6 Reasons Why You Should Start Eating THIS Food
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After years of being programmed that fats are bad (especially animal fats) it can be hard to come to terms with the fact that lard is a healthy, nourishing source of energy for our bodies.
It's not just a tolerable fat; it's a desirable fat.
Lard's Bad Rap
Lard got a bad reputation because it is high in saturated fats. Do you know how saturated fats got a bad rep? Primarily because of the now-debunked cholesterol hypothesis. The cholesterol hypothesis claimed that saturated fats and dietary cholesterol gunked up your arterial walls which lead to heart disease.
Research has definitively proven that this is not the case.
In fact, there are a number of large scale studies that show animal fats like lard have a positive impact on health and that individuals who consume them have a lower risk of heart disease compared to those who do not consume them.
One of the longest-running and largest health studies ever done, called the Nurses' Health Study, followed more than 80,000 nurses for twenty years. What researchers found was that consumption of saturated fats had no impact on the risk of heart disease, but that the increased consumption of refined starches and sugary foods doubled the risk of heart disease!
6 Reasons to Add Lard to Your Diet
1. Lard is remarkably similar in its fatty acid composition1 to that of human breast milk. Mamas already have the perfect food with the perfect types of fat to nourish Baby. Turns out that this fat just might be a really amazing way to nourish our bodies too!
2. Soothes the Blues. Lard's primary fatty acid is called oleic acid. Several studies have found liberal consumption of oleic acid to helps buffer blue feelings.
3. Vitamin D. Much of the American society is deficient in necessary vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for good health and wellbeing. Those of us who live in the northern states, particularly, have a difficult time getting enough vitamin D as we're cooped up inside all year long. Just 1 Tablespoon of lard contains approximately 1,000 IU's of vitamin D!
4. Hormone Help. How many people do you know that deal with hypothyroidism, adrenal issues like fibromyalgia, or infertility? These are all problems somehow related to the production of hormones in your body. Interestingly, both cholesterol and vitamin D play a vital role in the production and regulation of hormones in the body. Lard is a fantastic source of both of these necessary elements.
5. High-heat Cooking. Because it's naturally hydrogenated it can be heated to very high temperatures without it turning to a trans-fat.
6. It's Yummy! Perhaps the most overlooked benefit of eating lard is that it just tastes great. I was afraid when I first experimented with lard that it would taste like pork. I couldn't imagine why the great pastry chefs of the world preferred lard to Crisco® or butter. It just didn't seem like using pig fat in your pastries was a very good idea.
Imagine how surprised I was to find out that lard has a very mild flavor and is not “piggy” at all!
Where to Buy Quality Lard
Based on the information cited above, you might want to consider including lard in your rotation of healthy, natural fats. But please, whatever you do, don't purchase the lard available in most grocery stores. Purchase your lard from a reputable source that renders lard from healthy animals that are allowed to forage.
Or better yet, make the lard yourself. It's not hard at all and you'll reap the benefits of this nourishing, healthy cooking oil!
Here is one source for healthy lard from pasture-raised pigs with no additives. This lard is another great choice.
{Remember, I am not a doctor and neither is Trisha. So please consult with your physician before taking this or any other changes to your diet. Thanks!
What do you think? Will you start eating lard now?
Trisha Gilkerson is a homeschooling mom to four crazy boys. She blogs with her awesome hubby Luke at Intoxicated on Life where they talk about faith, homeschooling, and health. They've authored the Write Through the Bible curriculum and family Bible Studies and have recently released their first healthy living book – Weeding Out Wheat: A Simple Faith Based Guide.
I have many friends who love pork and anything bacon. For those of us who keep kosher, it’s a no go. Per Chabad.org (a well-respected source) –
Here is a translation of the original Divine command, from Deuteronomy, Chapter 14:8-10:
And the pig, because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall neither eat of their flesh nor touch their carcass.
These you may eat of all that are in the waters; all that have fins and scales, you may eat.
But whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you
Hi Deborah N Lurie,
Yes, I understand how if you keep a kosher why this would be a no-go for you 🙂
If you’re interested in hearing why I believe as a Christian it’s acceptable to eat pork and other foods that are not kosher, I’d encourage you to read the response I wrote above to Rett who also is concerned with keeping a kosher diet.
This sounda like a bunch of PS to me.
We ate lard growing up. My husband’s triglyceride levels became very good when he cut out all of the junky starches and sugars he was eating at work and sticking with just strictly a whole foods diet and many more fruits and vegetables. We don’t eat lard now because he has to avoid beef and pork because of sensitivity to to both of those types of meat. Lard does make the best pie crusts, and my mother used it when she made her bread when I was growing up. I would use it if we were able to use it.
No I do not eat pork anything. I follow a biblical diet. I have come to the realization our God is smarter than we are. He says His Word never changes and neither does He. He tells us not to eat it and I have as yet to find where He says now we can. Especially now that science is catching up to Him and finding all the things pork does to us.
Blessings
Rett
Hi Rett,
I’m glad you are enjoying eating a kosher diet. We have a recipe on our blog for rendering beef tallow if you are interested.
There are a couple responses I disagree with the statements made in your comment. First, I’m unaware of any statement in the Bible that indicates that the reason why God didn’t want us to eat unclean animals is because of health or nutrition. If you are aware of any text, please let me know. I’m not sure if that’s what you means by “science is catching up” to God.
Second, every Christian recognizes that there are many laws from the Torah they do not follow. I know of no Christians that travel to Jerusalem three times a year to sacrifice animals in a temple. I don’t know any Christians that seek out Levites to give tithes to. Every Christian believes in some kind of discontinuity between Old Testament obedience and New Testament obedience: the question is how much discontinuity there is.
Obviously we disagree on this matter. I believe “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:4-5). I believe God called the once kosher Peter to have table fellowship among Gentiles who ate unclean food, and three times gave him a vision of unclean animals, saying, “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15). I believe what Paul said in Romans 14:14: “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.”
I suspect you believe I am taking these verses out of context and am misunderstanding them completely, and if you care to debate the point, I’m game for that. But I have no personal problems with your diet or lifestyle. As Paul says, because you believe some food is unclean, for you it is unclean, and you are right to follow your conscience in this. However, please don’t confuse my position with me thinking I’m “smarter than God.”
Hi Rett. Just wanted to mention a few verses. Here is where God declares all foods as clean. I am not making health claims, but you said that “I have yet to find where he says we now can.”
Read Acts 10.9-15 (where in vs.15 it says, “The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”) and Acts 11.4-10. In vs 9, God says, “‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ”
Read also Mark 7.19 and the verses preceding it. Verse 18 is particularly telling. ““Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)”
I think that makes it clear that the rules from the OT about eating are done away with.
Praise the Lard!
I’ve been collecting and freezing raw and smoked fats from venison and pastured pigs, trying to get enough to render down. I’m trying to keep the different fats separate, which makes it a slow process! My chiropractor just told me to avoid pork for a while to determine if I have low-level gout (as well as shellfish, asparagus and other foods containing purines, which aggravate gout) and while I didn’t think I ate pork that often, once I started thinking about roasts vs ham vs sausage vs bacon grease to cook with, I guess I do! I’m not a happy camper since I can’t cook with bacon fat!
Use beef bacon fat. It’s awesome.
Most grocery store lard from the shelf has trans fats added to make it shelf stable. It is like using animal product crisco. Also you can put up lard like canning to keep longer. Works wonders…I have not done it with lard but have with tallow.
It’s true. Grocery store lard is junk. I store my lard in mason jars in the freezer. It lasts a year or longer that way!
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with lard. In fact, my great grandma used it to make pie crust with. (I believe she thought it was superior to anything else for pie crust, probably biscuits and things too, which of course, you can make gluten free versions of if you’re going gf) Much better than crisco which they have done all kinds of weird things to to make it the way it is. 🙁
I recently was checking out info on lard and came across this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLRgKqvERQ where the woman says lard has only 13 IUs of Vit D. She’s a PhD and got it from a USDA listing (not that either one of those things makes it true…). I guess my question is, what is your source for saying it’s so high in Vit D? Thanks. 🙂
Hi Lynda,
I should have clarified in my post, that SOME lard has up to 1000 IU’s of Vitamin D per Tablespoon. This woman you heard is right too. Most of the lard commercially available (the stuff you see in tubs in your grocery store) has just 13 IU’s of Vitamin D a day, or even less. Pigs need to be raised outside and allowed to pasture in order to produce optimal levels of Vitamin D. It can also vary depending on what area of the world they live in. The information on Vitamin D levels of free range pigs I garnered from a number of different reputable sources including literature from the Weston A Price Foundation and other sources that focus on traditional and whole foods. Hope that helps to clarify!
Yes it does, thank you so much!! That’s a mystery I’ve needed revealed. 🙂
So I already bought grocery-store lard to season my cast-iron pans. OK to use it?
Also, when I rendered some homemade lard, I wasn’t sure how long it would last in the fridge. Also, does it taste clean enough to use in pastry?
Thanks for this article!
It is probably OK to use just to season your pans with, but I wouldn’t use it in cooking. Homemade lard will last at least 3 months in the fridge. Actually, I store mine in mason jars in the freezer and just pull them when I need them. Lard should last a year or more in the freezer. THe first renderings would be perfect in pastries as they don’t have even a hint of piggy flavor to them. Later renderings I’d save for other uses. Hope that helps!
Okay, Trisha, I’m confused. You say to use it at the top, but you say “I wouldn’t use it in cooking” here? How do you suggest it be used?
She means, use homemade, fresh lard from healthy animals in cooking. If you happen to have some store bought lard laying around don’t consume it -use it to season pans or toss.