Cooking With Lard, Yay or Nay?
Hello to our lovely health-conscious community.
One of our listeners reached out to us after listening to our episode on ‘Fats’ to ask, “Is cooking with lard bad?”
Lard is a complex fat. It is primarily a saturated animal fat from pigs, but does contain some monounsaturated fat as well. Saturated fat can increase risk of heart disease cancer and other inflmatory diseases, An important issue with using lard is the quality of most sources available in the grocery store. Often times it is hydrogenated meaning it contains trans fats that are recognized as detremental to health and have been removed from many foods commonly consumed. Animal fat is unfortunately a common source of toxins as mammals store chemicals they are exposed to in fat stores throughout the body.
Lard can be used successfully in many types of cooking. If you wish to use it, I would look for an organic source.
Happy Eating,
Susy
Susy Hymas
Host
Susy Hymas has Bachelor of Science degrees in both Environmental Health and Nutrition. She worked for over 40 years as a Nutrition Educator with a variety of age groups. Her experience ranged from working with families with children in the Head Start Program and Women, Infants and Children's program to the Meals on Wheels program educating Seniors. Her love of healthy food led her to running her own business teaching others how to safely preserve food throughout the Northwest. She taught nutrition and food safety to Culinary students at Bellingham Technical College. She resides in Northwest Washington.
Sweet Tooth, Smarter Choices
