The image above illustrates the focus of this post perfectly and I have used it in years past as the header in our holiday newsletter. Instead of a carton of eggs, we have a carton of red Christmas bulbs. I wanted to take this opportunity to wish those who celebrate Christmas a very happy holiday and to share more about the birth of our educational initiative. First, on the topic of Christmas, one of my very favorite Christmas stories is How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess.
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing without any presents at all!
He hadn’t stopped Christmas from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling. “How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes, or bags!
He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.
Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say
That the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!
And then the true meaning of Christmas came through,
And the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
And now that his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
With a smile to his soul, he descended Mount Crumpet
Cheerily blowing “Who! Who!” on his trumpet.
He road into Whoville. He brought back their toys.
He brought back their floof to the Who girls and boys.
He brought back their snoof and their tringlers and fuzzles,
Brought back their pantookas, their dafflers and wuzzles.
He brought everything back, all the food for the feast!
And he, he himself, the Grinch carved the roast beast!
We are a project of the Weston A. Price Foundation, a non-profit that has no religious or political affiliations. As such, I wanted to focus on the universal themes associated with Christmas, that many of us might relate to even if it is not a holiday we celebrate:
“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” – Charles Schulz
“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” – Roy L. Smith
“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” – Janice Maeditere
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabi
“Remember this December the love weighs more than gold.” – Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon
What about eggs?
I chose eggs to represent our educational initiative when I established it because an egg represents fertility, being that life begins as a fertilized egg. Eggs also symbolize conception, the beginning of something new, creation, creativity, promise, the potential for growth, birth and rebirth.
In addition, I chose eggs because for as long as I can remember, they had been portrayed as an unhealthy food to avoid or limit, due to the cholesterol and saturated fat in the yolk. Those of you who follow us know that cholesterol and saturated fat play many important roles in the body. Slightly cooked egg yolk is our recommended first solid food for babies because it is so nutrient dense. As the Weston A. Price Foundation explains:
Eggs have been a highly valued foods since the beginning of time—eggs from chickens, ducks, geese, turtles and fish. Egg yolks are the richest source of two superstar carotenoids—lutein and zeaxanthin. 1. Not only are bright yellow yolks loaded with these fat-soluble antioxidant nutrients, they are more bioavailable than those found in vegetables, corn and most supplements.2,3 While these nutrients have a reputation of combating macular degeneration4,5 and cataracts6 and supporting overall healthy vision, they have a long list of other benefits, including protecting the skin from sun damage7 and even reducing one’s risk of colon8and breast cancer.9
Besides providing all eight essential proteinbuilding amino acids, a large whole, fresh egg offers about six to seven grams of protein and five grams of fat (with about 1.5 grams of it saturated), which comes in handy to help in the absorption of all the egg’s fat-soluble vitamins. One egg also serves up around 200 milligrams of brain-loving cholesterol and contains the valuable vitamins A, K, E, D, B-complex and minerals iron, phosphorus, potassium and calcium.10 Choline, another egg-nutrient, is a fatty substance found in every living cell and is a major component of our brain. Additionally, choline helps break up cholesterol deposits by preventing fat and cholesterol from sticking to the arteries.10,14 So the bottom line is, don’t be chicken about eating eggs, especially the cholesterol-rich yolks!
Compared to the generic supermarket variety, eggs from pastured poultry are a vivid yellow-orange—proof of a richer store of healthenhancing carotenes (more specifically xanthophylls, a natural yellow-orange pigment in green plants and yellow corn).11,12 The more carotenes, the darker, deeper orange color the yolk—and the higher the levels of fat-soluble vitamins as well. Expect to find the richest orange colors in the spring, when grass is fresh and bugs are plentiful. Color also fades as the egg ages. Bear in mind, variations will be seen in these differences due to the breed and age of chickens, their diet (grass, insects, and feed) and the season.
See this article for sources, and to read more on the topic! Read more about the type of eggs we recommend. May you and yours be nourished in every way on Christmas day.
Leave a Comment