Egg Talk: A Guide to Purchasing Healthy Eggs for Everyone

Disclosure: I received product vouchers in exchange for this post. The opinions in my review are honest and my own.

Did you know that January is National Egg Month? For those who live a natural lifestyle like me, I do everything I can to keep my family healthy and do what I can to make sure our food comes from humane farms and companies. One food I absolutely love is eggs. While they have gotten a bad rap every so often, they are actually an extremely healthy, nutritious food that SHOULD be part of our diets. As someone who uses pasture raised, cage-free eggs, I was excited when I found out the American Egg Board was devoting this month to educating all of us about this wonderful food and making sure we understood the marketing words we see on our eggs.

One company that has been trying hard to make sure people understand the importance of eggs is NestFresh. They pride themselves in being a leader and innovator in ethical, cage-free, non-GMO, free-roaming, and specialty eggs. They asked me to work with them on helping others understand the importance of eggs in our diet and why we should choose healthier, humane eggs, I couldn’t wait to get started!

Types of Eggs & Marketing Speak

I don’t know about you, but when I first researching healthy eggs, I was overwhelmed by some of the different names used and what exactly they meant. Those of us who try living naturally try hard not to get ‘fooled’ by marketing terms, so we have to keep up with the latest trends to make sure we aren’t wasting our money.

Below, I included some of the ‘terms’ used commonly on eggs.

Conventional Eggs – these are the common eggs we can buy cheaply in the grocery store. The hens that lay these eggs lived in small cages where they can barely move. In many cases, the hen houses are overfilled and have little to no light. As well, the hens are given antibiotics, hormones to produce more eggs, and fed grains. Most of the time these hens have very short lives due to living conditions.

Cage-Free – this means that the hens have some room to roam. At NestFresh, they are 100% cage-free and hens roam around a large barn where they preen in dust baths and socialize with other hens.

Free-Range – this means hens have access to the outside world for some amount of time each day.

Pasture Raised – this means that hens enjoy open lands and can roam freely to some extent. At NestFresh, hens enjoy at least 25 square feet of open farm land and are able to roam freely to eat plants and insects (their natural food). It has also been proven that pasture raised hens produce healthier eggs than non-pasture raised. Eggs have been shown in studied to have more vitamin D (4 times higher), beta carotine (7 times higher), vitamin E (3 times higher), and vitamin A (66% more)

Non GMO – this mean the hens were given no antibiotics, hormones, and eat only feed without GMOs.

Omega 3 Enriched – this means that the hens were supplemented with omega 3 feed.

Vitamin B Folate Fortified – this means that hens were supplements with vitamin B folate fortified feed.

How to Properly Store Eggs & Tips

With the average American eating over 250 eggs each year, it’s important that we understand how to properly store eggs and keep ourselves from getting sick. Here are some great tips to keep you and your family healthy!

• Eggs shells are porous, so make sure to never store them near stinky food (like cheese).
• Fresher eggs taste better and are better for cooking.
• Older eggs are best for hard boiled eggs since they are easier to peel.
• Don’t keep eggs out of the fridge longer than 2 hours.
• Eggs are good for 3-5 weeks after you purchase them.
• Cooked eggs are good for 3-4 days.
• Also wash hands, utensils, and work area with hot, soapy water after handling eggs.

Health Benefits of Eggs

Contrary to what many people may believe from previous, now debunked studies, eggs are very healthy! One egg is 6 grams, which is 12% of your daily protein (on a 2,000 calorie diet), and 11% of our daily value of vitamin D. During winter, vitamin D is especially important due to limited sun exposure. As well, research in 2011 estimates that 41.6% of Americans suffer from vitamin D deficiency, which is a bit frightening! Eggs can even help lessen inflammation and your risks of heart diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, and more since they contain choline. Who knew that eggs were so healthy?

To learn more about eggs, make sure to head over to the NestFresh website. As well, don’t forget that you can buy NestFresh pasture raised eggs at a store near you. Make sure to use their store locator to see where you can purchase their eggs in your region.

Want to know more? Make sure to follow NestFresh on Social Media!

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Would you like to have your products featured in a giveaway event? Want to increase your social media exposure? Contact susan.l.bewley@gmail.com to see how I can help YOUR company today!

About Susan Bewley

Susan Bewley is a professional writer who has been writing content online & in print format for over 10 years. As well, she is an alumni of the University of Louisville with a Masters Degree in Special Education. When not working as an online business consultant or ghost writing, she can be found writing on Budget Earth, on her own novel, or working with various entities in the pet industry.