@orgon said in Managing (pork) bacon:
I see no one dares weigh in on this controversial topic. The sheeple are winning.
Context
Why we shouldn't eat bacon at breakfast every morning.
First when there is an inappropriate amount of a nutrient / additive / kind of macronutrient / electrolyte / etc., it becomes more complicate to reach a balance at the next meal.
We’re talking about lard, without additives (nitrites). Not called "bacon", here in Belgium, since most of the bacon is smoked and overloaded with salt and additives.
Type of bacon
American breakfast bacon is traditionally smoked bacon, although it can be eaten in other forms. Most bacon sold in strips is salted and smoked for strong flavor. However, there is also unsmoked thin bacon (often called "English bacon").
Unlike some other versions, it is almost always smoky and often crispier (thin and easy to become crispy, so heavily cooked).
On the other hand, if it is a slice of 'bacon' (pork belly) half a cm thick, unsalted and unsmoked, it is already better.
Better but not if it’s every day. Why?
Pig's food
The pork is often “fed” with soybean meal or corn cobs. Or with flour containing these 2 elements and finely ground remains, not noble / not usable elsewhere. With additives.
The inability of the pig to convert PUFAs into SFAs. So meat is unbalanced in terms of fatty acids.
Pay attention to the quality chain
When a pig is stressed before slaughter (transport), it produces excess corticosteroid hormones, which changes the texture of the meat. Not only the texture. See this RP article.
Useful info
Meat physiology, stress, and degenerative physiology. raypeat.com
Excerpt
Before the slaughtered animal is put into the soaking solution to gain a specific amount of weight, the animal has almost always been treated in ways that cause it to go to slaughter in a state of massive edema. Even before the meat is soaked, the animal has been treated to maximize its water retention..
Muscle physiologists and endocrine physiologists know that fatigue, stress and excess estrogen can cause the tissues to swell hugely, increasing their weight and water content without increasing their protein content.
There are many ways to increase the water content of meat, besides feeding estrogen to the animal and soaking the meat after slaughter. Everything that causes water retention and tissue swelling in the living animal, that is, every kind of stress, fatigue, poisoning, malnutrition and injury, will make the animal gain weight, without consuming expensive nutritious food. Crowding, fright, and other suffering increase water retention and accelerate the breakdown of fats and proteins.
Additional info
Pigs can't convert PUFA into C16 like cows or beef.
Pigs cannot efficiently convert polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) into saturated fatty acids (like palmitic acid, C16:0) the way ruminants (cows, sheep, goats) can.
Here’s a thorough explanation, with help of AI.
Ruminants (cows, sheep):
Their stomach microbiota — especially in the rumen — hydrogenate unsaturated fats. This process, called bio-hydrogenation, converts most dietary PUFAs into saturated fats (mainly stearic acid, C18:0). That’s why beef and butter are rich in saturated fats even when the animal eats mostly unsaturated plant fats.
Pigs (monogastric animals):
Pigs lack the rumen and its hydrogenating bacteria. Therefore, their fatty acid profile largely reflects their diet.
o If they eat soybean or corn (high in linoleic acid, omega-6 PUFA), their body fat becomes high in PUFA.
o They can synthesize some saturated and monounsaturated fats (e.g., palmitic and oleic acids) from carbohydrates, but they don’t hydrogenate dietary PUFAs.
So yes — pigs cannot convert PUFA to saturated fats (like C16 or C18) the way cows do. The fatty acid composition of pork therefore depends heavily on what the pig is fed.
