Big surprise, the internet has lost the plot again.

This time it is eggs.

Specifically, eggs are being dragged through the mud over linoleic acid. Influencers are zooming in on fatty acid profiles like they just discovered biochemistry yesterday. Threads are circulating. Charts are being shared. People are suddenly afraid of breakfast.

We need to slow this way down.

What we are watching is clickbait panic. And it is aimed at one of the few real foods that has nourished humans across cultures for generations.

Here is the argument: Linoleic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid. Excess PUFA intake can suppress reactive oxygen species signaling. That signaling matters for mitochondrial function. Mitochondria matter for metabolic health.

All of that is true in isolation.

But isolation is the problem.

Biology does not operate in sound bites.

Much of the recent noise has centered around Vital Farms eggs, with claims that their linoleic acid levels are concerning. What is conveniently left out is where this narrative came from and what the data actually shows.

An independent third-party testing group, Seed Oil Scout, analyzed fatty acid profiles across multiple egg brands. The results did not support the panic. Vital Farms came in with the lowest linoleic acid levels tested. Angel Acres, the company pushing much of the criticism, tested at roughly double.

Vital Farms does not hide its sourcing, feed practices, or data. They publish it. Transparency does not mean perfection. It means putting information on the table even when it does not make for a tidy marketing story.

Watching real food companies attack each other while industrial food quietly dominates the food supply is beyond frustrating.

Before we go any further, we need to clear up another layer of confusion fueling this panic.

Vital Farms is not a single idyllic farm. It is a large, publicly traded company that aggregates eggs from many family farms across the country. That scale explains why there is variation between samples. Variation is not deception. It is what real food looks like when it comes from real farms instead of factories.

Seed Oil Scout actually tested the eggs themselves. Many apps and rating systems do not. They read labels, but a soy-free claim on a carton does not automatically tell you the fatty acid profile of the egg inside.

In testing, soy-free eggs generally show a more favorable omega-3 to omega-6 ratio and avoid phytoestrogens found in soy. If you can access soy-free eggs, that is still the better choice.

But soy-free does not mean perfect. Seed Oil Scout found meaningful variation between farms and even within the same brand. This is why screenshots and app scores should never be treated as metabolic truth.

Here is the reality check.

Even with that variance, a typical egg, soy-free or not, contains well under one gram of omega-6 fat. The metabolic benefits of eggs overwhelmingly outweigh the theoretical downside of a slightly higher omega-6 intake from a whole food.

Do not stress about buying the “perfect eggs”.

Yes, linoleic acid is a PUFA.

Yes, excessive PUFA intake over time can interfere with mitochondrial signaling.

No one is overdosing on linoleic acid from eggs.

This is where the conversation completely derails.

You do not damage mitochondria by eating eggs for breakfast. You damage mitochondria through chronic exposure to ultra-processed foods that are saturated in industrial seed oils. Sauces. Dressings. Packaged snacks. Restaurant food. Microwavable meals. High-protein drinks that can barely pass as food.

That is where PUFA overload comes from. Not from a whole food that contains protein, fat, choline, B vitamins, selenium, and fat-soluble nutrients in a bioavailable form.

Reducing eggs to a single fatty acid is not science. It is insane.

The real danger is not linoleic acid in eggs. It is what happens when people are taught to fear real food.

This kind of discourse creates paralysis. People stop eating nutrient-dense foods because they are afraid of getting it wrong. They bounce from rule to rule. They outsource discernment to influencers who benefit from outrage and novelty.

Meanwhile, the foods that actually drive metabolic dysfunction remain untouched because they are boring to criticize and profitable to ignore.

Confusion benefits the system that created the problem.

Eggs remain one of the most complete foods available.

They are protein-dense. They are affordable. They stabilize blood sugar. They support satiety. They provide nutrients that are difficult to obtain elsewhere without supplementation.

Even the cheapest eggs are metabolically safer than most of what people eat before noon.

We do not heal by turning real food into the enemy.

We heal by zooming out. By eating foods that look like food. By supporting companies that are at least trying to move in the right direction, instead of demanding a standard that no one in an industrial system can perfectly meet.

Stop demonizing single nutrients. Stop letting internet panic dictate your plate. Eat real food consistently.

Eggs did not wreck anyone’s metabolism. Industrial food did.

And the sooner we stop attacking the tools of healing, the faster people actually get better.

👉 If this constant food panic has left you confused or exhausted, I offer complimentary discovery calls to help you rebuild a sane, sustainable approach to eating real food.