Lard. The benefits and harms of pork lard. Salty lard

Is lard good or bad?
For centuries, neither the Russians, nor the Poles, nor the Anglo-Saxons could do without lard, and many people still associate the inhabitants of Ukraine exclusively with this product. They ate it with bread, used it to snack on alcohol, and fried and stewed it. To dream about lard was considered a good omen: to wealth and health. In general, lard did not take root only in hot eastern countries, and even then only due to rapid spoilage. However, the modern fashion for thin young ladies has elevated low-calorie diets to a cult, and any fat, especially animal fat, has been placed on the “forbidden” list. Lard disappeared from our tables and began to acquire monstrous legends. Today we will look at the myths about the dangers of lard and find out how true they are.

Fat makes you fat
They get better not from fat, but from its quantity! You can get fat from the healthiest oatmeal, if you eat it in bags. If you lead a normally sedentary or so lifestyle, you should have 10-30 grams of lard per day. If you are already obese and are prescribed low calorie diet- no more than 10 g per day.
Distinguish “true” lard - subcutaneous fat, directly with the skin - from similar products. Bacon, neck, etc. - not subcutaneous, but intramuscular fat. Moreover, together with protein, that is, meat, such a mixture is no longer so good. The healthiest lard is simply salted, with garlic or pepper. It’s good and smoked, but only “at home”, with smoke. At meat processing plants, lard, brisket and other pork delicacies are smoked in liquid, and this is not comme il faut; the properties of the product do not change for the better.
Lard is a heavy food
Not really. In a healthy person with normal stomach real lard is very well digested and does not overload the liver. In general, the most valuable fats for us are those that melt at our body temperature, i.e. about 37.0. They are digested and absorbed more completely and faster than all others. Their list is headed by lard.
But, of course, lard, like any fat, requires bile and lipases (special substances in the stomach and intestines) for its digestion. Therefore, if there are disturbances in the production of bile and saponification of fats, doctors do not recommend eating it.
Lard is all fat
And great! Because this is a magnificent structure - subcutaneous fat, in which cells are preserved and biologically active substances.
For example, the most valuable of fatty acids is polyunsaturated arachidonic acid. It occurs very rarely, in vegetable oils she doesn't exist at all. There is no way to live without her. Arachidonic acid is part of all cell membranes and is needed by the heart muscle. In addition, hormones, immune reactions and cholesterol metabolism cannot function without it.
There are other irreplaceable fatty acids(they are called vitamin F) - linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, oleic. In terms of their content, by the way, lard is close to vegetable oils. Don't forget about fat soluble vitamins A (there is up to 1.5 mg per 100 g), D, E, as well as carotene. As a result, the biological activity of lard is 5 times higher than that of oil. So in winter, “pork product” is just what is needed to maintain vitality and immunity.
That terrible cholesterol
Yes, it is present here, but even less than in cow butter. And there is nothing wrong with it. Do you think it will immediately begin to be deposited on the walls of the arteries and atherosclerosis will begin? Nothing of the kind! Doctors have long established that the amount of cholesterol in the blood and tissues depends little on how much you eat. This substance is perfectly synthesized even if you don’t eat it at all. Therefore, cholesterol metabolism is much more important: what the body receives, how much it makes and how it uses it.
By the way, arachidonic, linoleic and linoleic fatty acids “clean” blood vessels from deposits. So a small piece of lard with vitamin F is only beneficial in preventing atherosclerosis. And the cholesterol present in it will go, for example, to create immune cells(lymphocytes and macrophages), saving the body from viruses and other pathogenic enemies. Even intelligence is nowhere without cholesterol - there is more than 2% of it in the brain.
Healthy fat
Fat should account for approximately 30% of your daily calories. (Please note: do not eat 30% fat, but get 30% of all energy from it.) Simply put - 60-80 g per day. And among them, only a third are vegetable fats. We need 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids, 30% saturated, and as much as 60% monounsaturated. This ratio of acids is found in: yes, lard, as well as peanut and olive oils.
Fried lard is harmful
Yes, when frying, lard loses some of its beneficial properties and acquires toxins and carcinogens. But vegetable oils behave no better. As soon as you heat them for a short time, they suddenly stop being absorbed. But heated lard, on the contrary, is absorbed better than cold or hot-fried lard. So the solution is simple: do not fry the lard until it turns into cracklings, but heat it over low heat.
With bread? No way!
Paradox: lard with bread is just what the doctor ordered! An amazing natural combination in which both products are perfectly absorbed. Of course, we do not mean donut buns, but grain bread, made from wholemeal flour or with the addition of bran. Of course this is for healthy people who do not suffer from obesity and digestive problems.
When losing weight, don’t forget about lard: it is an excellent source of energy. Diet option- eat lard with vegetables, for example, cabbage. You can have a bite, or you can make a hodgepodge with it, just don’t overcook it.
But it’s really not worth putting gastronomic joys like bacon on bread. In general, when losing weight, they are allowed in microscopic quantities - about 5 g. But this is quite enough to add flavor to, for example, the duty stewed cabbage, carrots or beets.
Better with vodka
This is the honest truth - lard is a wonderful companion to alcohol. Mainly because it doesn't allow you to get drunk quickly. Fatty lard envelops the stomach and does not allow the high-grade drink to be immediately absorbed there. Of course, alcohol will still be absorbed, but later, in the intestines, and gradually.
Alcohol, for its part, helps to quickly digest fat and break it down into components. By the way, it is absolutely not necessary to use lard with vodka, that is, with vodka! It tastes much better with a glass of dry red wine.
Salted pork lard
"How more natural fat, the better!” Salted lard perfectly meets this requirement of modern dietetics.
If the lard is soft, oily, and spreads out, it means that the pig was overfed with corn. If the lard is hard, it means the pig sat hungry for a long time. And the most delicious and dense lard is obtained if the animal ate “pig-like” - acorns.
The most useful lard is 2.5 cm under the skin.
A piece of lard is a wonderful “snack” working hours. It is well absorbed, does not overload the liver and provides as much as 9 kcal of energy per 1 g of product. This is much healthier than even the most expensive sausage, bun or pies.

Lard is classified as traditional products not only Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, but also many European countries. There is reason to consider Italy to be the birthplace of this product, where it has been used in food for several thousand years. Many people believe that apart from pleasure, salted lard cannot bring us any benefit. Some even call it harmful, since lard is nothing more than pure animal fat.

Only lard is used for human consumption. To salt it you need large number large table salt, sometimes lard is rubbed with crushed lard, which gives it a wonderful taste and aroma. If there are streaks of meat in the lard, then in our country it is called brisket, and in Western countries bacon.

Moderate consumption of lard is not harmful to health.

Most scientists who have studied the composition of lard and the effect of the substances included in it on the body have come to the conclusion that this product can be useful, but only if it is very moderate consumption and in the absence of certain diseases.

Animal fat consists of 97% saturated fatty acids and fatty acids, which are a source of energy for the body; they are necessary for the synthesis of hormones, including testosterone, and the normal absorption of many substances. However, it also contains beneficial unsaturated fatty acids, most of which are linoleic acid.

Salted lard has a pronounced choleretic effect and stimulates the production of pancreatic juice, so a small piece at the beginning of the meal will have positive influence for digestion.

The benefits of consuming a small amount of this product are evidenced by the fact that during Soviet Union The daily menu of members of the CPSU Central Committee included a piece of lard (50 g). Doctors who monitored the health of the country's top officials believed that bacon was good for brain activity.

Harm of lard

Of course, much more can be said about the dangers of salted lard than about its benefits, however, it should be understood that this is only relevant if it is abused. It is not recommended for an adult to consume more than 30 g of lard per day.

The harm of salted lard is primarily associated with its fat content and calorie content. 100 g of this product with a meat layer contains about 770 kcal, and the “pure” product contains more than 840 kcal, so it is not recommended to use it if you have fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Regular abuse of lard can lead to obesity, increased blood cholesterol levels and development.

Excessive consumption of lard increases the level of fats in the blood, which leads to a decrease in insulin production and, as a result, to an increase in sugar levels. That is why in case of diabetes, lard can be consumed rarely and in very small quantities.

Eating salted lard may adversely affect the course of cardiovascular diseases. Fatty product can lead to high cholesterol levels, and salt contributes to high blood pressure.

Tallow is a subcutaneous fat reserve formed in the body of a pig. It should not be confused with intermuscular (bacon) and visceral fats, which have a slightly different structure and properties. Lard provides human body energy, vitamins and mineral compounds. Contains fatty acids that strengthen immune system and prevent the occurrence of inflammation.

Chemical composition

Chemical composition of lard:

• up to 90-95% fat (10% polyunsaturated, 30% saturated and 60% monounsaturated fatty acids);
• lecithin;
• cholesterol;
• a small amount of proteins and carbohydrates;
• vitamins A, E and D;
• a wide range of microelements and some other biologically active substances (including antioxidants);
• fatty acids - oleic, linolenic, palmitic and linoleic, collectively called vitamin F;
• An essential polyunsaturated fatty acid is arachidonic acid (a rare compound not found in vegetable oils).

Structure of fatty acids included in the composition of this product, is the most optimal for the human body (a similar structure can only be found in olive and peanut oils).

Exceptionally high concentration chemicals contained in lard, making this product five times more biologically valuable than beef fat or butter.

Useful properties

Arachidonic acid in lard:

• improves brain function, stimulating mental activity;
• has a beneficial effect on the condition of the kidneys;
• participates in the formation of certain hormones, is integral part enzymes necessary for the functioning of the heart muscle.

Together with lecithin, it is part of cell membranes and participates in cholesterol metabolism, improving blood composition and clearing blood vessels of cholesterol plaques.

Complexly affecting the body, fatty acids, antioxidants, microelements and vitamins in lard:

• help improve immunity, remove toxins and heavy metals;
• alleviate the course of diseases of the respiratory system;
• prevent the formation of cancer cells.

Eating subcutaneous pork fat activates bile secretion, preventing the appearance of sand and stones in gallbladder; normalizes work healthy liver; relieves problems with stool.

Benefits for men: the product contains selenium, necessary for the synthesis of male sex hormones. Its use improves potency and reproductive function.

Benefits for women: Vitamins A and E in lard help maintain the beauty of skin, nails and hair.

Which lard should you prefer?

The following aspects should be paid attention to:

• It is recommended to purchase lard from fresh. The age of something already saline can be difficult to determine, and when long-term storage even salted lard loses its beneficial properties.
• It is also best to eat fresh product. But when there is no way to keep it fresh, salting it at home will help out. You can also give preference to pickled lard; in terms of its beneficial properties, it is in no way inferior to salted lard.
• The nutritional value increases when subcutaneous pork fat is heated, so consuming lard can benefit the body even more than consuming a fresh product. Making rendered lard at home is even easier than salting or marinating it.
• Boiled lard will not be as healthy. During the cooking process, most of the biologically active substances are destroyed.
• Fried food will only cause harm.
• Home-smoked lard great harm will not benefit the body. From time to time you can treat yourself to a piece or two of this delicacy. But from smoked to industrial conditions It is better to avoid the delicacy, since such smoking is carried out not with smoke, but by immersing the raw material in a chemical solution.

How to eat lard correctly

For health, it is recommended for an adult to eat no more than 10-30 grams of lard every day. It all depends on how much energy a person uses every day. At sedentary work in a warm office, 10 grams of product per day will be more than enough. And with hard physical labor in the cold, even a slight increase in the above norm is unlikely to do any harm. The maximum weekly portion is no more than 100 grams (this amount of product contains about 800 calories).

It's best to eat a couple of tasty morsels in the morning. This will help energize your body for the day ahead. It is very useful to eat lard along with garlic, pepper and black bread. But you shouldn’t eat it with white bread; such a breakfast can only lead to weight gain. extra pounds. An excellent side dish for this product are vegetables.

This product supplies animal fat to the human body, and up to today The benefits and harms of lard for the health of adults and children are discussed by nutritionists and doctors.

There are both supporters of the use of such pork and ardent opponents of its use. Despite all the controversy, the product is very popular and loved in the country.

A little bit of history

IN Ancient Rome this product was eaten by slaves. For them it was cheap and nutritious food. And the peasants who lived in Rus', since the 18th century, ate mainly lard. Ever since the beginning of the Mongol pig invasions, dating back to livestock, were not considered a tribute. At that time, such food was almost the only type of meat. What in reality, is such a food product really needed? What are the benefits and harms of lard for humans, in what form can it be eaten and how much?

Composition, calorie content, nutritional value

This product is called internal fat or nutritional reserve accumulated by an animal under the skin: in the abdominal region, near the kidneys . Pork lard contains a number of useful to people components:

Most important role the product contains fatty arachidonic acid polyunsaturated acid. It has a positive effect on the functioning of the brain and heart, kidneys, leads to normalization of blood counts, and removes harmful excess cholesterol. Thus, doctors, knowing about the rare properties of lard, often advise patients who have high cholesterol, eat a small piece of lard (salted) every day, which helps normalize cholesterol deposits in the body.

In this case, you can add garlic to the portion., which is also useful in increasing cholesterol, it increases the effect of the effect. Among other fatty acids with beneficial properties, pork fat includes: linoleic, stearic, linolenic, oleic, palmitic acid. Total quantity acids in the fat layer reaches 39 g and biological activity the product is six times larger than butter.

Lecithin present in fat has a beneficial effect on the vascular and cellular systems of the body, making them stronger and more elastic. The product has a high calorie content: 100 g contains 902 kcal. Energy value it consists in the amount of fat (93 g) and protein (more than 1 g).

Types and benefits of lard

This product can be prepared salted, pickled, boiled, smoked, or fried. It is useful to eat salted or pickled lard. The rest of its varieties are useless for health, and sometimes even harmful. Although harm is a relative concept.

For example, an integral part of the fat layer is pork skin, its benefits and harms in one case lie in its composition rich in valuable components, in the other - fried foods are unhealthy, but when cooked in fat, they release 5 times less harmful substances than when frying in vegetable oil. The subcutaneous fat layer of an animal accumulates substances with high physiological activity.

Their value lies in the following:

What are the benefits of the product for women?

Ordinary lard will help women maintain their attractiveness, despite its increased calorie content. This is due to the fact that the product contains unsaturated acids break down rather than store fats. Daily use small amounts of the product will reduce your waistline. And at the same time, the body has enough nutrition to stock up on energy. The presence of selenium in the product, powerful antioxidant, allows you to remove free radicals from the body, prevents its aging.

Pregnant and nursing mothers can consume this fat to their benefit. The components it contains help preserve and restore their strength. Smart female body To facilitate this process, it creates fat accumulations in moderate quantities, which lard helps perfectly with.

Due to the presence of acids in it (linoleic, palmitic, oleic), it maintains hormonal background, the fetus develops normally, amniotic fluid is formed.

Benefits for men

Often, lard serves as a tasty and necessary snack for men. However, it also has useful properties. So, a piece of salsa eaten before the meal alcoholic drink, significantly reduces the level of intoxication. Selenium by increase male power the body is even compared to Viagra. For severe physical work a small fatty piece will give a man more strength than a piece of meat or a sandwich (with butter). This quality allows the product to be included in the menu of athletes.

Benefits for children

To this day, this issue remains controversial. Salo, like fish oil, useful for the child. It's all about the amount that a child can eat without causing damage to his health. Even a one-year-old baby will not be harmed by lard if consumed in small quantities. Children should be given no more than 15 g per day. It is better to introduce this product into the menu for children older than 2 years.

At such a time, their body is adapted to assimilate various foods. At the salo positive impact on the child’s body, his gastrointestinal tract. It is better for children to take the product from trusted points of sale to prevent children from becoming infected with helminths. For the same reason, lard is boiled for children. For a child, it is preferable to choose lard. To obtain it, you need to slowly melt the lard until fat forms. The most useful components for lard, concentrated from the lard skin at a distance of 25 mm.

To whom should the product be restricted?

The main thing to remember when consuming lard is to keep it in moderation. Considering that this delicious food, you still can’t overeat it. People should be careful when taking lard:

• overweight;
• with diseases of the pancreas and urinary tract;
• metabolic disorders;
• With diabetes mellitus, in which you should not eat spicy, salty foods.

Daily intake

Teenagers can eat no more than 50 g of lard per day. For adults, product consumption rates depend on a number of circumstances:

What do you eat lard with?

It goes well with vegetables. Fried pieces of the product will perfectly complement potatoes, omelette, rice porridge, and buckwheat. If lard is overcooked, the resulting greaves contain carcinogens and are of no benefit to the body. Lard is used for baking, frying meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and other products. It makes delicious potatoes. Harmful components will not be released, because if you follow the instructions for preparing lard and melt it slowly, the lard will not burn.

Garlic is added to lard and the resulting mixture is used to spread on sandwiches, adding spices, herbs, and nuts. People who want to reduce their weight should not eat lard in combination with potatoes and bread.

How to choose the right product?

To purchase a tasty and healthy product, you need to choose it correctly. Fresh goods are usually bought at the market. It is good if the seller is the owner of the animal whose fat is being sold. This means that you can obtain comprehensive information regarding pig feed, on which the quality of lard directly depends.

When choosing, you should pay attention to the presence of a special mark on the product, veterinary certificate. The freshness of the product is determined by its pinkish or white tint. Pink lard indicates that during slaughter the pig was not drained of blood, which then penetrated into the fat layers.

Lard storage

A fresh product, without loss of beneficial properties and taste, can be stored in the refrigerator for about 10 days, in the freezer - up to 4 months. When smoked, the product lasts in the refrigerator for up to six months, and in the freezer compartment for a year or more. When storing lard inside an airtight glass container, its shelf life in the refrigerator will be approximately 3 years. Salted lard can be kept in a cold place for up to a month, and frozen for up to a year.

The use of fat in treatment and cooking

This product as folk remedy has been used since ancient times. They treat:

• various colds;
• trauma, inflammation;
• sore joints (arthritis);
• mastitis in nursing mothers;
• toothache;
• eczema, conditions after operations, serious illnesses, spurs on the heels, for which they prepare medicinal tincture from lard, celandine juice, egg white, nightshade herbs.

Gastrointestinal fat

Internal (internal) has long proven itself to be good pork fat, used for cough. The use of fat does not cause side effects and allergies. By the way, they use visceral fat other representatives of animals and birds. Fat has a looser structure than lard, so it can crumble easily. If you melt it, you get pork fat. It can be cooked into food and used for healing.

Lamb fat

To make it, you need to render raw lamb (sheep) lard. It has a peculiar smell, which is why the product is not very popular among Europeans. And among the peoples of Central Asia, such fat is an integral part of the national cuisine. The benefits and harms of lamb fat lie in the fact that this fat is valuable substances and balanced composition are considered more useful than many other fats.

Beef fat

This type of fat is very beneficial for the body due to its composition., although it is not very popular. Previously, candles were made from it, filled lamps, and used as a smear. What is the benefit of beef fat now, what to do with it? This fat has found its use in the production of soap, cosmetology, medicine, cooking for cookies, preparing meat, vegetables and other dishes.

Whether to eat lard or not is up to the individual to decide and it depends on his taste. You should not refuse because the product is harmful. It is empowering and useful. You just need to know when to stop and take into account contraindications for using such a product.

As it says folk wisdom “People get fat not from lard, but from the amount of it”.
And they also say that - “Pork lard with bread is just what the doctor ordered”. But, you need black and grain bread, made from flour or with bran.

When did you learn about the benefits of lard?

Since then, when people understood how to store meat, they noticed what benefits and value of lard. European peoples and the same former Europeans, who migrated to other continents, are very fond of lard and have been eating it smoked, salted, boiled and fried for many centuries. From old times pork lard takes pride of place in the diet of rural residents, especially when there were no traces of refrigerators.

The consumption of lard by our ancestors - that is, by non-Muslim peoples (Muslims eat only sheep lard) increased sharply in those centuries when nomadic raids on Rus' began. “Representatives” from such nomadic tribes took livestock and people, and only left pigs alone - because on their short legs the pigs couldn't move fast enough. So lard always helped the villagers out, and there was also lard is tasty and healthy. In Rus', any feast would not be complete without it. And after the same feasts they noticed that lard cures hangovers! To date, official and not official medicine recognized the benefits of lard for people different ages . And this is only lard, unlike the lard of other animals.

Harm of lard

You will get the greatest benefit if you eat lard salted or with pepper and garlic. But shining example When lard is harmful:
Americans and British eat intramuscular fat with neck or bacon and that's why they get fat;
Germans eat boiled lard with the same potatoes, which also doesn’t help your figure.

The benefits of lard

It should be noted that arachidonic acid, which necessary for the body human, found only in pork lard and is not contained in any other vegetable oils. Judging by the composition of substances that are beneficial to humans, lard is an indispensable product to improve immunity and maintain overall vitality, especially in cold seasons. Only seal fat can compare with lard; by the way, it is quite similar in composition.

Is lard good or bad?

Someone reports that lard is completely useless, that it contains only bad cholesterol and other nasty things... Other people, saying completely the opposite, defend the Ukrainian folk delicacy with their breasts.

Myth one: lard does not contain beneficial vitamins

Absolutely untrue. You shouldn’t pay attention to this, lard contains many vitamins, even something as rare as vitamin F (unsaturated fatty acids). This vitamin strengthens blood vessels body and helps to completely get rid of atherosclerosis. Selenium, found in lard, prevents the formation cancer cells and helps increase potency. After all, this product was called “Ukrainian Viagra” for a reason!

Myth two: eating lard in the morning is undesirable

Salo is much better olive oil helps expel bile from the liver, therefore it is especially useful to eat at least a piece in the morning raw lard seasoned with onion, garlic and much more (everyone has their own taste). With the help of this useful product, the bile accumulated in the liver overnight will be quickly removed, cleansing your body. After an hour you can eat. Most of all, lard is recommended for people who have crossed the 50-year mark.

Myth three: lard is not healthy because it contains a lot of cholesterol.

Of course, there is enough cholesterol there. Is this bad? No! After all, there is also enough lecithin, which has a great effect on membranes, giving strength to the membranes of blood vessels, preventing the occurrence of such a terrible disease as atherosclerosis. The amount of lecithin in lard outweighs the amount of cholesterol, so it is safe and beneficial. If it were the other way around, it might be harmful. Dairy products and eggs also contain quite a lot of lecithin, which, in addition, has benefits for the brain and mental activity. Therefore, people engaged in mental work simply cannot do without it!! Moreover, fresh lard is better than smoked or otherwise processed lard. This is due to the fact that prolonged heating leads to the oxidation of lecithin, which, in turn, leads to the fact that its beneficial effect on the blood vessels of your body is sharply reduced.