Bacon Lovers
I know from the positive responses to our bacon posts on Facebook, that by and large, we are a community of bacon lovers, myself included. However, I personally have not had bacon in some time, sadly! It has proven to be a fleeting experience in my life. Since I’ve had inquiries about whether or not I eat pork, I thought I’d address it here:
I was raised in a Jewish home where we didn’t eat it. While we didn’t keep kosher, bacon was simply not part of the nourishing traditions of Morocco where my mother was raised in a mixed population of Jews and Muslims. Neither have historically eaten pork based on the dietary laws in the Torah and Koran. Nonetheless, there was a period of time, in my late thirties and early forties, once I discovered the book Nourishing Traditions that I ate bacon, and needless to say, I loved it! I purchased Niman Ranch in those days by and large because it was readily available and appeared in the Weston A. Price Foundations’s Shopping Guide. Then I got married, my husband doesn’t eat pork and requested that I abstain, which was not problem for me. More recently, I have also taken the MRT food sensitivity test and pork was identified as a food I was highly sensitive to, even though it hadn’t been a part of my diet for years?!
So, despite the fact that I don’t personally eat it, I teach about the benefits and guide our community to recommended sources. I found myself a bit confused about the recommendations made in 2013 Shopping Guide issued by the Weston A. Price Foundation however and approached Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel and Sally Fallon Morell for clarification. They have fine tuned the recommendations as follows to reflect Dr. Daniel’s latest research, and will use these for the 2014 version:
Best: Sausage, bacon, ham and processed meats from preferably soy-free animals allowed to graze, processed without additives such as mono-sodium glutamate – known as MSG. [Note: Products containing hydrolyzed protein, citric acid, “spices,” or “natural flavors” usually contain MSG.] Pastured meats cured with salt, a small amount of sugar and naturally smoked. Also fine, pastured meats cured with sodium nitrite and added sodium erythorbates or ascorbates, which are antioxidants required by the United States Department of Agriculture. An example would be bacon from US Wellness Meats.
Acceptable: Sausage, bacon and processed meats made with the help of celery juice, celery powder, celery seed, spinach juice, spinach powder, carrot juice, carrot powder, beet juice, beet powder or sodium nitrate but without MSG or other questionable additives. An example would be bacon made by Niman Ranch.
Avoid: Most commercial sausage, bacon and processed meats containing MSG, smoke flavoring, liquid smoke or high levels of additives; processed meats that are high pressure treated.
To flush out the reasons behind these recommendations, I am publishing an article by Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel, with her permission:
Still Fear Bacon? Here’s Why the Feel Good Food is Good for You
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, The Naughty Nutritionist™
Neal Barnard MD, head of the Physicians Committee for (Ir)Responsible Medicine, tried to round up an army of vegans to protest a Bacon Festival in Iowa a couple years ago but succeeded in recruiting only six volunteers.1
Why so few? Probably fear of bacon! Not fear of death by bacon, which is what Dr. Barnard hoped to fuel with anti-meat rhetoric and billboards of skulls and crossbones, but vegan fears of succumbing to the lure of bacon itself! Bacon’s smell and taste are so seductive that many vegetarians fear it as “the gateway meat.”
But what of those health risks? What about all that fat, cholesterol and sodium? And what about nitrites? It’s not just vegans after all who warn us against bacon. Indeed, the bacon question has been argued for years, now with most non-vegan internet bloggers concluding that bacon’s “not so bad” if used to add a bit of flavor and crunchiness to “healthy” foods such as salads and vegetables. Comedian Jim Gaffigan spoofed this on Late Night with Conan O’Brien when he described bits of bacon as “the fairy dust of the food community” and eating a salad sprinkled with bacon as “panning for gold.”
A bit more bacon—even a few strips—sometimes even gets the Food-Police stamp of approval; provided it’s a special treat, of course, and not a daily indulgence. But such recommendations usually come complete with a warning to stick with lean bacon, and then cook it so it’s firm but not soft. While that last sounds a bit naughty, it’s actually anti-fat puritanism—the goal being to render the soft parts into fat that can be poured or patted off.
But what if bacon is actually good for us? What if it actually supports good health and is not a mortal dietary sin after all? What if we can eat all we’d like? And feel better too? Naughty propositions to be sure, but ones The Naughty Nutritionist™ is prepared to argue. And that promise is not just a strip tease!
Bacon’s primary asset is its fat, and 50 percent of that fat—surprise!—is monounsaturated, mostly consisting of oleic acid, the type so valued in olive oil, and three percent as palmitoleic acid, a monounsaturate with valuable antimicrobial properties.
About 40 percent of bacon fat is saturated, a level that worries fat phobics, but is the reason why bacon fat is relatively stable and unlikely to go rancid under normal storage and cooking conditions. That’s important, given the fact that the remaining 10 percent is in the valuable but unstable form of polyunsaturates.2
Pork fat also contains a novel form of phosophatidyl choline that possesses antioxidant activity superior to Vitamin E, and a reason why lard and bacon fat are unprone to rancidity from free radicals.3
Bacon also comes replete with fat-soluble vitamin D, provided it’s bacon from foraging pigs that romp outdoors in the sun for most of year.4 As we would expect, the good fat in bacon comes accompanied by cholesterol, a “no no” according to the Food Police, but a “yes yes” when it comes to a “feel good” food.5
Even so, “everyone knows” bacon’s bad for us, and Dr. Barnard would have us think it’s a veritable risk factor for heart disease. In fact, bacon might be good for the heart. And not just because it makes us happy, though that’s surely a plus!
Monounsaturated fat is widely lauded for reducing inflammation and lowering blood pressure, while antimicrobial palmitoleic acid can keep plaque at bay. Triglycerides too may improve because bacon fat is so good at helping us achieve satiety and stable blood sugar. Bacon can thus be useful for diabetics and prediabetics as well as everyone else coping with sugar cravings and carbohydrate addictions. Bacon’s signature salty and savory sweetness not only make it a treat that reduces feelings of deprivation and lack, but could help stabilize blood sugar sufficiently to prevent mood swings, reduce anxiety, improve focus and enhance coping skills.
Those not worried about bacon’s fat and cholesterol often fret about the salt, though low-salt diets actually increase the likelihood of heart disease, hypertension, cognitive decline, osteoporosis insulin resistance and erectile dysfunction. Clearly, salt plays a vital role in Naughty Nutrition™.
Finally, fear of bacon is wrapped up with fear of nitrites. These have been so associated with cancer and other ills that nearly all educated, health conscious consumers think they should either avoid processed meats altogether or choose “uncured bacons” that are advertised as “nitrite free.” Popular brands assumed to be healthy include Niman, Bieler, Applegate, Coleman’s and nearly every other bacon brand found at Whole Foods Market or other health food stores.
The question is, are these “uncured” bacons healthier?
The short answer is no. Dr. Nathan Bryan, University of Texas Houston Biomedical Research Center, pulls no punches when he states: “This notion of ‘nitrite-free’ or ‘organically cured’ meats is a public deception.”6
Traditionally bacon was cured by adding sodium nitrite salts directly to the meat. Today’s manufacturers of “nitrite free” brands add celery salt, which is about 50 percent nitrate, plus a starter culture of bacteria. This transforms the nitrate found naturally in the celery salt into nitrite, which cures the meat. Although manufacturers label this bacon “nitrite free,” this method actually generates more nitrite from the celery salt than would ever be added as a salt. Indeed, “nitrite free” bacon can have twice the nitrite content of bacons cured directly with nitrite salts. “Some convert 40 percent, some convert 90 percent, so the consistency of the residual nitrite is highly variable,” he says.
Dr. Bryan’s biggest concern is not nitrite content but the possibility of bacterial contamination. “I think it is probably less healthy than regular cured meats because of the bacteria load and the unknown efficacy of conversion by the bacteria.”7 And plenty of studies back him up on the value of nitrates and nitrite for food safety. Indeed, nitrite can convert to desirable nitric oxide in the body. 8-13
In the good old days, dry cure bacons were produced through hand rubbing with a mixture of herbs, sugars, salt, and the sodium nitrite curing salts. Or going back even further without sodium nitrite but huge quantities of salt. The bacon then cures for anywhere from a day to a month before slow-smoking it over applewood, hickory or other wood fires, generally from one to three days. The extended curing time intensifies the pork flavor and shrinks the meat so that the bacon doesn’t shrivel and spatter as it cooks. Vitamin C in the mix helps form the nitrosylheme pigment that gives cured meats their wonderful red color. Producers who use sodium nitrite are required by the USDA to add sodium erythorbate or ascorbate (forms of Vitamin C and antioxidants) to ensure most of the nitrites go down the beneficial nitric acid pathway and not turn into carcinogenic nitrosamines. Flavor can vary quite a bit from producer to producer, and is determined by the ingredients of the cure, the method of smoking, and the timing. The age, gender, and breed of the pig, as well as its time outdoors, forage and feed all influence the final flavor of the bacon.
Supermarket bacon may also use sodium nitrite, but not in a traditional way. Instead, manufacturers opt for fast and cheap methods by which inferior quality factory-farmed meat is pumped and plumped with a liquid cure solution that includes sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite, along with “liquid smoke,” spices and flavorings heavy in MSG. After “curing” for a few hours, the pork is sprayed with more “liquid smoke” and heated until a smoke-like flavor permeates the meat. The pork is then quickly chilled, machine-pressed into a uniform shape, sliced, and packaged for sale. Pumped and plumped bacon may look big in the package, but shrinks, shrivels and spatters when cooked.
Researchers have consistently found carcinogenic nitrosamines in fried bacon,14,15 but the bacon studied almost certainly comes from factory farms where pigs are fed feeds that include inferior oils such as corn and soy. Fatty acid composition has a major effect on nitrosamine formation, with levels correlating well with the levels of unsaturation of the adipose tissue.16-20 Far riskier than frying bacon is consuming readymade sources of nitrosamines, such as occur in soy protein isolates, non-fat dry milk and other products that have undergone acid washes, flame drying or high temperature spray-drying processes.21,22
The takeaway?
Choose traditionally cured or simple salt-cured artesanal bacon, which truly has no nitrites added but depends upon proper refrigeration for safety. The newfangled celery salt “uncured” bacon is deceptively marketed, but still a far better choice than the pumped and plumped bacon-like products found in supermarkets or any of the supposedly healthy fakin’ bacons from turkey or soy. What we want is good old-fashioned bacon from pastured pigs cured with either salt or a precise amount of sodium nitrite curing salts.
If the idea of nitrite still seems scary, consider this: Ascorbic acid is routinely added to cured meats along with the nitrite in order to promote beneficial nitric oxide formation from nitrite, and to inhibit nitrosation reactions in the stomach that can lead to carcinogenic nitrosamines.23 Bringing alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E) into the mix seems to further prevent occurrence of nitrosamine formation.24,25 Old-fashioned processing, involving leisurely time for curing and smoking, further enhances the conversion of nitrite to the beneficial nitric oxide (NO) molecule. And a growing body of evidence shows nitrates (which are in all plant foods) and nitrites (which we need to produce desirable nitric oxide) can be a very good thing.26,27
So what’s the last word on America’s favorite meat? Indulge bacon lust freely, know that the science is catching up, the media lags behind, and, as usual, our ancestors got it right.
* * * * *
© 2012 Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN. Dr. Daniel is the Naughty Nutritionist™ because of her ability to outrageously and humorously debunk nutritional myths. See Dr. Daniel’s bio and visit her website.
Questions and comments about bacon?!
Endnotes
1. Neuman, Jeannette. Vegetarian Doctors Go Whole Hog to Burn Bacon in Iowa. Wall Street Journal, Feb. 18, 2012, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204792404577227201273665554.html
2. Enig, Mary G. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutriton of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol (Silver Spring, MD, Bethesda Press, 2000. p 135.) Note: Dr Enig’s figures are for the fatty acid composition of lard, not bacon fat, but the percentages should be very close. Percentages of fat may also vary according to the animal’s diet and lifestyle.
3. Koga T, Terao J. Antioxidant Activity of a Novel Phosphatidyl Derivative of Vitamin E in Lard and Its Model System J Ag Food Chem, 1994, 42 (6), 1291–1294. This study looks at lard, but likely applies to bacon fat as well.
4. Daniel, Kaayla T. Save Your Bacon! Sizzling Bits about Nitrites, Dirty Little Secrets about Celery Salt and Other Aporkalyptic News. Posted March 12, 2012. http://www.westonaprice.org/blogs/kdaniel/2012/03/29/save-your-bacon-sizzling-bits-about-nitrites-dirty-little-secrets-about-celery-salt-and-other-aporkalyptic-news/. This article contains a full discussion of Vitamin D in bacon and other pastured animals, including reports in USDA and other databases.
5. The cholesterol debate is thoroughly covered on the Weston A Price Foundation’s website www.westonaprice.org, on Chris Masterjohn’s website www.cholesterol-and-health.com and in Gary Taubes’ excellent book Good Calories, Bad Calories (Knopf, 2007).
6. http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/Media/MediaManager/nitrites_and_nitrates.pdf
7. Ibid.
8. Skovgaard N. Microbiological aspects and technological need: technological needs for nitrates and nitrites Food Addit Contam. 1992 Sep-Oct;9(5):391-7.
9. Pierson MD, Smoot LA. Nitrite, nitrite alternatives, and the control of Clostridium botulinum in cured meats. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1982;17(2):141-87.
10. Jouve JL, Calier V, Rozier J. Antimicrobial effects of nitrates in meat products, [Article in French] Ann Nutr Aliment. 1980;34(5-6):807-26.
11 Christiansen LN, Johnston RW, et al. Effect of nitrite and nitrate on toxin production by Clostridium botulinum and on nitrosamine formation in perishable canned comminuted cured meat. Appl Microbiol. 1973, Mar;25(3):357-62.
12 Hustad GO, Cervey JG et al. Effect of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate on botulinal toxin production and nitrosamine formation in wieners. Appl Microbiol. 1973 Jul;26(1):22-6.
13. Pierson MD, Smoot LA. Nitrite, nitrite alternatives, and the control of Clostridium botulinum in cured meats. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 1982;17(2):141-87
14.. Fiddler W, Pensabene JW. Supercritical fluid extraction of volatile N-nitrosamines in fried bacon and its drippings: method comparison. J AOAC Int. 1996 Jul-Aug;79(4):895-901.
15. Havery DC, Fazio T, Howard JW. Survey of cured meat products for volatile N-nitrosamines: comparison of two analytical methods. IARC Sci Publ. 1978;(19):41-52.
16. Gray JL, Skrypec DJ et al. Further factors influencing N-nitrosamine formation in bacon. IARC Sci Publ, 1984;(57):301-9.
17. Mottram DS, Pattterson RLS et al. The preferential formations of volatile N nitrosamines in the fat of fried bacon. J Sci food Agric 1977 28, 1025-1029.
18. Goutefongea R, Cassens RG, Woolford G. Distribution of sodium nitrite in adipose tissue during curing. J Food Sci, 1977. 42, 1637-1641.
19. Walters CL, Hart Rj, Perse S. 1979. The possible role of lipid pseudonitrosites in nitrosamine formation in fried bacon. Z. Lebensm Unters Forsch , 168, 177-180.
20. Canas BJ, Havery DC et al. Current trends in levels of volatile N-nitrosamines in fried bacon and fried-out bacon fat. J Assoc Off Anal Chem. 1986 Nov-Dec;69(6):1020-1.
21. Daniel, Kaayla T. The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food (Washington DC, New Trends, 2005) 122-126.
22. Hotchkiss JH. Sources of N-nitrosamine contamination in foods. Adv Exp Med Biol 1984;177:287-98.
23. http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/Media/MediaManager/nitrites_and_nitrates.pdf
24. Mergens WJ, Kamm JJ, et al. Alpha-tocopherol: uses in preventing nitrosamine formation. IARC Sci Publ. 1978;(19):199-212.
25. Fiddler W, Pensabene JW et al. Inhibition of formation of volatile nitrosamines in fried bacon by the use of cure-solubilized alpha-tocopherol. J Agric Food Chem. 1978 May-Jun;26(3):653-6.
26. Bryan, Nathan and Janet Zand with Bill Gottlieb. The Nitric Oxide (NO) Solution (Austin, TX, Neogenesis, 2010). Although this popular book does not contain citations, a quick PubMed search will turn up Dr. Bryan’s contribution to at least 88 journal articles, establishing NO benefits.
27. Hord NG, Tang Y, Bryan NS. Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul;90(1):1-10.
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29 Responses to Should we eat bacon and if so what kind?
Your “soy fed animals” are eating GMO soy!!! GMO crops are slowly killing us! If you didn’t raise that pig yourself and slaughter it, then you probably should not eat any pork!! EVER!!!
While I don’t eat pork, I personally seek out “soy-free” for other animal products such as chickens and eggs. See another article by Dr. Daniel: http://www.westonaprice.org/soy-alert/the-soy-ling-of-america-second-hand-soy-from-animal-feeds
There are many savvy farmers today who do not feed their pigs soy at all. Ask the farmer what they feed their animals and have a discussion about soy. Most of them feed soy because the feed is cheaper. If they knew people would buy their products and pay more to get soy-free meat, more farmers would go that way. We have to teach them!
Thank you, Anne! While I don’t eat pork myself, as you know, people in the Bay Area community have told me that they haven’t found any sources of pork or bacon that is soy-free. Terra Firma feeds their pigs soy. Do you know of any sources?!
http://www.feltonacres.com
Thanks, Anne! I see only half hog and whole hog options on their website, so I can’t list them as a ready-made bacon source.
I talked to Tiffani Beckman at Backyard CSA and she said they have not yet found a soy-free source of bacon in the Bay Area, but, are on the lookout – so she recommends the community continue to check back in with them!
http://backyardcsa.com
Hi. I understand that the fat is actually good for us and that we need fats. What I have been told from a couple of my care givers, 1 chiropractor and 2 different naturopathy physicans, the reason we shouldn’t touch pork with a 10 foot pole is the parasites and also that pigs are so close to the human food chain that they contain all the same diseases and mutations us humans do. Do you believe this and by a health stand point wouldn’t it be wise to get our good fats else where? Especially for a person who’s systems are compromised , myself included have struggled with lymes disease and fungal infections for years, would it be best to just say no to pork? Thank you
Dr. Beverly Rubik’s live blood analysis of people eating pork showed the bacon eaters doing very well. http://www.westonaprice.org/cardiovascular-disease/how-does-pork-prepared-in-various-ways-affect-the-blood
Always take care to seek out pastured pork.
you may ask yourself why we can have a pig heart valve and it takes..why pigs are smarter than dogs…and then research a bit farther and you fall down the rabbit hole
US Wellness pork bacon is listed under Good in the WAPF Shopping Guide bc all of the pigs are not pastured. US Wellness beef bacon is under Best.
[…] Should we eat bacon and if so what kind? (nourishingourchildren.wordpress.com) […]
George Olson said it best, not to mention that most Pigs are raised in inhumane conditions and are tortured and suffer so that we can eat ~1/3 or their body, the rest goes to waste!
I will not eat pork unless I know that it was humanely raise and slaughtered.
Have you ever had beef bacon? It’s delicious, and doesn’t have that “piggy” smell that pork bacon does. It’s a bit more pricy, so we only get it as a special treat, but man, it’s so good.
I haven’t tried it but, will look for it!
Morocco, huh? I live in France but I was born and raised there. Have you ever been?
Yes! I visited for 2 weeks in 2005!
[…] fear bacon. I buy bacon from pastured hogs cured in a traditional manner (traditional meaning great grandparents style, not necessarily caveman style, not that I even know what caveman style would be). If I can’t […]
http://chriskresser.com/the-nitrate-and-nitrite-myth-another-reason-not-to-fear-bacon
I have been anti-soy for many years and only consume traditionally fermented soy products in tiny quantities (and eat ZERO processed food). I always sought to avoid eggs, chicken and pork that has been fed soy as well (and pay significantly more for soy-free feeds for my hone-laying flock). However, a recent article by the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association (APPPA) has me wondering. They conducted a feeding trial for soy and soy-free fed broilers and analyzed the isoflavone (phytoestrogen) levels in the meat. Laboratory analysis showed that soy-free rations did not eliminate isoflavones in the meat. One of the farms in the trial pastured their broilers on a clover and legume pasture and samples showed an elevated level of isoflavones, in fact, the levels were higher than the levels recorded for the soy-based feed group on the same farm.
I am far from pro soy, but I do believe much more research needs to be done in this regard as I don’t know any producers that would consider a legume pasture would cause any potential harm (and provide both high-protein and nutrient-dense greens to any grazing animals diet). I would love to see the WAPF get involved in this sort of research in the future.
To clarify, I just think that perhaps the dangers of feeding soy to animals have been exaggerated? Then again, there are probably other dangers to feeding animals soy (even organic/non-gmo) other than isoflavones. I’d like to know more about this topic if anyone can shed some additional light on the subject.
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