If you are into eating pastured or grass-fed farm products at all, you probably already know of the health benefits of consuming food grown this way so this might not be real big news for you. I thought I would share it anyway though, as it only helps us to keep our commitment strong to eating this way when it's tempting (especially now given the down turn in the economy) to give up those healthier higher priced foods for cheaper foods in hopes of saving us some money. I personally like the nutrient comparison chart--it's a good visual.
I think you will agree this is Egg-citing news!
*** ***Taken in part from the current issue of Mother Earth News (Feb/March 2009) and their website******
Eggs from hens raised on pasture are far more nutritious than eggs from confined hens in factory farms.
The results from Mother Earth News’ latest round of pastured egg nutrient tests are beginning to come in. So far, pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry’s butt — yippee, go free range!
We’ve invested a lot of time and energy over the last few years in researching the differences between the meat and eggs coming out of the commercial industry and those produced by conscientious farmers who let their animals graze on fresh pastures. In the past, we’ve found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
If you'd like to see a cool nutrient compassion chart of free range vs. standard factory eggs go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedFiles/EggGraphic.pdf
Now we’re looking at vitamin D, which many of us do not get enough of because we don’t spend any time outdoors, and even when we do we use sunscreen that blocks vitamin D production. (More about that here.) Eggs are one of the few food sources of naturally occurring vitamin D, and we wondered if true free-range eggs might be higher in this important vitamin, too.
Our latest tests show that pastured eggs have anywhere between 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs.
(1) Get out there and eat some fresh, free-range/pastured, farm eggs!
(2) Check out our ongoing pastured egg research here.
Want to read the link for the Oct/Nov 2007 , Meet the Real Free-Range Eggs article, go to:
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