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Comment by tiglionabbit | Hacker News Reader

I went to whole foods and bought a bunch of different brands of eggs and cracked them at home to inspect them. I noticed a big difference between the ones that said "pastured" from all of the others. These were usually the orangest and firmest. The yellowest and weakest were the "omega 3 flax fed" ones. Words like "cage free" and "free range" didn't seem to make a difference.

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If various articles I've seen on the topic are to be believed, eggs from pastured hens don't just look and taste different—they're far more nutritious than the rest[1]. I forget which nutrient (and I'm not certain it's even one of the ones listed at that link) but IIRC there's one that's very difficult to come by in the recommended quantities unless you 1) eat lots of insects, or 2) eat eggs and/or meat from birds that eat lots of insects. As one might expect, it's almost completely absent from non-pastured eggs.

See also declining nutrient levels in produce generally[2]. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that our ultra-low food prices, especially the US, amount to a scam.

We've got year-round variety (shipped from hundreds to thousands of miles away), we've got quantity, our produce is colorful (though bland), and our food rarely makes us sick (very nice, to be sure), but if you seek out quality there go convenience (distant 1 day/week farmers' markets versus a dozen nearby supermarkets that operate 24/7) and low prices, plus you've got to remember all the labeling and advertising tricks of the sort mentioned in the article so you don't get screwed.

[1] http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/05/pastured-eggs.... [2] (PDF WARNING) http://www.drapsley.com/Documents/Mineral%20losses%20in%20fo...

In general, animals that eat grass and things that eat grass (insects, mostly) will have a much higher amount of Omega 3s than those that eat mostly corn and ground up animal byproducts.

iirc all omega3 in non-plants comes from their diet of plants. Similarly we make Omega3 eggs, by feeding them lots of omega 3. Someday we may have omega3 pepperoni pizza by feeding the cows a GMO corn that makes omega3. The more the consumer demands, the more industry will shift to provide, but sometimes it's a comedy. We wanted pasture chickens w/ omega 3 from grass, we got caged birds w/ flaxseed supplements.

Or feeding cows what they "naturally" graze on, namely, grass. Grass-fed beef has substantially more omega-3s than the grain-fed beef we eat today.

Even we humans have a ton more omega-6 in our tissues than we did before, largely because of our diets. In 1961, we ate diets of 5.8% omega-6s, and our adipose tissue concentrations of n-6 were 9%. Today, Americans eat around 9% of their energy as n6 fats, and they are 23%+ of our fat tissue!

> but if you seek out quality there go convenience

These guys deliver good (pastured) eggs to your doorstep:

https://www.goodeggs.com/

Free delivery, but only in select markets.

> and low prices

I totally agree with you there, but as you noted, our ultra-low food prices are looking more and more like a scam.

Sounds like a sample size of 1-batch was enough to convince you. Maybe you should try it again sometime, see if it's different.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega-3_fatty_acid#Health_effec...

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