Pork, Redeemed?
That's why headlines like 'Cloning May Lead to Healthy Pork' sound just right to health and nutrition journalists-and with news like that, food industry scientists rub their hands with delight.
Industrial Food wants you to believe that eating pork-the most popular meat in the world, despite being shunned by two great religions-will give you a heart attack and that you need them (the wizards of genetic engineering and food chemistry) to fix it for you.
The headline is from The New York Times on March 27, 2006. Like other papers, the Times was upbeat: Researchers have 'created what sounds like a nutritional holy grail: cloned pigs that make their own omega-3 fatty acids, potentially leading to bacon and pork chops that might help your heart.'
The 'healthy' pigs will be genetically engineered and cloned. 'People can continue to eat their junk food,' said one expert, 'You won't have to change your diet, but you will be getting what you need.'
But pork is not junk food. Nor is it bad for your heart. Here's what they don't tell you about pork.
- The fat in pork (and lard and bacon) is mostly unsaturated. That's right; with some variation from the diet of the pig, most of the fat in pork is the unsaturated kind-the one all the experts agree is healthy.
- Most of the unsaturated fat in pork is monounsaturated oleic acid, the same fat in olive oil. Yes, the one that's good for your heart.
- About half the fat in pork is saturated, but saturated fat is not the villain they say it is. The main effect of natural saturated fats is to raise HDL-the so-called 'good' cholesterol. On the virtues of HDL, the National Cholesterol Education Program is clear: 'the higher, the better.'
- In places like Borneo, they eat a traditional diet rich in pork with no ill effects. The fat of wild boar (not the lean meat) is prized for physical, sexual, and spiritual health.
In 1900, lard was the staple fat for American bakers. It's ideal for baking because it's semi-solid at room temperature (which makes a superior, flaky pie crust) and has a neutral flavor. In 1900, when lard and butter were the most popular fats, heart disease was all-but unheard of in the U.S.
There are two kinds of pork to avoid: industrial pigs raised in small boxes with concrete slats for floors and fed antibiotics; and hydrogenated lard. Unlike natural lard, it contains the same deadly trans fats found in margarine and other artificially saturated vegetable oils.
Instead, eat traditional pork, raised without antibiotics in deep straw beds or on forest or pasture. Try pastured pork from your local farmers' market. My local farmer is Flying Pigs Farm. You'll also find natural pork from Niman Ranch in better shops or by mail.
What about omega-3 fats? They are unquestionably good for you. Deficiency of omega-3 fats in the typical American industrial diet leads to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression. It's a fine idea to eat more omega-3 fats; the best source is wild fish. Vegetarians should eat generous quantities of flaxseed oil.
I have another suggestion. Americans should stop eating corn and soybean oil-the main source of omega-6 fats in the diet. What do omega-6 fats have to do with omega-3 fats? The body needs omega-3 fats and omega-6 fats in roughly equal proportions. Yet the typical industrial diet contains 20 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3 fats.
Something is certainly rotten in the typical American diet, but it's not natural pork. Pork does not require redemption by humankind.
You're better off shunning industrial corn in all its forms: corn-fed beef, corn oil, and corn syrup. Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) calls corn the 'keystone species of the industrial food system.' But corn is a topic for another day.
April 2006
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