Everything You Need to Know About Omega 3 Eggs
How to use omega 3 eggs to sustain your healthy diet
All eggs are omega 3 eggs. That is to say, all eggs contain essential fatty acids that can help you maintain your health. Some eggs, however, claim to contain more omega 3 benefits than others. Do they really? How do they achieve this miracle? And perhaps most importantly, are omega 3 eggs healthy overall?
The Fuss About Eggs
For decades, eggs were a staple American food, taking center stage at the breakfast table and often for dinner, too. But then along came the doctors to tell us that eggs were full of cholesterol, that cholesterol was bad for you, and that those nasty chickens had been deceiving us all along.
The doctors are backtracking though, and it turns out the chickens were right: eggs actually are good for you. Sure, maybe it's a bad idea to eat a dozen a day, but in general eggs are full of healthy cholesterol, protein, and of course, essential fatty acids.
Are eggs omega 3 rich foods?
You bet! Like any lean protein, eggs definitely contain omega 3 benefits. So why would you buy omega 3 eggs -- do they actually contain more helpful omega 3s?
Actually, they do, and there's a simple reason why: what goes in comes out. We all know that what a pregnant woman eats and drinks affects her offspring. Well, what chickens eat affects their eggs. If chickens eat corn and soybeans, which many commercial farmers use as feed, it has a detrimental effect on the omega 3 content.
On the other hand, chickens who eat greens and insects -- in other words, what they would naturally eat if left to their own devices -- have higher levels of essential fatty acids than their farm fed counterparts. You don't actually need to buy omega 3 eggs for that, of course: just look for organic and naturally fed products.
Some farmers further increase the levels of omega 3s by adding flax and canola to chicken diets. These are naturally omega 3 rich foods, so they increase the omega 3 content in the eggs. Some farmers go so far as to add marine oils, such as green algae and seaweed. That will produce eggs very high in omega 3 fatty acids, but unfortunately it sometimes results in a 'fishy' taste, something most consumers don't appreciate in their morning scramble.
Basically, if you're interested in increasing your omega 3 intake, eggs are a good way to do it. Try a few different omega 3 brands and find one that's high in essential fatty acids but low in the taste of boiled cod. And by the way -- most omega 3 eggs taste just fine.
