Is pork unhealthy?

[concordeer]

Too many older relatives tell me don't eat alot of pork because it will affect your health. Is this true? In comparison to beef?

 

[chef jimmyj]

 For 35+ years the Pork Counsel has pushed and succeeded in creating, " The Other White Meat ", breeding whiter, leaner and more tasteless Hogs. The only meat worth a damn is Shoulders, Butts and Belly's because they, by nature, are fattier than the rest of the cuts. Everything else needs to be Cured or Marinated to have any taste. 

Meanwhile the Beef producer's are making Bank, selling Extra Fatty Certified Black Angus, Prime Beef and the wonderful tasting fat laden, juicy and tender Wagyu. All at a super premium price!

Don't sweat all the health nut nonsense about this or that is no good for you. Combine and vary foods consuming a balanced diet and in the immortal words of the great Andrew Zimmern..." If it taste good, Eat It! "...JJ

 

[noboundaries]

Interesting question.  Close to fightin' words around here.

Lots of old associations with pork due to religion, cultures, and previous incidents of trichinosis.  Nowadays, trichinosis has been virtually eliminated in commercial food chain for pigs.  Home grown pigs have a much higher incidence of trichinosis.

There's all kinds of stuff on the Internet about pork and whether it is healthy or not.  About the only study I found interesting was the study of how red blood cells acted when eating fresh pork compared to marinated or cured pork.  With fresh pork, according to the study, red blood cells tend to "aggregate," kind of like a loose clot, and results in inflammation.  That didn't happen with the marinated and cured pork.  The "study" wasn't very broad though so I don't put much weight on it but it was interesting.

My advice?  Serve beef to the older relatives and enjoy pork when they aren't around.

 

[cunnart]

Most places list pork as a lean meat, obviously as JJ said there are fatty pieces such as the shoulders. But loins and chops tend to be pretty lean.