I have always been a plant-based eater; a vegetarian. Over the last year David and I decided to become vegans. It has been an incredible learning experience! Between now and the end of the years I will share some of the things I learned.
About Eggs
I spent a lot of time experimenting with egg replacers this year. It was a truly informative experience. What I discovered is that
there are certain recipes where there is NO substitute for the actual egg. These include pumpkin pie, meringues and waffles. Even Ener-G, the most popular egg replacer on the market, does not work well.
And speaking of Ener-G and other commercial egg replacers; I kind of fail to see the point. It is hard to convince me that straight up starch, a little baking powder and a couple of other chemicals and fillers can be good for you. Never mind, actually better for your body than eggs.
For me, the same principle applies to vitamin B-12. I am just not sure that putting a synthetic chemical in your body to act as vitamin B-12 is healthier than eating an egg a week.
Other health reasons for not eating eggs do not seem to apply to me. I do not have an allergy to eggs. I have never have had, a cholesterol problem. My total cholesterol has always been below 150 with high HDL and low LDL reading. And even at 2 eggs a week my intake of animal product would be way less than 5% which is the threshold for things like cancer and diabetes.
On a health basis, eating eggs makes sense to me. My body likes them and they remain a quick source of balanced protein. So after a lot of discussion, David and I have come to the conclusion that re-incorporating a few eggs back into our diet next year makes a lot of sense.
The one nagging objection to eggs is the aspect of “factory farming.” The very idea of caging chickens in a tiny space and cutting off their beaks turns my stomach. And the one thing I will make sure of as we eat eggs is that they come from truly free range chickens that eat a healthy diet. We have a local guy who gets eggs straight from local farms and we plan to get eggs either from him or the farmer’s market.
Eggs are a classic case of listening to your body and evaluating what you eat and why you eat it. For me eating eggs for my body makes sense as long as I am very careful about where they come from.