Eggs

Why we (as humans) should not eat eggs for nutritional and ethical reasons.

Eggs are very commonly mistaken to be healthy. Some people eat eggs every day, as they are a very popular breakfast food. But, do you know how these eggs are brought to you and how they can really effect your health? I will explain why the consumption of eggs is not ethical or healthy in this essay.

Eggs are laid by hens, therefore, the egg industry has no use for male baby chicks. In the United States, about 200,000,000 male chicks are killed each year. They are killed by the hundred of thousands every day by being thrown in a dumpster and left to die, tossed in garbage bags and suffocated, or more commonly, by being ground up alive in meat grinders. This is traumatizing for both the hens and male chicks. The mothers have had their babies ripped from them at birthed to be ground up minutes after. Now, let's talk about how the hens are treated in the factories. They will live their entire lives in factories imprisoned in battery cages so small that they can't stretch out even one wing. They are put through periods of starvation that can last from five to fourteen days to force them to molt to increase their egg-laying abilities. While they are in these horrible conditions, they tend to peck each other. They peck because it is a survival instinct. But, the egg industry can't have their hens being damaged so they chop their beaks off. This is a very painful procedure for the hens that often leads to even more painful infections. These hens typically live from one to two years before they are slaughtered. Wild hens will usually live up to fifteen to twenty years. 

Some people believe 'cage-free' or 'free-range' eggs are better, but they are not. The only qualifications for them to be 'free-range' is that "The birds are raised in heated and air-cooled growing houses with access to the outdoors..." as stated by the USDA. The space they are kept in has no limit. They could be kept in an area the size of a small closet. These places are also not 'cruelty free' as they can do whatever they please to these chickens and hens. Some people argue 'What if I raise the chickens myself and am not cruel to them, but I eat their eggs? Is that okay?" In reality, it's not. Hens lay eggs until their nest is full. If you keep stealing the eggs from the hens, they will keep laying them. It takes a lot of energy, effort, and calcium to lay eggs. The only way to get their calcium back is for the hens to eat their own eggs, which is very common and natural for them to do. If you take the eggs from them, you will find that they will become lethargic and unable to lay eggs as often as they used to.

Now, onto the health side. Eggs are the largest source of cholesterol in the American diet. Pro-inflammatory and oxidative effects of dietary cholesterol has been shown to damage the endothelium (the lining inside arteries) and increase harmful cardiovascular effects. A recent study has actually found that eating eggs frequently can be as bad as smoking as for the effects on carotid artery plaque build-up. There are also dangers with salmonella in eggs. More than 100,000 Americans are poisoned by salmonella in eggs every year. Eggs may also decrease your life span. The Harvard Physicians Health study, which followed 20,000 doctors for over twenty years, found that those doctors consuming at least one egg a day had a significantly higher all-cause mortality risk, which suggests that consuming even just one egg a day is significantly associated with a shorter life.

Also, I want to point out that eggs are hen periods (as in menstrual cycles). And, hens only have one hole that other things come out of too. That's just gross. Do you really want to eat something like that?