Tag: science

Simply Brilliant Science: Creating Healthier Eggs for a Healthier You

* Originally posted at the Scientific American Guest Blog on June 7, 2011.

Photograph of many white and brown chickens in garden with green plants and brown soil.
Chickens in the Garden

When Omega Eggs (eggs containing Omega fatty acids) first appeared on the mass market in the early 2000s I had this bizarre image in my head of a semi-crazed scientist extracting the yolk with a giant syringe, swirling it about in a beaker with a neon blue solution to extract the bad fat, injecting it with Omega fatty acids and then pacing it carefully back inside the eggshell.

Of course my next thought was that would be a completely absurd and impossible way to go about making healthier eggs and I labeled the image as a flight of fancy. I dismissed the question of how Omega Eggs are produced as interesting but not a priority and went about my life.

10 months ago I started working at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). The important thing to remember about UNL is that although it is a Research 1 institution it was chartered as a land grant university in 1869 under the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. Approved under the auspices of President Abraham Lincoln it was titled: “An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts”. For this reason UNL is dedicated not only to providing affordable traditional college degrees but also to research, development, and education regarding best practices in agriculture and food production.

Photo of a small blue plate with six white eggs in front of a small bamboo plant and white Japanese lucky cat on a light brown counter.
Eggs

My colleagues anxious to extol the virtues of my new university to me mentioned in passing that Omega Eggs were first sold at the Dairy Store on our East Campus. Omega Eggs have been available for purchase there since 1995. It turns out that Sheila Scheidler, then a poultry scientist with UNL, created a patented system (the university holds the patent and trade mark on Omega Eggs) to efficiently produce eggs high in Omega fatty acids.

You Really Are What You Eat

It turns out that the old saying you are what you eat is really true in the case of the chicken and then eggs. By altering the hens diets to include grains rich in Omega fatty acids such as flax seed (Omega 3 fatty acids), chickens are able to produce healthier eggs. Omega eggs have more omega fatty acids, lower cholesterol, and about half the fat of regular eggs. Two Omega Eggs have the equivalent amount of Omega fatty acids of one serving of salmon.

Omega Eggs v. Standard Eggs

 Type of MeasurementOmega EggStandard Egg
 Size of Egg60g – 1 large60g – 1 large
Calories7575
Total Fat6 grams6 grams
Sturated Fat1.5 grams2.2 grams
Polyunsaturated Fat1.35 grams.90 grams
n-6 Fatty Acids750 mg800mg
n-3 Fatty Acids350 mg60 mg
C18:3250 mg40 mg
C22:6100 mg20 mg
n-6:n-3 Ratio2.613
Monosaturated Fats2.8 grams2.4 grams
Cholesterol180 mg210 mg

Not convinced? Check out this study by Nancy Lewis, (UNL professor of Nutrition Science), Sheila E. Scheidler (UNL professor of Animal Science), and Kim Schalch (a dietician in Lincoln, NE, formerly a UNL graduate research assistant at UNL.

Bizzare Imaginings illustrated by Jeff Deards: a semi-crazed scientist extracting the yolk with a giant syringe, swirling it about in a beaker with a neon blue solution to extract the bad fat, injecting it with Omega fatty acids and then pacing it carefully back inside the eggshell.
Bizzare Imaginings

In a controlled experiment researchers studied 25 volunteers (13 men and 12 women) with high cholesterol (and no other diagnosed health conditions). Volunteers were divided into three groups all of whom ate a self-selected diet. These groups were differentiated by their egg consumption: two Omega eggs per day six days, versus those who ate two regular eggs six days a week,, and those who ate no eggs. The study looked at several factors but the really interesting thing was that there was that those eating Omega Eggs showed no increase in cholesterol while their serum triglyceride levels decreased by 14%. (High triglycerides are bad because they increase your risk of heart disease.

One should, of course, eat all things in moderation; too much of anything is bad for you. But if you’re a big egg fan like my husband, next time you’re in the grocery store you might think about buying those Omega Eggs even though they cost more. They just might help you live longer, and they’re a lot tastier than fish oil pills!

Learn More:

NebGuide G2032: Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids
(Learn about these important nutrients and foods rich in them.)
Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, Insitute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, written by Lisa D. Fanzen-Castle and Paula Ritter-Gooder

Agreement Makes NU’s Omega Eggs Available at Hy-Vee Stores in Seven States
Published by the Scarlet
March 1st, 2001

Image Credits: 1) Chicken in the Garden by HardworkingHippy CC BY-SA 2.0, 2) Eggs Copyright Jeffrey & Kiyomi Deards 2011 Used with permission. 3) Bizarre Imaginings Copyright Jeffrey & Kiyomi Deards 2011 Used with permission.

5 TED Talks That Inspire Innovation

Check out TED.com for more great content!
Check out TED.com for more great content!

*This post is in response to @wawoodworth TEDucation: 5 TED Talks Librarians Should Watch (and Why)

The keys to innovation in science and in librarianship are to relax, look at things with a new perspective and then: solve a problem, create efficiency, find a new way of looking at things that creates order out of chaos. Conference budgets may be finite but thanks to the Internet there are plenty of ways to seek inspiration from other professionals without traveling hundreds of miles or spending thousands of dollars.

5 TED talks you don?t want to miss!

TED2003 Don Norman on 3 ways good design makes you happy
There’s a tendency to get very process oriented, we all have goals and our focus narrows to achieving those goals as efficiently as possible. Yet, if we take a moment to think about the goods and services which we use the ones we stick with are those that amuse, inspire, fill a void in our lives or otherwise cause us to connect emotionally. Join Don Norman for a delightful look at what good design is and how we can apply those principles to what we create.

TEDWomen 2010 – Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders
It’s the irony of libraries and the life sciences, these areas traditionally have a strong female presence, but the majority of the leadership in these areas are still the stereotypical older white male. This inspiring talk by Sheryl Sandberg shares several of the things which hold women back (some of these things also hold male introverts back). Even if you don’t think this topic is relevant I challenge you to listen to this talk and think about the example situations she mentions from her own life. Many of these situations can be changed just by paying attention to others, acknowledging someone’s good work, or raising your hand. For men and women who choose to take time out to raise a family she provides advice for how to set yourself up to reenter the workforce when your ready at the level you want to.

TEDGlobal 2010 – Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education
Sugata Mitra reminds us that children are very smart and capable of learning anything if they are motivated and receive positive support. ?His educational ideas will not solve all of our problems, or even be appropriate in all circumstances. ?But, I think they do have a lot of potential for inspiring educators to allow more self-directed learning and to reach people who otherwise would not have access. ?(And it provides more ammunition for those of us who want to see more doing and less lecturing in education!)

TED2011 – Deb Roy: The birth of the word
Most people don?t understand what we do, that?s our fault for not expressing ourselves clearly. ?Deb Roy had his entire house wired for video to examine how his infant son learned and began using words. ?He analyzed how and why we learn new words and concepts. ?Reflecting on how we learn to communicate will, I hope, inspire you to think about how you express yourself to others. ?Instead of telling people what we do with lots of jargon, try explaining your job as you would to a child, briefly and accurately, and not a recitation of your position description.

TEDxPuget Sound 2009 – Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
You may think you aren’t a leader, maybe you don’t want to be a leader, but libraries and science are both in desperate need of great leaders. In addition to recognizing and nurturing talent being a great leader requires good communication skills. Using Apple as an example Simon Sineak identifies what’s necessary for communicating effectively and ties his theories into biology. He then challenges us to pursue the things that we are passionate about in order to succeed.

What are your TED talks to watch?