We are what our FOOD eats.

by

I am an *the* Eggland’s Best ambassador.  Or, as I like to say, the EGGvangelist.  The below is a sponsored post.  The topic, opinions, and childwithbluenailpolish are all my own.

There was a time when I cared not what I ate.

young, naive & pretty damn happy!

young, naive & pretty damn happy!

I dont judge my younger self (I was happily drinking & processed eating through college) because as with all things in my life I *needed* an AH HA! moment to change my ways.

That ah ha! was the gift of aging.

When I was younger I was happy to lose weight, maintain my loss and cared NOT what I was putting in my (fingerquote) temple (unFQ) as long as said temple was a lean, mean, clothesfitYAY! machine.

And then we began contemplating starting a family and suddenly I viewed everything through a different lens.

Not only did I start questioning what I put into/on my body—-I began thinking in terms of what my future child would consume too.

It was right around then I discovered Eggland’s Best Eggs & their notion of Better Taste. Better Nutrition. Better Eggs.

photo credit: me blue nail polish credit: Tornado

Photo credit: me Blue nail polish credit: Tornado

I was curious about the taste.   I was *curious* about the nutrition.  I was CURIOUS about the overall better eggs.  I was *CURIOUS* about the cost.

Quite frankly I wasnt cheap so much as I questioned WHY on EARTH Id pay more for eggs when to the left & right in the refrigerator case were cheaper ones.

Cheaper eggs which pretty much looked the same.

On the outside.

Here’s what I found out:

The hens at Eggland’s Best are fed an all-natural, all-vegetarian diet of healthy grains and an all-natural supplement of rice bran, alfalfa, sea kelp, marigold, and Vitamin E.

The feed contains no animal fat, no animal by-products, and no recycled of processed food.

The only ‘binder’ added is canola oil.

Which would YOU want to eat?

Eggland’s on left. Traditional on right.

 

Eggland’s Best NEVER uses added hormones, steroids, or antibiotics.  I avoid these for MY BOD—why would I wanna ingest them as a result of what my FOOD is consuming?!

this EGGSactly what I want in my family

this EGGSactly what I want in my bod

 I also learned the eggs-with-the-tattoos have:

  • Ten times more vitamin E
  • Four times more vitamin D
  • Three times more vitamin B12
  • Double the Omega-3
  • 25% less saturated fat
  • 38% more Lutein

I was sold.

Thats all it took for even this still so much to learn about life younger misfit to realize Eggland’s Best provided more bang for my buck and, more importantly, more QUALITY food for my buck.

I was starting to follow the notion of G.(arbage) I.(n) G.(arbage) O.(ut):

less garbage in...finally!

less garbage in…finally!

 

Id just not stopped before to consider *I* was also ingesting any ‘garbage’ my food-producers consumed.

and YOU?

  • From fertilizer to FEED do you consider what your food ‘consumes’ before you place it in your pie, err, egg-hole?
  • Are you, too, willing to pay a bit more for quality food?

 

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Comments

  1. I used to be ignorant when it came to what I put in my body. If it looked good and tasted good then I’d eat it. It was only after a friend lost a ton of weight and looked so much better that I started to consider what I was putting in my body. I love the GIGO theory because it’s sooo true. I really don’t mind paying a little extra for quality 🙂

  2. I have been buying Eggland’s best lately. Changing over to a Paleo lifestyle, I really opened my eyes. I take it an extra step further and purchase their Cage Free line. I will be in search of a farm around me that raises chickens for the same type of egg. Grass fed meats are important too.

  3. Wow, Miz, I had no idea the egggland’s eggs had that much extra goodness in them. That being said, I do try to be mindful of what I put in my body . . . . . for example, I freaked the first time I say the almost bright yellow fat rendered off some grass-feed ground beef I was cooking — then my beef people told me that was the fat soluable vitamin k coming from the grass the cows ate and wasn’t “rotten” like me initial assumption. .

  4. I was JUST this morning thinking about all the garbage I used to eat when I was younger. I started eating healthy when I moved to LA in my early twenties b/c it was so *trendy* there!! I definitely buy the expensive eggs too – ha ha!! There’s a few things I go with quality over cost and chicken and eggs are two for sure!!

  7. This is really timely for me, as I just posted about GMOs yesterday. I eat pretty well, but I’m stating to pay even more attention about where my whole foods come from.

    Anything with a tattoo is ok by me. 😉

    • I am really frugal.
      Walmart workout clothing etc. but decided like Miz garbage in means garbage out and I’m worth more than that garbage LOL

  9. i love when companies take the time not only to educate their consumers (through wonderful ambassadors like you!) but also take the time to ensure that their products (or hens) are put through the very best conditions – you’re totally right: we ARE what our food eats!

  10. I bought some of these yesterday at Safeway and immediately thought about YOU.
    I’d not tried them before and this morning I will.

  11. I really don’t think much about what my food eats, but I am starting to. While I had heard the EB eggs were better, I didn’t really pay attention to the difference in micronutrients until you spelled them out. We do eat a lot of eggs, so this looks like an easy way to up the nutrition in my house.

  12. Oh Mizzy!!
    I’m stealing that GIGO for my mantra.
    I have zero willpower so perhaps this will work to keep me on-track?

  13. So does all the extra goodness allow you to look over the fact that they feed the chicks canola or is just a matter of choosing the lesser of evils?

    • I agree, canola in the feed is GMO grossness. Eggland’s best is not feeding a completely natural pasture raised diet to their chickens so I don’t buy their product. Any health attributes are negated by the canola.

  14. GREAT QUESTION and something Ive thought a great deal about as well.
    For me (for good or for bad) Im not going to have my own chickens and EGGLANDS is the very.best.choice. out there!

    Id hoped someone would ask as it’s all about doing the best I can each day, going to bed, and getting up and trying again.

  15. Such a great point! Our food seems to be becoming more and more processed and it is no longer about only what we’re putting into our bodies. What our food is being fed is so important too!

  16. LOL! Carla, I have that same post title in my to do box for several months! Thank Micheal Pollen 🙂 I may send you some of the many related articles I collected, or not.

    So, yes, I think about it!

      • I would be interested if corn is in there as well. GMO corn in all probability bc its cheap. Please let us know when you hear from the company, this is very interesting!

        • From the brand:

          Yes, there is corn in both our regular hen feed, and in the certified organic version that is fed to the hens that produce our organic eggs. The organic hen feed is GMO-free. However, genetic medication is associated with protein. Protein is one of the components of an egg that cannot be influenced by diet. Eggs aren’t a genetically modified food – this includes shell eggs, and eggs used for processed egg products. When a laying hen eats genetically modified feed, any products unique to generic modification are destroyed by the digestive processes of the hen. Research has confirmed that none of the genetically modified materials are passed into the egg.

          Thanks so much for asking!

  18. i LOVE Eggland’s Best! If we can’t buy local I try to by EG. It’s only been in recent years (IE: since becoming a mom) that I have paid more attention to the quality of food we eat. I definitely try to get grassfed meats as well 🙂

  19. I DO always pay attention to what my food eats, which is why I now shell out for grass-fed beef and such (after 2 years of fearing the meat industry).

    As for eggs and what the hens are fed — hens actually aren’t vegetarians (they’re omnivores, eating seeds, insects, whatever they can find), which is why I am confused that all the egg brands are touting the “all-vegetarian-fed diet” their hens eat and never buy a box that advertises it. What’s your take on this? Do you know EB’s stance?

  21. I am much more aware of what I put in my body now than I was 10 years ago. We’re even about to fork over some big{ger} money for local, grass-fed beef in a few days!

  23. Great post. I try as much as I can to avoid the foods you’re talking about. I don’t always pay MORE for them but I’ll have to keep an eye out for eggs like these in my neck of the woods.

  26. Eating eggs made me ill after the second day having one for breakfast. I USED to think it was that I was sensitive to the eggs. Years later, I learned I was sensitive to the antibiotics. When I started losing weight and getting healthy, I decided to TRY eggs again, and when I saw Eggland’s Best, and the label that said “antibiotic free”, something clicked, and I bought them.

    Now I eat eggs (or egg whites) daily… sometimes for two meals. And I do still by Eggland’s Best when I’m in a market where local organic free range eggs aren’t available (oh, and “free range” is a problematic label, but that’s a whole other blog).

    Do I pay more? Yes, I do, because it’s the difference between being able to eat eggs and NOT being able to eat eggs.

  28. So get this how before & after learning!! I did not know all this about Eggland so thank you!!!!!!

    Honest, with $$ so very very very tight, bill shave to come first. I pick & choose what I can & can’t buy right now. I try my best but when bills have to be paid, I have to decide where I spend more money for certain food items. This looks like a good place & maybe not do a different one … for now & until money situation is better…

  31. Quite honestly I’ve never thought about this. I think I’m the age you are in the first picture and I look like that, too.

    Puffy 🙁

  32. The “cost” of food is so much more than the dollars we plunk down at the grocery store. I am willing to spend more money on food that’s better for my family because the longterm “cost” of not doing so is unthinkable!

    I did not know all of these incredible facts about EB. Thanks for the eye opener!

  34. we are eggland’s best consumers in our house- although we may very well be getting our own chickens…then i can control what they eat too

  35. I absolutely think about about what my food ate/what it was sprayed with. It is scary how many chemicals make it into EVERYTHING we eat. I always buy Eggland (or at least another veggie-feed egg) and stick to organic meats/produce as much as possible but sometimes the cost can really add up!

  36. This is definitely the reason why I try to buy cage-free and organic dairy and eggs. I know chickens are treated terribly and fed a nasty chemically-laden diet when done in a commercial setting. I watched enough documentaries about it and it makes me sick how they treat these poor animals. One of the reasons why I do not eat chicken unless it was cage-free and organic. I dont’ really care if people call me picky, I don’t support the mistreating and putting such terrible things in my body. If the chickens are stressed out living in cages, they produce stress hormones, which are then transferred to their eggs and meat. Same exact things goes for cows. Then we eat those products that already contain the stress hormones and we therefore become more stressed in result without even noticing that is a contributing factor.

  39. I am willing to spend $$$$$$$$$$$ on good CLEAN food! I shell out the big bucks for the grass-fed/finished meats, the wild fish, the healthy greens! My health is EVERYTHING to me! So I don’t want to cheat myself!

  41. I would certainly pay more for something that gave full disclosure as to ingredients, what the animals are being fed, etc.

    One topic that has been on my mind a lot lately is GMO’s. It pretty much scares the shit out of me (pardon my French). (And I apologize if someone already asked this above and I missed it) Is there any information on whether the feed for EB’s chickens is non-GMO feed?

    The whole Chobani uproar has me second guessing pretty much everything I put on the table now. I don’t like living in a state of paranoia over propaganda. 🙁

  43. So the eggs are higher in the vitamins et al, because of what they supplement their diet with. I wondered about that (no, i really did or if they injected their eggs with something – things that go on in my head). I like hearing that they are on an all vegetarian diet.

    but I heard EB eggs don’t taste as good. do you notice a difference?

    • if anything they taste better to me as I’m completely serious when I say I was so smitten with them I chased them lovingly until they hired me 🙂
      That’s how much I love the taste.

  45. It’s one of my fundamental questions every week. We have such a limited food budget, which do i choose? The more expensive stuff and maybe we don’t have as much in the house this month? Or the cheaper stuff of questionable quality, but at least we have plenty.

    It’s something i haven’t been able to get comfortable with, no matter which i decide.

  46. Response from Eggland’s Best to your questions:

    Soy:
    Our hens are fed soy as part of their diet and is a very important source of protein for them. It is not an ingredient in an egg because an egg is a natural product and the soy is not passed directly into the egg. The proteins found in an egg are specific to an egg and will not change based on the feed ingredients.

    Vegetarian Hens:
    Eggland’s Best hens are fed an all vegetarian diet. This is in response to the fact that many farms feed their hens animal by-products such as meat, blood, and bone meal that is made from the remains of other animals. We do not think this is a natural feed ingredient that should be given to a hen. We know that our hens do find bugs, worms etc in their natural environment and we’re sure that they consume them on occasion but this is not part of the feed that is given to them directly.

    Another important thing to be aware of on egg cartons is the USDA shield. Since we are USDA, we can’t make any claim about our product without anything to back those claims.

  47. I remember the days when I didn’t care about what I ate. It was the high school and college years where I’d live off of processed foods or instant noodles. Amazing how our bodies can still function off of such junk!

    Nowadays, I definitely pay attention to what my “food” consumes. It is worth paying extra for proper food.

  50. I do invest more money in certain foods that I truly love, but not all the time, because it can get expensive. I try to do the best I can and I think I am doing a good job of it. Always learning, experimenting, and figuring out what works best for this mind/body. 🙂

  52. SOLD! I love the post title. I’ve been reading more about this lately. I recently learned that grass-fed beef has more omega-3s than salmon! It’s that whole eating plants thing, ya know? I am vitamin D deficient and love eggs, so I’ve been eating them more as of late. I might as well eat the ones that are the best for me. Otherwise, what’s the point, right?

  53. Yes! After having kids I totally find myself willing to pay more for good quality foods! 🙂 Sounds like we would’ve been great friends on college. LOL.

  54. Thanks! As many eggs as I eat each week I sure will select the best quality. Never knew that the difference was that big.

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