I made my first bacon last week and loved it so much I bought another 10lb slab of pork belly to turn into more bacon. Also yesterday my early 30s slim husband tested for high cholesterol (runs in his family) and his doctor prescribed him a statin drug to help his cholesterol.
Is there a way to lower the saturated fats in bacon? I assume homemade is "healthier" than store bought, but I know he'll have to limit himself. Can i cook it in a way to lower the fat, like a george foreman or something? I normally fry it up in a cast iron, but sometimes use the over method. I'm going to feel guilty if I eat all this bacon without him, but I love bacon.
by Pr1zonMike
27 Comments
Hmmm. I don’t see how bacon can be reduced…
I took have high cholesterol, and it’s hereditary. I just have to barely eat any and it’s probably better that I avoid it altogether.
As a substitute for bacon- i have found just about any kind of pork works. I like making “bacon” with tenderloins. Cut into bite-sized pieces and fry it up. Smoke lower temps <200F til approx 145-165 and youre done.
Cholesterol runs in my family too, Polaks eat something called SMALEC (essentially just rendered fat with salt/pep some sauteed onions and and crispy bits spread on a nice piece of bread and eat with a pickle). My doctor told me butter is the worst of it all over meat fats and to (eat less fat in general) but eat way less butter
I don’t think you’re going to get medical advice here. The relationship of dietary cholesterol and fats and other dietary inputs and various conditions (e.g. liver function, gut microbiome, etc.) with blood cholesterol seems to me to be very complex.
Talk w/ the Dr. but you could try an experiment where you go to the “full healthy” diet for a while and see where the blood test results land, and then try 1 month introducing bacon in limited amounts and see if it goes back up.
You might hear about how apparently pigs fed on certain diets (e.g. foraging acorns vs. corn) are less bad (e.g. less inflammatory or whatever), and perhaps that’s true, but it’s so complex to put such claims into context vs. all of the other factors. That’s why the Dr. is there.
If you wanted to try to make a “healthy” bacon you could try making it with a lower nitrite and salt concentration, and use that quality pork (if you can find it). Also simply use it in smaller quantities.
Not trying to get into a nutrition war or anything but cholesterol is painted as a boogeyman based off flawed observational science. Just don’t go crazy with high carb, high fat meals and you will be okay.
[Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2824152/)
Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.
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Stains are a whole other can of worms you need to look into. When you look at the actual data, statins extend life expectancy a whopping 3-4 days after years of continued use. This does not account for the numerous potential side effects associated with them.
Cut out the garbage carbs and process foods if cholesterol is a concern. It’s not naturally occurring foods(animal foods) that are detrimental to his health.
you can make “buckboard bacon” out of a pork shoulder. Done it many times. Cut the bone out and cure just as you would a slab of belly bacon. The good part is that pork shoulder is much less fatty than belly bacon. The result is kind of a cross between bacon and ham with a lot less grease. It is very good and one of our family’s favorites.
Long story short, the fat/lipid hypothesis is wrong. Carbs and sugar are what raise lipids.
I have a bachelors in nutrition. Pork is probably one of the worst things for someone with high cholesterol because of its high fat content. Homemade or store bought won’t really make that much of a difference. I’ve seen a device with which you hang bacon, place it in a microwave, and fat drips off of it which would help. Limit how often and how much he eats bacon. Also if he’s not doing any cardio exercises, doing so would help and hopefully get him back to a position where he can enjoy more bacon.
If he’s taking a statin he can eat a fair amount of bacon and still have good numbers.
Not medical advice, but I can tell you anecdotally what helped me…
I cut carbs (breads, soda, candy, cereal) and reduced my drinking and brought down my triglycerides to healthy levels. Didn’t touch my meat/egg intake.
LDLs aren’t all bad either, only the very dense ones which can cause plaques in your arteries. See here: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bad-cholesterol-it-s-not-what-you-think-flna1c9442109
devils in the dose, unless your fully fat adapted you basically can only eat a piece or two a day and fit it into a balanced diet. Fat is the easiest thing to overeat. what 99% of people overeat. Even if your totally fat adapted (keto) youll need a time for you to heal the inflamattory damage of overeating fat.
Turkey bacon
This is literally the last sub on earth to look for heart healthy eating tips. You would be better off going to r/candy to get tips for diabetes.
Been on statins for well over a decade and although i enjoy me some smokey bacon every now and then i did cut back to an occasional indulgence. But home bacon is way better than store bought due to the absence of added extra sodium and nitrate as high lipid and coupled with high blood pressure is recipe for stroke. So keep smoking em and have him taper off to say weekly consumption?
Are you sure your husband didn’t test for high cholesterol due to the bacon y’all have been eating for a week? Lol
I just started the carnivore diet. Bacon is going to be a staple
You could try back bacon, has less fat in general and still tastes good just not as good as belly bacon
That avocado toast is why Millennials are poor. Not in general. That specific avocado toast on your plate. You’ve doomed us all.
Damn you!!! Just when I cut out salt and pork from my diet, you bring me this??!!? Can you coat the next one with a brown sugar glaze please? I would like my hypertension to keep company with my diabetes…
P. S. Going to iHop now. I have a coupon…
The body _produces its own cholesterol_ to repair damage done to arterial walls. What causes that damage? Typically, sugar / carbs. Cut carbs and the numbers should improve.
The cholesterol in bacon does not magically make its way into the arteries.
Statin drugs are effective at lowering numbers but not at extending lives. Unfortunately, it seems most doctors get about one afternoon’s worth of training in nutrition versus years and years of what pills to push. They reach for the prescription pad as the solution to any condition.
I recommend Dr. Lustig as a good place for a nutrition based approach to cholesterol management. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3rsNCFNAw8&ab_channel=Levels
I would find a microwave tray where when the grease renders it all drips away from the meat. Unlike pan frying doesn’t cook in the fat. When your done cooking and it’s cooled, unlike pan cook bacon it’s dry to the touch. Comes out out thinner and drier than pan cooked but still delicious….
I don’t know if its any healthier but my favorite bacon is cooked on my smoker or even the gas grill sometimes. I feel like its got to be at least slightly better than marinating in its own grease in a pan. I just toss it right on the grates and keep the cooking temps moderate to avoid grease fires. Not so different than the oven but lets the grease drip off.
I tried using a pork loin once instead of a pork belly. I cut it in half lengthwise, cured and cold smoked. When I sliced it, I cut it diagonally to get long strips.
It was more like ham vs bacon. I’m going to try different cuts of meat but I haven’t had a chance yet.
I love smoked meat but understand red, cured, smoked fatty meat is as far from healthy as it gets lol
How about just limit frequency and quantity? There are also leaner cuts from a pig you can make bacon with
It’s pork belly. It’s high in saturated fat. Homemade doesn’t change that.
The good news is that if he’s not overweight, diet is not going to have a major impact on cholesterol. Statins will be far more significant.
As a genetic high cholesterol person, your husband needs to be limiting his saturated fat intake to no more than 10g per day. He needs to read every label because 10g is not much. There is no way to do that without completey cutting out dairy and red meats. Bacon definitely not as it’s literally fat. I would suggest a cheat day once a month where everything goes to stay sane. One can only eat so much quniua and chickpeas.
If your doctor is telling you to cut out saturated fat to lower cholesterol, I’d get a new doctor.