One of the best things about having your own egg-laying chickens is there is always something on hand for a tasty meal.
The better news is, after years of being cast as cholesterol-laden bombs, it turns out eggs are a good nutritional choice, according to nutritionists and new research.
A recent report released by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which helps set national nutrition policy, found dietary cholesterol no longer is a “nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” The committee wants to drop the recommendation to limit dietary cholesterol to 300 milligrams a day, saying evidence shows no connection to high cholesterol levels in the blood, a risk factor for heart disease. Limiting saturated fats in the diet appears to be a more effective way to improve cardiovascular health, they found.
The final dietary guidelines, updated every five years, are expected later this year.
In a recent article published by Bicycling Magazine, eggs were celebrated as “the perfect food,” with the white and yolk working together to provide important vitamins, healthy fats, zinc, iodine and other trace minerals in an easy-to-handle, 72-calorie package.
“Eggs can certainly be part of a healthy diet,” Kate Parsons, clinical dietician at The Aroostook Medical Center, said. “We often hear of the old research with cholesterol in eggs affecting cholesterol in our bodies, but newer, modern research shows us it is the saturated and trans fats that are the danger.”
The Bicycling article references a review by Wake Forest University in which researchers found no link between eating eggs and heart disease.
“This has taken a bit of the heat off eggs,” Parsons said.
Some doctors and scientists have criticized the advisory committee’s recommendation about cholesterol, questioning the underlying research and worrying people will interpret it as license to gobble up high-cholesterol foods instead of healthier options.
As with most things, it’s all about common sense and moderation, Parsons said.
“Too much of a good thing is not necessarily good,” she said. “Eating eggs is not going to cancel out poor choices in the rest of your diet.”
Equally important is how the eggs are prepared.
“The main thing to keep in mind is not not to add a lot of things with extra trans or saturated fats or salt,” Parsons said. “You want to be careful with fryling or scrambling eggs if you are using butter, but that’s even OK if you are careful with using olive oils or sprays.”
Parsons said one or two eggs per day is reasonable for most people as part of a healthy diet.
“I’m a big supporter of eggs as an important part of good nutrition,” Anne Lichtenwalner, director of the University of Maine Animal Health Lab, said. “Eggs are a quality food, [and] they have a lot of potential for enriching family life with kids learning a lot about nature being around the birds.”
In addition to being a good source of protein, people can supply eggs for themselves.
“It’s not just the science of nutrition that’s great about eggs,” Lichtenwalner said. “They are something you can produce yourself, and that’s important for families that want to get that sense of sustainability [and] teach their children where food comes from.”
Those lessons, she said, translate into environmental messages.
Because free-ranging chickens will pick up and eat pretty much everything they find, it’s important their environment be clear of toxins, pesticides or heavy metals.
“It becomes about taking care of the environment,” Lichtenwalner said. “Especially with free-range chickens, you are eating your environment.”
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension hosts periodic “egg schools,” she said, where those new to small-scale poultry production learn how to handle eggs, maintain good coop hygiene, proper egg storage and food safety policies when selling home-raised eggs.
With more and more Mainers getting into backyard chicken farming, finding something to do with all those eggs, including selling them, can become a challenge. There’s a risk of fresh eggs becoming the poultry equivalent of zucchini — something that delights friends, family and neighbors early in the season but over time can’t even be given away.
But now that eggs are enjoying a renaissance as nature’s convenience food, Lichtenwalner believes getting rid of surplus ones won’t be a problem.
Parsons agrees.
“Eggs make for a good breakfast or a quick and easy snack,” she said. “They are easy to boil up and add to a salad or grab for lunch.”
