While eggs have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism, it’s mostly bad science. Don’t be afraid to get out there and eat the yolks! 

If you have ever suffered through too many egg white omelettes and mourned the loss of the golden deliciousness that truly makes an egg worthwhile, read on! I will give you permission and encouragement to get those yolks back in your life!

Pastured egg yolk is the first food I fed my last three children. Its nutrient density is rivaled only by organ meats and raw milk!

WHY you need those glorious yolks:

• high in cholesterol — BUT WAIT, isn’t that BAD for you? Nope! Because of some terribly flawed research in the 50s and media gone wild, the world was scared into thinking that fat was bad and cholesterol caused heart disease. Neither of which are true. High cholesterol does not cause heart disease, and cholesterol rich foods barely, if at all, cause your cholesterol level to increase.
  • Cholesterol has many benefits, including interacting with proteins within your cells, regulating cellular processes, aids brain function, and is one of the precursors to bile acids which help digestion.
• rich in choline — B vitamin crucial for brain development. This is the main reason I fed pastured egg yolk to my babies as their first food. Those brains are growing at an alarming rate, I wanted to give them all the boost and benefit I could! Choline also is a precursor to acetylcholine, which helps with both muscle control and memory. It has anti inflammatory properties, and it’s been estimated that 90% of the US population might be deficient in this vital nutrient! You have to get it from the foods you eat, and one egg yolk contains 215 mg of choline!!!
• Lutein and Zeaxanthin — carotenoids that are extremely important for vision health. Zeaxanthin is not made by the body, and must be consumed. In order to be properly absorbed, they must be eaten with fat, which makes the yolk the perfect way to get these important carotenoids into our system.

Among those listed above, yolks are also high in Vitamins A, D, E, K, B12, folate, and zinc. They are a good source of healthy fat and protein to keep you feeling full!

Well sourced animal proteins have very specific roles in our health and wellness. Yolks are one of those that is cost efficient and easy to find. Pastured eggs in particular have more omega 3s and are higher in vitamin A and E than conventional eggs. Source well and reap the benefits with your health when you eat the yolks!

Notice how dark orange the two yolks on top are in this picture? They are from chickens that roam around pecking in the ground and scratching at bugs the way they were born to do. The yolk on the bottom that is more yellow in hue comes from the store under the label “Organic, cage-free.”

The darker the yolk, the more nutrient dense it is!

If you need some direction on which labels to avoid on egg cartons and what the heck does it all even MEAN . . . read this post.

So get out there and eat the yolks!