SHARON SPRINGS GARLIC FESTIVAL

#28 – “THE GOOD EGG – what it’s cracked up to be” from Bill Ziese

 

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I’ve always felt eggs were good for you – even the yolk. Now read why.

The following is offered with permission from Nina Plank < www.ninaplanck.com  >

 

The Abominable Egg White Omelet

NINA PLANCK

(Excerpted from Real Food: What to Eat & Why)

 

As long as I can remember, my mother has eaten her breakfast in the late morning.  When she comes in hungry from watering the greenhouse, the squash pick, or any number of early morning jobs, breakfast is two eggs in butter, yolks runny, toast if the bread box is full.   I like eggs, too.  Foolish me, I was nearly 30 years old before I resumed the habit eggs for breakfast.

The complex and delicate egg is indispensable.  Fried, scrambled, poached, or baked in a frittata, eggs make a meal on their own, and many wonderful dishes like mayonnaise and custard are impossible without them.   But when the experts began to warn about cholesterol, the egg—specifically, the yolk—became a guilty pleasure; hence the culinary and nutritional abomination known as the egg white omelet.  Eggs are rich in cholesterol, by the way, for the same reason breast milk is: cholesterol, among many other uses, is an essential part of cell membranes in mammals.  That fact, however, was not enough to save the egg.  In Last Chance to Eat, Gina Mallet writes of “The Egg Trauma.”

In the early 1970s, out of the blue, the American Heart Association declared the egg a threat to the heart.  The egg contained 278 milligrams of cholesterol, and food scientists had just decreed that no one should consume more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day.  The trauma that resulted lasted more than twenty years, almost crashed the egg industry, and turned what was then the largest egg-eating country the world against eggs.  The attack would prove to be a classic case of food science gone awry…I thought of course that the scientists, being scientists, had arrived at a safe level of dietary cholesterol through proof.  How wrong I was.

 

Curious about the fate of the egg, Mallet interviewed Dr. Donald J. McNamara, a biochemist and executive director of the Egg Nutrition Center , the egg industry lobby in Washington , D.C.   She asked how scientists had arrived at the “safe” level of dietary cholesterol.  “Dr. McNamara laughed,” she writes.  “That was disconcerting.” Apparently, in 1968 food scientists met to sort out a safe amount of cholesterol to consume.  Some were opposed to the very idea, while others firmly believed dietary cholesterol had a significant effect on blood cholesterol, and after much haggling they reached a compromise.  The average intake of cholesterol was about 580 milligrams per liter of blood.   Halving that, they settled on 300 milligrams—a political solution.  “There’s not one bit of scientific evaluation in that number,” McNamara told Mallet.

We’ve known for some time that eggs are actually good for your heart.  A study of 118,000 people reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1999 was conclusive: “We found no evidence of an overall significant association between egg consumption” and heart disease.  In fact, people who ate five or six eggs a week had a lower risk of heart disease than those who ate less than one egg per week.   The researchers, led by Walter Willet at the Harvard School of Public Health, cited a host of reasons fresh eggs might prevent heart disease: antioxidant carotenoids, vitamins, omega-3 fats, and good effects on blood sugar and insulin.

How did the egg get framed?   Kudos to Gina Mallet for unearthing the origins of the arbitrary limit of 300 milligrams of cholesterol, which sparked three decades of unjustified fear.  Our understanding of cholesterol is also more sophisticated now.  We know that cholesterol metabolism—what the body does with LDL and HDL—is more important than the cholesterol in foods.

I was still curious about earlier studies apparently linking eggs and heart disease.  Dr. Kilmer McCully, an expert on cholesterol metabolism, told me that real eggs weren’t to blame.  The studies used dehydrated eggs, which are liquidized, pasteurized, and spray-dried, in the same way powdered milk is made.  Powdered eggs are mostly used in processed foods like cake mixes, but the label won’t say “powdered” eggs.  Unfortunately, the cholesterol in powdered eggs (and powdered milk) is oxidized, which causes atherosclerosis.  According to McCully, scientists have known since the 1950s that eating oxidized cholesterol causes atherosclerosis, but natural cholesterol does not.

The home cook who favors industrial convenience foods can buy powdered eggs, which last five or ten years.  Here’s the pitch from one company:  “Our egg mix is mostly whole egg powder with a bit of powdered milk and vegetable oil…The egg mix has been formulated to make scrambled eggs, omelets or French toast.  We think you’ll find our egg mix a labor-saving food.”   No doubt, for some people, cracking open an egg is one chore too many, but I’m not sure you end up with more free time cooing with powdered eggs—just more oxidized cholesterol.

Fresh eggs, by contrast, are a nutritional bonanza.  Above all, eggs are a fine source of inexpensive protein.  In fact, because the ratio of amino acids in eggs is so close to the ideal, eggs are the model for rating the quality of protein in all foods.  Compared to meat and fish, eggs keep well.  A fresh egg (ideally unwashed, with its protective film intact) will keep for two months in the fridge without much change in flavor or nutrition.   An older egg will, however, be much easier to peel.  This is handy if you like deviled eggs to look perfect—and a nice test if you think the farmer is putting you on about when they were laid.

The egg has much to offer besides protein.  A key ingredient in the yolk is lecithin, most famous as the emulsifier that makes mayonnaise creamy.  Found in every human cell, lecithin helps the body digest fat and cholesterol.  Lecithin is the source of choline, a B vitamin-like agent vital to the fetal brain.  Eggs contain many antioxidants, including glutathione, which helps other antioxidants fight cancer and prevents oxidation of LDL.  Yolks are extremely rich in the antioxidant carotenes lutein and zeaxanthin, which are good for the eyes (they prevent macular degeneration) and show promise in fighting colon cancer, and the lutein in eggs is more easily absorbed than the lutein also found in spinach. 

Along with liver, egg yolks have the highest concentrations of biotin—a B vitamin essential for healthy hair, skin, and nerves—of any food.   Biotin is vital for digestion of fat and protein.  Vitamin-like betaine is also abundant in eggs and liver.  Betaine reduces homocysteine, an amino acid that causes atherosclerosis.  All this makes chopped liver—the traditional Jewish paste of liver (chicken or beef), eggs, onions, and chicken fat—very nutritious.  It’s a pity that many modern recipes for chopped liver call for corn oil instead of old fashioned chicken fat, which is far better for you.

Eggs from birds raised on grass are superior to those from hens raised indoors, whose yolks are literally pale imitations of those from hens on grass.  Pastured yolks are a rich yellow from the beta carotene in plants.  They also contain more monounsaturated fat, vitamins A and E, folic acid, lutein, and beta carotene than indoor eggs.  Pastured eggs are dramatically richer in omega-3 fats, which prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression.  The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in pastured eggs is ideal—about one to one—while an indoor egg has almost 20 times more omega-6 than omega-3 fats. The omega-3 fats mostly come from insects, grubs, and worms.  Another source is purslane, a lemony weed loved by poultry and foraging cooks alike.   Along with walnuts and flaxseed, succulent purslane is a rare plant source of the omega-3 fat ALA.  Some egg farmers feed flaxseed to indoor chickens to increase omega-3 fats. 

WHY GRASS IS BEST: EGGS

                                                Hens Indoors              Hens on Grass

Monounsaturated fat                 115 mg (per g yolk)      142 mg

Omega-3                                  1.73 mg                        17.6 mg

Omega-6:omega-3*                 19.4:1                            1.3:1

 

*Ideal ratio is 1:1

 

Source: Artemis Simopoulos, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1991

Some eggs are advertised as “vegetarian.”  That may sound good, but it’s actually not ideal.  Recall that chickens are not natural vegetarians.  Omnivores like us, they need complete protein and thrive on a diet of grain plus plenty of insects, worms, grubs, and other foods like sour milk.  “Vegetarian” means the chickens were not fed cheap protein in the form of ground-up pigs, cattle, and poultry; that’s good.  But it also means something else.   You may be certain that a vegetarian chicken has never been outdoors.  If it had, it might have eaten a bug or two.   If you can’t find pastured eggs, barn-raised birds (not in cages) fed omega-3 are second-best.

The lesson of the egg trauma is simple.  Don’t eat factory eggs, powdered eggs, liquid pasteurized eggs, egg substitutes, or any other kind of industrial egg product somebody invented in the laboratory.  Do eat the real thing: fresh, whole eggs from happy hens eating bugs and grubs outside on fresh green grass.

 

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< http://www.flushitsolutions.com/velvetantler.htm >

Savings will not show on shopping cart. We will deduct $1.00 off each bottle manually.

 

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GILDA’S CORNER – Good Dog!

 

When it comes to training your dog, good behavior and praise go hand in hand.

 

Using punishment to achieve a desired behavior can be confusing to your dog and can erode your dog's trust in you. Instead, reward good behavior with positive reinforcement in the form of praise, a food treat, or a toy. Offer the reward immediately and consistently. Your dog is eager to please you, so you don't need to give food or toys for every good behavior. But always let your dog know when he or she has done something good by giving enthusiastic verbal praise immediately.

- from Dog Age

 

We still offer a FREE St Francis Pet Medal with a purchase of 3 or more bottles of St Francis Green Lipped Mussel formulas. You must click on the free medal button to receive it. Go to
< www.saintfrancisdogs.com >.

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SHIITAKE MUSHROOM BISQUE

 

Ingredients for 6 Servings:

 

16 oz of FRESH Shiitake or 2 oz of DRIED Shiitake

½ cup of water if using dried mushrooms

6 peeled and chopped garlic cloves

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 tbsp of flour

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp sherry

1½ cups heavy cream

½ cup chicken broth

2 egg yolks

½ tsp fresh thyme

½ tsp fresh oregano

salt and pepper to taste

fresh thyme sprigs for garnish

 

If you are using FRESH mushrooms, chop them roughly.

If you are using DRIED mushrooms, reconstitute them by placing them in a saucepan with ½ cup of water, bringing to a boil, reducing heat and simmering 5 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and squeeze dry, saving the liquid. Roughly chop the mushrooms and set aside. Strain the mushroom liquid, bring to a boil and reduce to 2 tablespoons and add to the chicken broth.

 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Combine the flour and seasonings and quickly stir flour mixture into the mushrooms.

 

Gradually add the chicken broth, stirring constantly until well blended and the mixture starts to thicken. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Puree soup in a food processor or blender and return to a large saucepot.

 

Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl and beat in about ½ cup of the hot soup. Add this mixture to the soup, stir and simmer until thickened.

 

Add cream and sherry. Heat but do not boil.

 

Ladle into serving bowls. Top with coarse ground pepper and garnish with thyme sprigs.  

 

Gildameister Organic Garlic is sold out for 2006. Place your orders now for 2007 -we always sell out!

We have updated prices and now the shopping cart can be used to order our garlic – Go to

< www.flushitsolutions.com/garlic_pricing.htm >

 

We also offer dried naturally grown Oyster, certified organic Maitake and certified organic Shiitake at
< http://www.flushitsolutions.com/dried_mushrooms.htm >

Free Recipes at < www.flushitsolutions.com/recipes.htm >

 

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Well that’s all folks. Feedback is appreciated.