Lucky you if you are a Michigan homeowner who owns a few laying hens. But even women who don’t have laying hens at home should consider eating a tasty, humanely produced egg at least once a day, especially if they are pregnant, want to become pregnant or are nursing.
Eggs provide choline, a little known micronutrient that is essential to our body. Choline is especially significant in the development of early fetal neurological systems and the fetal brain. In several studies women who had high levels of choline were 72% less likely to have babies with neural tube defects such as spinal bifida and anencephaly ( the absence of all or part of the brain) at birth. Since neurological defects occur early in fetal development, often before the mother knows she is pregnant, women who want to become pregnant should begin eating an egg a day also.
Rats and other animals whose mothers had diets enriched with extra choline during pregnancy had young who scored higher in cognitive function long after the choline supplementation had ceased. If you want a smart baby eat eggs!
For some 40 years until recently, people were being warned not to consume too many eggs, because they were thought to raise cholesterol levels. Now the newest research finds that moderate consumption of eggs doesn’t raise cholesterol levels and that eggs are a very healthy addition to the diet.
Eggs are not only a rich source of choline but they are a source of high quality protein that is easy for the body to digest. Eggs are a good source of several vitamins and the micro-nutrient lutein, which is also essential to health. And if you are producing them at home from free range hens the benefits may be even greater, due to higher lutein and other nutrient content.
Women who are pregnant need at least 450mg of choline a day and nursing women need 550 mg per day.(USDA guidelines). Nursing mothers continue to provide choline benefits to their babies as long as they nurse. The diet of a woman who eats a balanced diet may be only slightly deficient in choline, but many women have blood levels much lower than that. An egg provides about 126 mg of choline a day, which along with a good diet, is a good way to keep choline levels high in pregnant and nursing women.
Women whose diets are lacking in protein or that are otherwise poor may find that 2 or even 3 eggs a day could help them. Eggs are relatively cheap food, especially those produced at home. Other foods that have high levels of choline are beef and chicken livers and wheat germ. Small amounts are found in milk, beef, fish, peanuts, broccoli and brussels sprouts. Our bodies actually make choline from some other vitamins and minerals, but even the best nurtured body can’t produce enough choline to meet its needs unless the diet also contains foods high in choline.
Choline supplements can be found on drugstore counters but tests of synthetic choline found that our bodies have a hard time utilizing them and often the actual choline absorbed by the body is a third or less of the amount listed on the bottle. Foods containing lecithin, which many processed foods do, may provide the body with some small amounts of choline. But all those processed foods may have risks that outweigh the slight benefits of lecithin.
The simple, easy, natural way for women to get the choline they need is to eat one or two eggs a day. Make sure they are properly cooked, until the yolk is firm, and eat the whole egg. Those egg white omelets and sandwiches simply don’t include the vital nutrients like choline that are in the yolk.
If you have high cholesterol already, consult with your doctor before consuming eggs. Most doctors have heard the news about the eggs and are aware that eggs don’t contribute any significant cholesterol to the diet. Eggs are relatively low calorie foods, despite their rich benefits, so an egg a day will not break your diet. If you are allergic to chicken eggs you may want to try duck eggs, which carry the same benefits.
Even if they are not pregnant or nursing women may still want to include eggs in their diet. Women with good choline levels in their blood are less likely to develop breast and liver cancer. (Men benefit from good choline levels too.) Eggs are one of the easiest sources of protein homeowners can produce and keeping a few hens for eggs is within almost everyone’s ability. So eat those scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, omelets and other egg goodies without a speck of guilt. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, eggs taste good and are good for you.
Other articles you may want to read.
Avoiding salmonella in home eggs
Can the MI. right to farm act help you keep chickens?
Best chicken breeds for eggs in MI
Excerpts from the best selling chicken book on the market Raising Chickens for Dummies
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