Who do You Love?

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Happy Friday! Today and tomorrow, both the hubs family and mine are celebrating the life of his grandma, Mary Lu. Mary Lu passed away earlier this week at the age of 101. She would have been 102 in just about one month. What an incredible lady and a fantastic example of what a peaceful life and a few vitamins can do! Although we are sad that she is no longer with us, we are just so happy for the amazing life she has lived.

At 101 years, she lived through the Great Depression, two World Wars, the end of segregation, and more inventions than I care to list. Wow! She also lived to see her two sons become seriously incredible people who raised some seriously incredible people who then also raised some seriously incredible people. And, just last year, she got to see her first great-granddaughter get married. What might be even more incredible than all of this is the love she had for her family and the love her family had for her.

I can still remember the first time I met her. She was visiting from California and I went over to the hubs house (then just a boyfriend) at the age of 17. I wore jewelry I thought she would like (we have always had similar taste in jewelry) and was so nervous. From the moment I met her, she calmed my nerves and made me feel welcomed. Since then, we have had so many conversations and times together that I will never forget.

Mary Lu was definitely not just a grandma, great-grandma, or mother for those in her family, she was that for everyone she met. One of our good friends recently explained her as a lady that was so sweet, but with a bit of spice. How perfect. Her independence was vital to her and up until her last few days, she was walking, making her own meals, and helping anyone she could. And, chances were pretty high that if you helped her, she would thank you and tell you her age. Hehe, that was the best! Most people would gasp or just look seriously surprised. Once time, there was a store clerk who asked to see her ID. Seriously, who would not enjoy that?

I know this is not the most exciting post in the world, but thank you for sticking with it to now. Grandparents are one of those parts of life that we are just so gifted to have, and talking about how blessed I am to have mine is something that could go on all day. Instead though, here are some pretty great things about grandparents!

Have you seen this? Such cool grandparents

Are your grandparents on Facebook? My Grandma is. She is also on Instagram so she can see/show pictures of the grandkids.

Stories that show how sweet grandparents are

Texts from grandparents.

TBT: The Pros and Cons of Eating Eggs

There has been a long standing debate in our house about whether or not eggs are healthy. Seems like our house if very similar to the rest of the health community. Some say eggs are terrible for you because of the high cholesterol count, others say that the omega fats and protein are pro's that far out-weight the cons. Like so many foods out there, there are pro's and con's to eggs as well.

Pro's of Eating Eggs

Let's start with what most people are concerned about when it comes to health: weight. In a controlled study, those who ate three eggs per day while on a diet lost more weight than those who did not. Eggs have 5-grams of fat (1.6-grams saturated and 2-grams monounsaturated, 6-grams protein, less than 1-gram of carbs, 10% of the daily value of B12, and 11% vitamin D.  

The part where eggs get there bad wrap is at the cholesterol in egg yolks. The American Heart Association recommends eating 300 mg or less of cholesterol per day; eggs have 186-mg cholesterol. In the past cholesterol has been considered the lead contributor to heart disease. Now, new studies are showing that cholesterol is not as bad as we once thought. Turns out, LDL's are a whole lot worse. There are both good and bad forms of cholesterol depending on the carrier. Carriers of the "good" cholesterol are High Density Lipoproteins (HDL), the "bad" ones are the Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL). Cholesterol and saturated fats are two of the main components that make up and LDL. Cholesterol on it's own is not what is bad, cholesterol and saturated and trans fats are the combo that we want to steer clear from. Eggs are low in saturated fats and have no trans fats.

This is great news for those that love eggs but hate heart disease. You can eat them! Eggs have not been shown to increase risk of heart disease in people who have healthy levels of cholesterol.

Con's of Eggs

If you already have high cholesterol, that is the biggest con of the egg. Different people have different levels of cholesterol. Like fat, there is no singular amount of cholesterol in any person. As we already know, cholesterol is not the baddy, LDL's are. People who have high blood cholesterol levels tend to also have high LDL levels. This means that people with higher levels of cholesterol should keep their cholesterol intake down. Therefore, nixing that whole eating tons of egg yolks bit. By loosing the egg yolk you will loose about 2.6-grams protein, 60 calories, all of the vitamins and nutrients, all of the cholesterol, and almost all of the fat.

Then comes the environmental impact of eggs. Eggs are not as bad as the meat industry, but it is not great either. Ethically, caging chickens in cramped and dirty environments for their eggs is just as bad as any other part of the meat industry- it is awful. But, free range chickens have greater access to pollutants, meaining the free rage eggs have higher pollutants as well. This Pandora's box of ethics vs. health is something that most people do not want to get into... Including me. 

In the end, whether you eat eggs or not depends on your person preference and current health. Those who have diabetes and high cholesterol are advised to steer clear of anything more than three eggs a week, including what is in their food already. Those that do not have any health factors to be altered by eating eggs can find them beneficial to a healthy diet. Eggs are a simple way to get quite a large amount of protein and Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids with very few calories, tans fat (none, actually) and saturated fats tagging along.

Here are a few more articles if you are interested in doing some extra egg research.  

Mind Body Green 

Eggs: Healthy or Not? Huffington Post 

Pollutants in Free Range Eggs 

Myth about eggs 

This article was originally posted on October 16, 2013 :)