Why Eggs are the Healthiest Protein on the Planet

Photo by Morgane Perraud on Unsplash

Eggs are highly nutritious. They are so healthy that they are referred to as “nature’s multivitamin.”

Eggs are enriched with potent brain nutrients and antioxidants that many people are deficient in.

This article discusses five reasons why eggs are the best and healthiest protein on the planet.

Let’s begin by differentiating between free-range, cage-raised, and pasture-raised eggs

Grocery shelves are usually filled with free-range, and cage-free eggs. A relatively new term has joined the market: pasture-raised eggs. The term is so new that even health professionals may confuse it with others. What’s even more confusing is that pasture-raised hens may be given a different level of care depending on the farm.

Here are the differences between these terms:

• Cage-raised: Caged hens are usually confined to cages with a space of 67-square inches. Caged hens are constantly kept in the cage. They never see the light of the day. Their diet is primarily soy- or corn-based. In fact, studies have shown that over 90 percent of eggs in the United States are harvested from cage-raised hens.
• Free-range: Each free-range hen is usually allotted less than 2 square feet. Their space is larger than caged-raise and cage-free hens. Their feed is mainly soy-based or corn-based. What’s more, they seldom see the daylight.
• Cage-free: They have wider rooms than cage-raised hens because each hen occupies less than a square foot. Of course, they’re not completely free because they are restricted to barns and are fed mainly a soy or corn diet.
• Pasture-raised: Each hen is given at least 108 square feet. Their diet comprises feed, bugs, grass, worms, and anything their beak touches. They are released from the barns early in the morning and return just before nightfall.

A 2003 study by the Pennsylvania State University showed that pasture-raised hens produce the healthiest eggs. Each pasture-raised egg contains three times more vitamin D, two times as much omega-3 fat, seven-time more beta carotene, and four times more vitamin E than cage-free, free-range, or cage-raised eggs.