America's egg farmers and the American Egg Board have joined together to create The Good Egg Project to educate the public about where eggs come from and encourage people to pledge to "Eat Good. Do Good Everyday." For every pledge taken on GoodEggProject.org, America's egg farmers will donate one egg to Feeding America, the nation's largest hunger relief charity, up to one million eggs. "One in eight Americans go hungry in this country so our food banks are under enormous stress to provide nutritious meals to feed families in need," says Bill McGowan, COO of Feeding America. "Over the last two years, America's egg farmers have donated more than 20 million eggs, allowing us to provide high-quality protein foods to our food bank network. We hope Americans will join them in the fight against hunger and pledge their support online and throughout their communities."
Besides the many nutritious components of the egg that we're already familiar with - high protein, low fat - there's a fatty acid in egg yolk that appears to help the aging brain stay healthy. Arachidonic Acid (ARA) is a type of omega-6 fatty acid present in egg yolk that helps maintain brain neuron function.
Impress your friends at your next get-together with your knowledge of these stats:
* The average egg-laying hen lays 257 eggs per year
* To prevent the yolk of a hard-boiled egg from getting a green ring and keep the whites from becoming hard and rubbery cook the eggs more gently on low to medium heat
* There is no nutritional difference between brown eggs and white eggs
* Contrary to popular belief, blood spots found on egg yolks do not mean the egg has been fertilized - they are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk during the formation of the egg
* Based on the essential amino acids it provides egg protein is second only to mother's milk for human nutrition (source: Iowa Egg Council)
* Egg yolks provide two antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, that fight cataracts and macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness. Researchers at University of Massachusetts have concluded that eating an average of one egg yolk a day will not hurt cholesterol levels.
*A large egg has 75 calories, extra-large has 84 calories
Now that you have these eggy facts, you can "see" that eating eggs can be a guilt-free egg-perience.
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