Posted on 01/23/2025 5:57:22 AM PST by Red Badger
In the world of nutrition, we're often reminded of the importance of eating fruits and vegetables to keep a balanced diet. But hold onto your hats, folks—a recent study has revealed that pork fat ranks as one of the healthiest foods on the planet, even outdoing many veggies. With a nutritional score of 73 out of 100, pork fat lands in the eighth spot on a list of the world's top 100 healthiest foods, according to BBC Future.
Pork fat, also known as lard, is a fantastic source of B vitamins and minerals. Plus, it's more unsaturated and healthier than lamb or beef fat. This type of fat contains monounsaturated fatty acids, like oleic acid, which is also found in olive oil—famous for its heart health benefits. But remember, moderation is key!
In the lineup of the healthiest foods, pork fat beat out 92 other foods, including peas, red cabbage, tomatoes, mackerel, lettuce, oranges, and sweet potatoes. This might come as a shocker to many, as veggies have traditionally been seen as the healthiest choice. However, pork fat offers a nutritional profile that shouldn't be underestimated.
To get the most nutritional bang for your buck from pork fat, it's crucial to consider how the pigs were raised. According to Surrey Live, lard provides fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D, especially if the pigs were raised outdoors. Pasture-raised pork fat tends to be healthier due to its better nutrient content.
As with any part of your diet, moderation is essential. While pork fat has many benefits, it's important not to go overboard. The saturated fats present in lard are okay in moderate amounts, but too much can have negative health effects.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Probably be adding European countries to the list soon!
Look in the latin / mexican food section. It’s always there, at least in GA grocery stores
People don’t what they are missing when it comes to crackling cornbread.... especially when it’s homemade.
630K people died from HIV in 2023 (worldwide), while 42 deaths from Trichinosis across 2 decades.
McDonald’s used to cook in lard I beleive. Their fries used to be pretty good- that is no longer the case.
We always had lard too, and salt pork, and home made bacon, and beef tallow, and duck fat (fries cooked in duck fat were awesome!).
We at very well growing up!
Also of note, modern pork is “nearly free of trichinosis” . Wild pork stil has it quite a bit, but modern pork suppxoedly is almost free from it, and the fda even lowered the cook temp recommendations to 145- we still cook to 165 though- old habits hard to break.
We switched over to lard last year. Use it for my pie crusts. (Wow, what a difference!) and for cooking in general. Ditched the crisco (walmart brand).
We had a company (tails and trotters) here that sold artisan hazelnut finished pork. Very good and melt in your mouth fat. We have Beeler’s now, not quite as good but superior to most.
Hogs are somewhat unique in that almost everything from the nose to the curly tail is edible.
Besides the normal things like pork chops, bacon, ham, lard, cracklings, my grandmother use to make head cheese out of all the left-over parts like the ears, tail, hooves, and she would boil the head, use a hatchet and break open the skull and pick out the brains to make head cheese.
We had a black lady that worked for us that loved the chitterlings, I use to clean them out and take a huge batch of them to her and she would save some and give the rest of them away to her friends.
Crisco is hydrogenated plant seed oil..............
Yep, was watching Sanford and son the other day and Fred’s sister in law came over and brought cooked pig tails with her.
We used a lot of the pigs we raised, but didn’t go quite as far as head cheese. Probably should have thohgh.
“Mom cooked pork chops slow-baked in the oven smothered with sauerkraut. I loved that stuff!”
Porkchops on top of rice covered with mushroom gravy!
We like pork chops with apple sauce too, and mashed potatoes. Mix the potatoes with apple sauce taste good too.
My father always saved the bacon fat and then he’d spread it on toast and eat it... Made me want to puke, but he lived until he was 87 even though he smoked and drank until the day he died.
He grew up in the 1930s, so he ate whatever was in front of him and back in his day and that was typically deer and moose. They didn’t go to a grocery store... They hunted it, they killed it, they ate it.
Oddly enough, he never taught me how to hunt and he never had a weapon in our house. I asked him why and he said... As soon as he could afford to buy his groceries in a store, he gave up hunting. As for not having guns... He served in Korea and I’m pretty sure he knew he would be safer not having access to them. Being in the infantry, he understood what a gun could do to a human being and he had done enough of that in Korea.
I almost forgot!
The ultimate fast food feast
Hong Kong Style Pork Chop Rice.
https://www.wokandkin.com/hong-kong-style-baked-pork-chop-rice/
Beef liver is by far the healthiest meat. You feel better within 24 hours. Taste? if you need to you can get used to it, but to some it takes much like steak.
Wow that looks good!
I love Beef liver.
Pork liver not so much.............
“You cannot find lard in the grocery stores.”
You’re in the wrong grocery store.
Here, HEB, Joe V’s SmartShop, Fiesta, 99 Ranch Market, and El Rancho all have it. Don’t know about Kroger or Randall”s
I always feel,a bit sick after eating it- I love the taste, but something about it just doesn’t sit right- maybe too much iron or something. My mother used to make a great liver and onion dish. Ate it a lot as kids.
We used to also buy tubs of chicken livers and hearts and gizzards. Can’t seem to fins them near us now though. Chicken liver is good, but strong. Love the hearts.
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