What Are Enriched Eggs?

Enter, the egg. Maligned as the culprit for the spiraling increase in the rate of serious heart disease among Americans, cholesterol-rich eggs were easy to blame. Eggs were the target of health professionals throughout the country, and patients with heart or vascular disease were given strict dietary guidelines that banned eggs. However, now that we know that regular eggs actually contain the inherent cholesterol that helps lower LDL ("bad" cholesterol") levels in the human bloodstream, and help raise HDL ("good" cholesterol), more attention has been paid to egg production and chicken feed, and improving eggs in general.

Recently, a new kind of egg has been introduced to consumers. Perhaps you've seen the "Enriched Eggs" advertised on television and in magazines, or seen them for sale in stores. Just what is this enrichment process, anyway, and is it really a good thing for human health?

Good egg production begins with the hens and what they eat. The hens that lay "enriched" eggs are fed a diet that is fortified with 20% or more of omega-3 rich milled flaxseed and fish oils. The yolks of the eggs produced by hens on this diet are high in omega 3's and they also have high levels of tocopherol (vitamin E). Yolk comparisons were made with laying hens that were fed the fortified diet, and hens that were fed regular layer feed. The antioxidant and health properties of the fortified eggs were dramatically higher. Analysis of the egg yolks showed substantial increases in the amount of omega-3s as well as antioxidants in the yolks. Regular egg yolks contain about 40mg of omega-3s, while the enriched eggs contain about 400-500mg.

So is there a transfer of health benefits when the eggs are eaten? Studies were done with both rats and humans, with similar results. For 4 weeks, lab animals were fed the enriched egg yolk in powdered form in their food, and humans (males, aged 18-24 years) ate two enriched eggs at breakfast. At the end of the period, blood tests showed an increase in HDL levels, a reduction in LDL levels, and a marked reduction in serum triglycerides in both humans and lab rats. The levels of omega-3s in body tissue lipids were also increased. There have been additional similar studies, and the results replicated the patterns of healthy change in cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and body tissue lipids.

In another study that compared serum levels of triglycerides on enriched egg diets to the same subjects on regular egg diets, the subjects showed an average drop of serum triglycerides of 32% after 21 days on the enriched egg diet. There was also a favorable change in the ratio of triglycerides to HDL, and a moderate drop in blood pressure in this study.

The studies indicate that by improving and controlling the diets of hens, healthier eggs can be produced. Not only are eggs NOT harmful to heart/vascular health, the newest "Designer Eggs" have extra beneficial properties for human consumers. They can be an important part of dietary change to help balance cholesterol and improve heart/vascular health. These eggs are not a genetically modified product. The nutrition the hens need to produce enriched eggs occurs naturally in flaxseed and fish oil, and the high tech eggs are simply healthier natural eggs.

Look for these eggs in your supermarket. The carton will be clearly labeled with "Enriched" or "Fortified" or a similar term, and there may be a printed table that outlines the beneficial content.

If you have your own backyard hens, you can find flaxseed and fish oil feed supplements to increase the nutritional value of your hens' eggs. If your local feed store does not carry it, check online at organic chicken and feed suppliers. Some consumers report that the enriched eggs have a fishy aroma or taste. If you raise your own hens, you might follow the advice of a company in Greece that blends thyme and other aromatic herbs with chicken feed to eliminate the fishy quality; in addition, thyme has antioxidant properties of its own to contribute.

Sources:
http://www.cvspectrum.org/cms/templates/article.aspx?articleid=9021&zoneid=16
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/sim.pdf
http://dbserver.forthnet.gr/Praxis/servlet/praxis.PServlet?s=praxis.TMShowPublic?id=50&l=en