NEWS RELEASE: ANCIENT GRAIN HELPS PRODUCE MODERN, HEALTHY EGGS
Researcher: Wayne Coates, The University of Arizona, 520-741-0840; E-mail: [email protected]
Love eggs, but your doc says cut down on cholesterol? A new egg might be what you're looking for.
The World Health Organization says 15 million people, mostly in developed countries, died from coronary heart disease (CHD) in 1996. Since numerous studies show that cardiovascular diseases are related to high blood cholesterol and to the consumption of high amounts of saturated fats, many doctors advise people eat fewer animal fats and eggs.
Yet there is a growing consensus among scientists that not only reducing calories from lipid sources is important in controlling CHD, but also that increased amounts of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids coupled with reduced levels of saturated fatty acids play a key role in the process.
How does this translate to a dietary change? A researcher at The University of Arizona and his Argentine colleague have developed a way to produce hen's eggs with less cholesterol and saturated fat, and more omega-e polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Wayne Coates, a professor at the Bioresources Research Facility in the Office of Arid Lands Studies, and Ricardo Ayerza of the University of Catamarca in Argentina created a diet for egg-laying hens based on a pre-Colombian crop called chia. The chia-fed hens produced eggs with chicken eggs. What's more, they have no off-flavor, in contrast to eggs that come from hens fed with flaxseed or fish flour.
Chia is a summer annual that ranges in mountainous regions extending from the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico, to northern Guatemala. The seed has a long history of use in the diets of native peoples in the area.
Chia seed is rich in a omega-e fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid and contains 32.8 per cent oil. Natural antioxidants in the seed protect the omega-3 fatty acid from degrading. As a consequence, the seeds are a very good, stable source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid.
Since CHD has become a major concern, egg consumption has declined per capita over the past three decades. For health-conscious consumers, this research could result in the development of more acceptable eggs and egg products. For farmers, it might also reverse the declining consumption of eggs that has affected their market.
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