger people.10 The deeper the yellow-orange color of the yolks, the more antioxidant power they have.
Eggs and their yolks—like real milk, cream, and butter—went through a period of being demonized (Too much cholesterol! Too much saturated fat!). But scientists, doctors, and consumers are finally recognizing their value as a perfect food.
THE REAL DIRT ON CHOLESTEROL
What is cholesterol—aside from that sinister compound associated with heart disease and premature death? Cholesterol is a steroid manufactured in the liver and used to build healthy cell membranes. It’s so critical for infant brain development that mother’s milk concentrates both cholesterol and unique enzymes that aid in its absorption from the intestinal tract. Children need cholesterol in their diets to fuel their rapid brain growth. Though the brain is only 3 percent of the body’s mass, 20 percent of cholesterol makes its way there to play a pivotal role in insulating, protecting, and nourishing the neurons there.11 It is critical for formation of synapses—the connections between your neurons that allow you to move, think, learn, and form memories.12 In fact, in 2013, the FDA began to require consumer warnings that certain cholesterol-lowering medications could cause memory decline and other cognitive issues. It should also come as no surprise that cholesterol deficiency has been linked to the development of autism, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and ALS.13,14 Children with autism have lower cholesterol levels than their neurotypical peers. People suffering from psychiatric disorders—from depression to violent behavior to suicide-completers—tend to have lower cholesterol levels.15,16
Cholesterol is also the body’s repair substance. When arteries sustain damage, cholesterol steps in to patch things up and prevent aneurysms. It’s the raw material from which our bodies make vitamin D, cortisol that helps us manage stress, as well as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone that help regulate puberty and sexual function. In addition, cholesterol transports sulfur groups that are essential for building glutathione, the “garbage truck” of the cell that binds and carts out toxins and free radicals. These powerful antioxidant properties help to protect the body from cancer. Cholesterol helps the body—and brain—function well.
Paradoxically, low—and not high—cholesterol is associated with earlier death.17,18,19,20,21 In fact, high cholesterol is associated with longevity, including lower incidence of infection and cancer.22 After all of cholesterol’s negative press, it may sound crazy that people with higher cholesterol levels live longer, but it’s been corroborated repeatedly.23,24 This may partly have to do with cholesterol’s potent immunomodulating function.25,26 In 200 children aged newborn to 20 years, those with allergic disorders (including asthma) had lower total and LDL cholesterol than the others.27 And in a large study of more than 68,000 deaths, it was low cholesterol that predicted an increased risk of dying from gastrointestinal and respiratory illness.28
Eating eggs doesn’t even confer the cardiac risk we’ve assumed for many years. Researchers who took a close look at the egg-eating habits and heart health of 118,000 people found that nondiabetic people who ate five to six eggs per week had a lower risk of heart disease than those who ate one or less egg per week.29 Imagine that!
Cholesterol essentially became a “problem” when doctors developed the ability to measure it. They demonized it, restricted it, and medicated people to reduce levels. Cholesterol was “bad,” so naturally eggs were “bad.” Though eggs are a complex food rich with countless beneficial compounds, soon eggs were equated with cholesterol in the same way that milk became “calcium,” carrots “vitamin A,” and oranges “vitamin C.” We must learn and relearn: whole foods are far more than the sum of their parts.
LDL in particular has been demonized as “bad cholesterol,” despite the fact that LDL’s role is to deliver life-sustaining cholesterol to our cells. The real problem is actually when triglycerides increase—in part a result of consuming excess sugar and processed carbohydrates—which leads to smaller, denser LDL that are prone to oxidization and glycation. Oxidized and glycated LDL is the real danger,30,31 which may be better addressed by reducing sugar and processed carbohydrate consumption rather than restricting unprocessed, nutrient-dense sources of cholesterol.32,33,34
We really don’t know what the upper limit of “normal” cholesterol is for each individual. Current recommendations—which dictate that one in four Americans requires statins—are likely inaccurate. And we must keep in mind that members of the medical panel that made those recommendations were criticized by the New York Times for conflicts of interest. Interestingly, the majority of panel members received money from one or more pharmaceutical companies that produce cholesterol-lowering medications.35,36
To sum up, eggs are a delicious way to consume unprocessed cholesterol, which is associated with a long and healthy life. The industrial way agribusiness raises and feeds hens makes its eggs and us sick, but eggs themselves are not inherently unhealthy. Ultimately, cholesterol, along with other nutrients in pastured eggs, benefits our body, immune system, and especially our brains.
WHY HEALTHY CHICKENS MATTER
Usually outsiders aren’t permitted to enter CAFOs, but I once was able to tour a facility abroad. As I entered the dim, warehouselike, multilevel building, all I could see were chickens from floor to ceiling: kept in wire cages piled high, packed six hens to a cage, with just enough space between them for eggs and waste to drop. They had pale, droopy combs, a sign of nutrient deficiency. These chickens had intact beaks, unlike many U.S. chickens who are de-beaked because they peck one another to death under the stressful, crowded conditions. The strong smell of ammonia made the chickens cough, even with enormous ten-foot-by-ten-foot fans circulating the air (without which the birds would quickly die from their own fumes). Artificial light shone to mimic longer days, since chickens naturally lay more eggs in summer than winter. I later learned that these conditions were actually far superior to those in the United States.
Chickens induced to lay ever more eggs develop “layer fatigue.” Because it’s physiologically impossible for them to absorb enough calcium to produce so many eggshells, calcium leaches from their bones. Their bones eventually break, and they can become paralyzed and die. Unlike free-range chickens who can live 10 years or more, very few caged layers survive past 12 months of age, when they’re simply thrown out.
Even smaller-scale so-called free-range or cage-free facilities can cram hundreds of chickens into one large space. In order to get free-range certification, producers must only include coops with a small door that opens onto a five-foot-by-five-foot fenced-in outdoor pen. Most chickens, however, are too uncertain of what lies on the other side and never venture through. Small producers tell me that their chickens, too, end up in the garbage after their most productive laying is over. “No one these days would buy them,” they say.
The producers are referring to a time when older hens traditionally became stew birds. Their less tender meat required longer cooking, but their flavor was considered vastly superior to typical broilers. Moreover, their feet and necks are still exceptional for soup and their fat is excellent for cooking.
I don’t recommend eating CAFO birds or their eggs. Commercial chicken feed is comprised largely of GMO corn (carbohydrate) and GMO soy (protein), which increases the egg’s omega-6 fat content to unhealthy ratios—leading to a more reactive immune system in us. Other elements in soy-fed chickens’ eggs include detectable soy isoflavones, which lead to higher estrogen content and possible greater reactivity for soy-sensitive kids. Genetically modified, high-pesticide soy or corn in feed also potentially exposes us to whatever genetic and epigenetic material the chicken consumed. We are what we eat eats.
Other ingredients in chicken feed are chicken feathers, which are also used as fertilizer for crops, even though feathers—like hair—hold remnants of toxic exposures. A 2012 study tested U.S. and Chinese feather meal and found antibiotic residues in both, as well as acetaminophen (from Tylenol, for poultry fevers); diphenhydramine (from Benadryl, used for poultry anxiety); and norgestimate (a sex hormone). All these also become part of the soil that grows our veggies.37
Commercial layers are susceptible to disease due to their cramped, stressful living conditions and thus receive regular doses of antibiotics, which happen to also promote faster growth and more productive laying. More than 25 million pounds of antibiotics are administered to chickens for such “nontherapeutic” purposes a year. Here again, this chronic, preemptive use of antibiotics has led to the rise of resistant superbugs—meaning most antibiotics are becoming useless against these bacteria. In eggs tested for deadly food-borne pathogens, all pathogens detected were resistant to one or more drugs. Over less than 20 years, the number of antibiotic-resistant salmonella has gone from 1 percent to more than 30 percent, leading to recalls after eggs sickened thousands.
EGGS: NOT JUST AMAZING ON THE INSIDE
When a hen lays an egg, her body secretes a naturally antimicrobial protective coating called “bloom,” which prevents bacteria from traveling through that porous shell. It also helps prevent moisture and carbon dioxide loss that would lead to an overall degradation in the quality of the egg. When the bloom is intact, eggs stay good for much longer than washed eggs. Unwashed eggs don’t require refrigeration because of the bloom. And shells have their own value, hard enough to protect the embryo inside, but porous enough to allow in whatever the growing chick needs. Many traditional cultures grind the mineral-rich shells into food for themselves or their animals. (I recycle crushed eggshells in my garden or in my hens’ scraps as a calcium source.)
American producers wash their eggs in an attempt to get rid of disease-causing bacteria. In Europe, however, E.U. egg marketing laws state that Class A eggs—those found on supermarket shelves—must not be washed or cleaned in any way. This mandate is in place to encourage good practices on farms; it is in the farmers’ best interest to produce the cleanest eggs possible, as no one will buy unwashed eggs that are dirty. Regulators also understand that washing eggs damages the bloom, which they know would increase the risk of contamination. Even contaminants in water used to wash the eggs, for instance, could seep through the porous shell. E.U. law stipulates that eggs “should in general not be refrigerated before sale to the final consumer.” The regulations explain that “Cold eggs left out at room temperature may become covered in condensation, facilitating the growth of bacteria on the shell and probably their ingression into the egg.”
In the United States, however, the USDA requires that all eggs be rinsed with warm water, washed in detergent followed by chemical sanitizer, then dried. As washing removes the bloom, egg producers in the United States compensate by spraying eggs with a layer of mineral oil so that eggs could sit in cold storage for up to a year.
What You Can Do
You can buy eggs from farmers you know—whether at their farms or the farmer’s market. As more and more people raise backyard chickens, perhaps you can obtain eggs from a neighbor . . . or even keep chickens yourself. I recommend honoring chickens’ natural laying cycle. They lay most of their eggs in the spring and summer, and fewer in the winter. I serve eggs in warmer months more than in colder ones.
A GOOD EGG/HEALTHY CHICKEN
Words like “free-range” or “cage-free” unfortunately don’t guarantee that chickens were allowed to forage bugs and plants in the sunshine and fresh air. Neither does organic certification, though it does mean that the chickens aren’t being administered chronic hormones or antibiotics and that the feed is GMO free.
• Buy from a farmer’s market, a farm, or a CSA. Purchase great eggs from someone who keeps chickens in your neighborhood. In all of these cases, find out how growers raise their chickens. Visit at least once, if possible, at a time prearranged with the grower.
• Words like “pastured chicken” as well as USDA organic labeling are ideal.
• Make sure chickens have free access to fresh air and sunshine, bugs in the dirt, and fresh pasture to forage.
• Keep in mind that chickens are omnivores and like to eat bugs, worms, small rodents, and even meat or fish scraps (though obviously not chicken parts). “Vegetarian feed” may not offer chickens everything they need nutritionally unless the animals are allowed outside to scratch and forage. Vegetarian feed is superior to refuse from industrial meat facilities however.
• Look for labels that say “Certified Humane,” “Animal Welfare Approved,” and “No Antibiotics,” which ensure humane treatment—no beak or toe clipping.
• A helpful resource is http://www.cornucopia.org/organic-egg-scorecard/.
TAKE HOME
1. Feed your children plenty of pastured eggs for a great source of vitamin D, cholesterol, choline, essential fats, and phytonutrients.
2. Good-quality eggs—especially yolks, yolks, yolks—are worth their weight in gold. Forgo the egg white omelettes and take advantage of the Rumpelstiltskin Effect!
3. The quality of the egg depends on whether it came from a “happy hen” who lives as she is meant to—frequently outdoors, foraging on healthy pasture, supplemented with good-quality (organic) feed.
4. Eat them lightly hard-boiled, roasted, poached, and sunny-side up as well as in omelettes, quiches, and frittatas. Serve them over soups, burgers, veggies, or rice. Enjoy occasional custards and puddings, too! NOTE: Keeping the yolk intact and cooking lightly optimally preserves the egg’s nutrients and delicate fats and cholesterol.
5. Request stew hens from egg farmers you trust so that older laying hens aren’t thrown out—and discover how exceptionally flavorful, tender, and delicious they are when braised or stewed in coq au vin or chicken ragout.