Greetings fellow veggie fans, I would like to discuss eggs and why maybe you should second guess your facts on how healthy these are for you and the chickens.
We grow up being told that eggs are good for us, we need to eat more eggs, eggs will make you grow big and strong.
I want to know why eggs have become such a staple in our diet when they in fact aren’t as healthy as one might think.
When I refer to eggs I refer to all eggs. The cheap ones from the grocery store, the omega packed organic eggs, the farm fresh eggs from your neighbour… all eggs.
I want to talk about the origin of eating eggs, what an egg really is to us and to a chicken, the claimed health benefits of eggs, offer egg replacements in many cooking styles, and debunk the hype on why eggs have been labelled as a health food.
When I first began my dietary change from meat eating to vegetarian I ate eggs.
Telling myself I needed the protein, the omegas, the vitamins and minerals… everything that vegetarians are told they need more of. When in fact, vegetarians and vegans get more of these nutrients than meat eaters!
I was overwhelmed by the benefits of just not eating meat that I didn’t realize that I was overloading on eggs because I was misinformed.
I still miss eggs today, I haven’t been able to get the consistency or the flavour of eggs quite right yet. I have tried scrambled seasoned tofu, vegan dippy egg sauce recipes, chickpea flour omelettes… Nothing is quite the same, but maybe that’s for the best.
Origin
Eggs have been eaten by humans since the beginning of time, it wasn’t long until they were domesticated and kept for laying eggs.
The egg revolution began in China, and they were the first ones to cook an egg and use it in baking. Soon after the rest of the world followed.
Ostrich, chicken, and fowl eggs were and are still eaten, it was only in the 1400s that chicken eggs were the primary source of eggs globally.
It is guessed that eggs being used in baking, like many other discoveries, were by accident or trial and error. But who knows because this dietary choice began so long ago.
Humans began eating eggs because they were an easy source of protein. The domestication, lifestyle, and hormones that chickens have been bred into and exposed to today have taken a toll on the health profile and ethics of eating eggs.
In the past humans didn’t understand that animals felt pain, loss, and confusion. A chicken laying an egg to be fertilized to become their baby is the intent of laying that egg.
Now that we know different, is it still ethical to eat eggs when technology gives us access to more ethical sources of protein?
What is an egg?
To us an egg is a white round shell with a gooey centre that can be used in baking, cooking, or on its own. It comes in a carton, individual, and must be cracked to access the edible part.
They can be used in gardens to increase nitrogen, calcium, and protein. They can also be used topically as a face or hair mask.
Eggs have valuable nutrients for humans such as protein, vitamins, minerals. But, eggs have a dark/hidden side.
There is industry, waste, unethical treatment of living beings (chickens), chemicals (hormones & antibiotics), etc… this is the hidden part from us when we go to the farm or grocer store and get the carton of eggs.
To a chicken though, an egg is a daily event. It can be painful sometimes if the eggs are genetically modified through chemicals in their feed to be larger, it takes a lot of energy and time to pass the egg. If their diets aren’t closely monitored they can split or bleed when laying their eggs from being too dry.
To a chicken, an egg is the potential for a baby, it is their period essentially in comparison with human biology.
Chickens habitually hide their eggs from predators (us), it is their goal for us not to take them from them.
Chickens naturally only lay enough eggs over a few days to fill a nest and wait for the chicks to hatch, but since their egg is taken away every day, they keep laying eggs until they are too old or are slaughtered.
In fact, chickens have been bred to lay over 300 large eggs per year, when they are descendants of fowl that laid 60 small eggs per year.
Chickens go through all this pain, heartbreak, and exhausting work for humans to have eggs for breakfast or add eggs to baking, because there are equally effective substitutes, it is incredibly unethical to continue to eat eggs.
It is no longer necessary for humans to have access to an easy source of protein due to human ingenuity and technological advances. We are easily able to obtain all of the benefits of chicken eggs with plant based ethical sources of nutrients.
Egg Replacements
In baking;
When making cookies, cinnamon buns, bread, buns, etc… Baked goods that look better when they are white or clear are best substituted with flax egg which is 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 3 tbsp water mixed together and left to sit for 15 min or up to 30 min. This adds no flavour, lots of protein, plant based omegas, and similar vitamins and minerals to eggs.
When making chocolate desserts such as chocolate cake, pudding, or muffins where seeds are okay to be visible, chia seeds are the best replacement for a thickener or binder. Same as the flax egg, 1 tbsp chia seeds added to 3 tbsp water and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
Cooking;
When trying to replicate cooked eggs such as scrambled eggs there are 2 ways.
Chickpea flour;
Chickpea flour mixed with plant based milk, turmeric, paprika, kala namak (black salt), and nutritional yeast, poured into the pan and cooked, the mixture will create scrambled eggs or an omelette depending on the goal of the eggless egg dish.
Chickpea flour has been my favourite so far, though I have been unable to find kala namak thus far, I am on the lookout for it and prefer not to order items online.
Tofu;
When using tofu you need to decide what you will be making. If the goal is an omelette then you will want silken tofu.
Silken tofu, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, turmeric, paprika, kala namak mixed together and added to a pan will result in a lovely texture for an omelette, it can turn out like soft scrambled eggs if mixed as well.
Extra firm tofu can be used to make a very tasty solid scrambled egg. If the same seasonings above are added to crushed extra firm tofu and sautéed it will come out as some very tasty vegan scrambled eggs.
Eggs and Human Health
Eggs are very high in saturated fats, like other animal proteins, these are not healthy for us. Saturated fats are linked with diabetes, heart disease, and many types of cancers. Plant proteins/egg replacers do not have much, if any saturated fat making them healthier than eggs.
Just 3 eggs has over 100% of your recommended daily limit of cholesterol. If 3 eggs worth of the above egg replacements is eaten cholesterol is not an issue and your body is filled with many other beneficial nutrients.
Cholesterol is risky to eat in high amounts because it is linked with inflammation, oxidative stress on the circulatory system, and arterial clotting.
Eggs are fairly neutral but can get as basic or alkaline as pH9.2. Our bodies thrive in a basic/alkaline environment. Some people aren’t aware that an item though alkaline outside of the body on its own can be acidic when eaten or introduced into the body.
My favourite example is a lemon. It is acidic in nature, though when consumed it becomes alkaline in the stomach when combined with our stomach acid. Having knowledge of chemistry when a weak and strong acid are combined the outcome is a neutral or alkaline compound.
Eggs, milk, and cheese though alkaline or neutral outside the body, when added to the body they become acidic. Acidic environments are breeding grounds for cancer cells. There are many studies done on acidic bodies versus alkaline bodies and how they interact with cancerous cells.
Eggs disagree with stomach bacteria because of this change in acidity creating an acidic environment, this causes good gut bacteria to deteriorate.
Not to mention the mental health when eating eggs and contemplating the life the chicken had when they laid the egg you are eating. Anyone aware of the extreme animal cruelty that happens in chicken barns will immediately stop eating chicken and eggs.
No living being should be treated as chickens are. Living their life in a cage too small to turn around in, the smell of death and sickness everywhere, straining to stand and lay an egg (genetically modified to be large) because they have been induced to do so through their food, then when they stop laying they are taken to a factory where they are slaughtered in the most inhumane ways...
Though there is the more humane way of farming that is significantly less industrious. Local farms, though the percentage of store bought eggs is significantly higher than farm bought eggs from chickens who may have had a good life being free range and eating healthy.
It doesn’t matter where you get your eggs from though, in the end eggs are still being taken from mama hens causing them to lay eggs daily for years trying to just make a family.
Final Remarks
At one point in our history eggs were a necessary source of easy protein. We didn’t know any better and our goals were based on survival.
We no longer need this quick source of protein when technology has allowed us to become aware of more ethical sources of proteins, minerals, vitamins, omegas.
Foods such as beans, nuts, seeds, and other vegetables, fruits, and grains that provide healthier less complex nutrients.
It is not ethical to eat eggs now that we have other means of supplying these necessary nutrients to our bodies.
It is not in our best interest health wise either to eat eggs now that we are aware of the high cholesterol, saturated fat, and acidic properties associated with eggs and our own health.
I believe that the answer to my question; “why do we eat eggs when there are other healthier options?” lays with the reasoning behind why we do many things we do.
Habitual to make eggs, convenient and general knowledge on how to prepare, nostalgic of family members, eggs (and cheese) trigger the release of feel good hormones similar to drugs, and lastly, most of the population just believes that in this case ignorance is “bliss”.
I will continue my efforts to make egg substitutes and decrease the demand of eggs by one more person.
Thank you so much for reading and following along my discussion on the history of eggs, eggs and our health, and the ethical question of eggs.
Whether you don’t eat eggs already, have never had eggs in your life, avoid eggs because of allergies, have eaten eggs your whole life and are contemplating stopping, or you will continue to eat eggs but rather than store bought you switch to farm fresh eggs.
Whatever the change, I hope that I have added some facts to your book of knowledge.
Please feel free to email me with questions or take a look through my blog website, I appreciate all feedback! Thank you and have a wonderful Thursday.
Kindly,
Earth to Salad Blog
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