What type of eggs should I eat?
Eggs are great in the denseness of nutrition. As a matter fact, they are one of the most nutrient dense foods today.
They are high in protein, iron, choline, selenium, phosphorus, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin K2.
Current processing of eggs by conventional means results in much lower nutrient content than eggs from pasture raised chickens. Pasture raised chickens are given the opportunity to eat in their normal diets that includes bugs and insects. This differs from the grain fed chickens of today.
Exercise great caution when seeing labels such as “free range,” “cage free,” or “hormone free.”
They really don’t mean anything and are often misleading, in that they don’t provide an egg that is healthier or more nutritious.
“Free range” is the most tricky. It indicates that the chickens were free to roam, play, and eat at their leisure in wide spaces. However, that label simply means the chickens had access to space.
When you get down to it, this could mean a very small patch of grass or dirt that the chickens may or may not have used. Further, the door to this outside area may not have been open but for a few minutes during the day. These chickens are fed the standard conventional diet of corn and soy. Did I mention the chickens are vegetarians?
The best source of eggs is to simply seek them from a nearby farmer, farmers market, or feed store.
What type of meat should I eat?
When looking for meat, things can get very tricky. The “grass fed” label is extremely misleading for the same reasons as the chickens. Grass fed could simply mean the animal was given limited access to grass for a limited time period.
Seek out labels like “USDA certified organic” or “100% grass fed”.
The next best available option would be classified as “grass finished.” This distinction may mean the animal lived out the last part of his life on open range instead of being aggressively fattened up in the last stages of their life.
It should also be noted that “grass fed” animals are not necessarily free of antibiotics and hormones.
Another great choice would be locally raised animals from local farmers. These certainly beat the closed confinement, hormone and antibiotic ingested, and grain fed animals.
