Eggs-actly What the Doctor Ordered

I want to take a moment here and thank all the chickens around the world for giving us such a great and powerful superfood; the incredible egg. There’s too much cholesterol in eggs, you say? Bah! That’s bad science propagated through ignorant outlets promoted by companies who profit from low fat diets. These are the same brilliant scientists who told us butter was bad and to switch to margarine. Now we know how bad that advice was. Yes, all you low fat egg substitute wanna-bees and egg white omelet eaters, you’ve got it all wrong. Historically, all over the world, eggs have been considered a nutrient rich food. It’s only when scientists discovered cholesterol that this basic staple was quickly vilified without completely understanding the role of cholesterol and by misunderstanding the true cause of heart disease. High cholesterol is an invented condition that never needed a savior. 

Not all eggs are created (and processed) equal. When a chicken lays an egg, the outer surface is covered with a natural “bloom” sealing the egg and helping prevent bacteria from entering. However, before the eggs get to your supermarket (even the organic ones), they are subject to a chlorine bath, or rinsed in lye, and most get a mineral oil coating. The egg shell is a porous membrane much like our skin. What goes on the outside of the shell can leach into the egg inside. Personally, I’m not a fan of eating chlorine, lye, or petroleum derived mineral oil. Washing a freshly laid, dirty egg covered with a stray fluffy feather, with vinegar just before use is a much better cleaning method. 

From here on out, when I used the word “egg” I am referring to an egg laid by a pastured, free range chicken who clucks in nature’s sunshine and whose diet consists of broad leaf weeds, bugs, and worms. Look for a local farmer’s market or check out www.realmilk.com for a farm or co-op near you. Of course Google can assist in the search as well. 

Not only is cholesterol important but the egg is a good source of protein, vitamin A, D, and E, thiamine, riboflavin, folate, pyridoxine (B6), cobalamin (B12), pantothenic acid, choline, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, selenium, and copper. It has lesser amounts of vitamin k, niacin, magnesium, potassium, and manganese. That’s one heck of a vitamin pill. And the best way to eat them: Raw! Have you forgotten about Rocky and his workout drink? Now, I’m not about to do that. However, I do put a raw egg in my homemade breakfast smoothie: ½ an avocado, a banana, big spoonful of organic yogurt, some fruit, and a raw eggs. Over the top nutrition and you will never taste the egg or feel its consistency.

So what about that cholesterol business? Science was just dead wrong. Time Magazine had it as their cover story in June, 2014. Cholesterol is vital for building healthy sex hormones and hormones that actually protect against heart disease, not cause it. Vitamin D needs cholesterol for proper utilization. Bile is critical to the digestive process and absorption of dietary fats. Bile salts, made by the liver, require cholesterol. It is vital for proper brain and nerve function. Cholesterol is critical to repair of damaged cells. When science declares that there is too much cholesterol in your blood vessels, this is not a finite disease but rather a symptom of cellular breakdown. It is your blood vessels that are weak, losing their integrity, and thus cholesterol comes to the rescue…acting like a Band Aid. 

Instead of gobbling up our nutritious eggs and fats, our medical doctors and pharmaceutical companies have strung us out on statin drugs designed to lower cholesterol. These statin drugs come with a long list of side effects. The most common side effect is muscle pain and weakness due to the depletion of Co-Q_10. Add to that, neuropathy, heart failure, dizziness, cognitive impairment, cancer, depression, pancreatitis and an increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes.

It’s time to throw that bad science out in the recycle bin. It’s time to reclaim our health and eat our eggs without guilt. It’s time to give our body much needed nutrition that it has been denied. That is, of course, unless you prefer ill health and all the side effects from statin drugs.

Vitamin A: Beauty or Beast?

One doesn’t have to look far to find information demonizing high levels of vitamin A as being toxic. This erroneous information is dutifully paraded about in front of pregnant women warning them about birth defects. It’s been reported that high levels of vitamin A can cause osteoporosis and be a precursor to hip fractures. Other side effects include fatigue, irritability, nausea, and excessive sweating. 

Nonetheless, vitamin A is essential to health and life. Our vision (and eye health in general) is dependent on vitamin A. Night blindness is a direct result of vitamin A deficiency. Adequate levels of vitamin A are imperative for embryonic development and proper transcription of the DNA (conflicting the data cited above). Cleft palate and harelip are results of vitamin A deficiency. Strong bones and teeth, healthy skin and mucous membranes, the thyroid and adrenal gland, rich blood, and the immune system are all reliant on vitamin A. Measles is a result of vitamin A deficiency. Wound healing depends on vitamin A. So, does vitamin A harm or heal? 

In 1919, vitamin A in egg yolks was the first fat soluble vitamin to be discovered. In 1924, it was found that vitamin A in butter or cod liver oil could help prevent xerophthalmia (dry eyes) in children. By 1947 though, science had moved in, created, and accepted a refined, synthetic chemical structure resembling vitamin A and began mass producing it in the laboratory. However, Vitamin A is not one isolated, man-made molecule. It is a family of compounds consisting of carotenoids (not just beta carotene but also alpha and gamma), and a group of retinoids. It is always found in nature buddying up to its synergistic fatty acids, enzymes, trace minerals, chlorophyll, and other vitamins. Vitamin A is really a mosaic of several interwoven complexes.

Herein lies the folly of the misguided, research claiming vitamin A can be harmful. We must make, and understand, the distinction between lifeless, isolated, inert, molecules made in a laboratory by a finite thinking man and a live, whole food, independently active, vitamin A complex perfected by an infinitely wise Mother Nature. Yes, synthetic vitamin A can be toxic as can be any artificial supplement, pharmaceutical, or additive. I would not recommend this at all. On the other hand, vitamin A from a whole food source such as raw butter from grass fed cows, egg yolks from pastured chickens, and liver and organ meats from free range animals are indispensable! 

Accutane is a synthetic form of retinol used to treat acne. It has been pulled from the market due to its mounting health concerns. Though the FDA refuses to ban the drug, they issued an alert that Accutane contributed to suicidal thoughts and actions. Some children whose mothers took Accutane during pregnancy were born with nervous system defects, brain damage, and congenital heart disease. 

The vitamin A complex, unlike the synthetic version, is so vital to life and our bodily functions that nature has created a storage system for it. Excess vitamin A gets stored in our fat cells. It is a survival mechanism. When supply becomes low (in tribal times when poor hunting conditions produced little to no yield) we have a reserve tank. Strenuous exercise, periods of physical growth, stress, infections, and pregnancy/lactation quickly deplete vitamin A stores. 

Do you eat raw butter, cod liver oil, or organ meat regularly? How many eggs do you eat in a week? In a day? Raw eggs are best. I put one in a blender with some yogurt, a banana and other fruit, and ½ an avocado. That makes a great smoothie and you will never taste the egg or feel its texture. 

Well, what about the vitamin A in a carrot, sweet potato or other orange fruits and vegetables? The difference between vitamin A in animal products and that in plants is that animal sources contain retinol and plant sources contain carotene. Retinol is converted to vitamin A and is immediately available for the cells to use. Carotene, in contrast, must be converted to retinol first and that conversion ratio is poor. The accepted ratio of how many units of beta-carotene are needed to produce one unit of vitamin A is 6:1. What this means in English is that you have to eat an awful lot of fruits and veggies to obtain even the daily minimal conversion. Carotenes also need the assistance of fat, zinc, iron, vitamin E, and a thyroid hormone called thyroxine to be converted to retinol. I am not telling you to ditch the carrots. The carrot has infinite nutritional value. The moral to the story here is that a balanced diet including clean meat/organs/fat is vital to maintaining health. 

Raw butter may be found by searching through www.realmilk.com for a farm or food co-op near you. I highly recommend cod liver oil from www.greenpasture.org. It has not been refined and does not have synthetic vitamins added to it.