Chicken eggs are a delicious way to get B vitamins, nutrients, protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants. Though there is some controversy over their effect on heart health, most experts agree that a diet that includes chicken eggs is a healthy one. One study even found that a breakfast of chicken eggs (when compared to cereal or no breakfast at all) helped people reduce cravings for sugary and fatty foods later in the day. Affordable chicken eggs are one of the most versatile foods available. They can be fried, poached, hard boiled, deviled, coddled, shirred, or scrambled. They’re the glue that holds much of the food we eat together from brownies to meatloaf.
Below are some
statistics about chicken eggs:
·
Every year more than 6.6 billion
dozen chicken eggs (more than 79 billion in total) are produced in the United
States (U.S.).
·
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
predicts that each American eats about 255 chicken eggs per year, which is down
from the 1950s, when annual egg consumption was around 400 per person.
·
Egg farms even have their own
advocacy groups. Among them are the Iowa Egg Council,
the Virginia Egg Council, and the New England Brown Egg Council.
It's surprising how much is unknown
bout the incredible, versatile chicken egg. Below are some interesting facts for
you to discover:
1.
The
difference between brown and white chicken eggs: The
main difference between brown and white chicken eggs is just the colour of the
hen’s feathers laying them. The nutritional value of both egg types are the
same. The reason brown chicken eggs cost more is because brown hens lay fewer chicken
eggs and so it’s more expensive for farmers to raise them.
2.
The
difference between free run and free range: Free
run and free range hens both are able to run free in an open environment. The
difference is that free range hens have access to roam outdoors vs. free run
hens run around in an open-concept barn. It’s interested to note that in Canada
free range hens choose not to go outside when it’s too hot or too cold. When
buying chicken eggs in the middle of winter, there actually won’t be a
difference in the hens’ environment.
3.
The reason
Europeans don’t put their chicken eggs in the refrigerator, but North Americans
do: In Europe, you’ll often find feathers still on the chicken
eggs you buy at the grocery store. This is because they haven’t been washed
before they’re put into cartons. Just before laying an egg, a hen adds a
protective layer called a cuticle to the outside of the egg, which seals the
shell pores and prevents bacterial from getting inside the shell as well reduce
moisture loss from the egg. In North America, chicken eggs are often required
to be washed before being sold, which removes this protective layer and
requires you to refrigerate your chicken eggs. Keeping your chicken eggs in the
fridge helps to keep them fresher for longer.
4.
What yolk
color means: The color of the egg yolk is dependent on the hen’s diet. It
has nothing to do with nutritional value. The darker orange the yolk the more
carotenoids the hen ate, which come from a corn-based diet rather than
wheat-based diets which produce paler yokes.
5.
Why you
don’t have to worry that your egg will hatch:
Hens lay chicken eggs whether or not they’ve mated with a rooster. A fertilized
egg will hatch vs a non-fertilized egg will not.
“The same boiling water that
softens the potato hardens the egg. It's about what you're made of not the circumstances.”
(Anonymous)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“19 Things You Didn't Know About Eggs” by Dan Myers
·
“5 Things You Probably
Didn’t Know About Eggs + Simple Avocado Egg Toast” by HappyGreyLucky
·
“7 Things You Didn't Know About Eggs” by The Editors of Huffington Post Healthy Living
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