Lard is healthy!
In recent generations, lard has seemed to completely disappear from home kitchens. Until the early 1900’s, lard was a staple cooking fat across the globe. It was the secret to perfectly flaky pie pastry, crispy fried chicken, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits and luscious gravy.
Now, when people hear the term lard, they immediately conjure up a vision of clogged arteries. It’s time to set the record straight – lard is a healthy cooking fat and deserves to make a comeback in kitchens everywhere.
1. Lard is heat stable
When it comes to determining the stability of a fat, it’s all about chemistry. Saturated fats have single bonds between all the carbon molecules of the fatty acid chain and are therefore the most heat-stable. That’s because single bonds, when it comes to the fatty acid carbon chain, are relatively difficult to break. Monounsaturated fats have one double bond replacing a single bond in the carbon chain. Double bonds in fatty acids are unstable and can break with heat. Polyunsaturated fats are the most unstable, because they have numerous double bonds in the carbon chain. When the double bonds in mono- or polyunsaturated fats break, the fatty acid undergoes a process called oxidation.
Why are oxidized fats bad? In a nutshell, oxidized fats = free radicals. Free radicals = cell damage. While we inevitably have some free radicals in our body, we should minimize these damaging molecules as much as possible to protect health and reduce inflammation.
According to Mary Enig, author of Know Your Fats, lard is typically 40% saturated fat, 50% monounsaturated fat and 10% polyunsaturated fat. (Pastured hogs consuming a diet supplemented with grain or coconut will have a lower percentage of polyunsaturated fat – a good thing!). The percentage of saturated fat in lard protects the more vulnerable mono/polyunsaturated fats from oxidizing with heat, making lard an excellent choice for cooking and baking.
2. Lard is heart-healthy
“Lard is an animal fat, and it is high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Doesn’t that mean it raises my risk for heart disease?” The pervasive myth that animal fats increase the risk of heart disease is just that – a myth. Our great-great-grandparents consumed lard and butter and experienced extremely low rates of heart disease. Lard is part of a healthy diet and will not give you heart attack:
- An analysis of more than 300,000 people published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that there is no evidence that saturated fat consumption raises the risk of heart disease (1)
- A low fat diet has been shown to increase triglycerides, which is a risk factor for heart disease (2)
- The Women’s Health Initiative studied nearly 50,000 post-menopausal women – one group of women were told to follow a low fat diet, and the other group continued to eat “normally.” After 8 years, there was no difference in the rate of heart disease or cancer between the groups. (3)
- Numerous other large studies have found no benefit to a low fat diet (4)
- The director of the large Framingham Heart Study concluded, “We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active.”
- Saturated fat intake raises HDL cholesterol, which is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease (5)
- The “diseases of modern civilization” including heart disease and diabetes skyrocketed as animal fats were replaced with factory fats including vegetable oils and margarine. Take a look at the graph here.
- The cholesterol content of lard is health-protective, not dangerous (see reason #9 below)
3. Lard is neutral flavored
Like me, many of you choose to cook with coconut oil because it is a heat-stable cooking fat. Coconut oil does impart a mild-to-moderate coconut flavor to dishes, however. And while I enjoy the flavor, sometimes I want a neutral-flavored option. That’s when I choose lard.
For sautéing and deep-frying, nothing beats the cooking properties of lard. It creates a divinely brown crust to vegetables and meats without a distinct flavor. Due to the neutral flavor, it also works exceptionally well in baked goods (see #7).
4. Lard is economical
I purchase quart-sized tubs of lard from my local farmer for $7.50 a quart. You will likely be able to find pastured lard at a similar price. If not, you can request pastured hog fat from your butcher and then render lard yourself (it’s very simple, here’s a tutorial).
When it comes to healthy cooking fats, lard is definitely the most affordable. For example, my other favorite cooking fats – coconut oil and grassfed butter – cost exponentially more.
5. Lard is high in vitamin D
Lard is the second highest food source of vitamin D, after cod liver oil. One tablespoon of lard contains 1,000 IU’s of vitamin D. Also important, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin so it requires fatty acids – including saturated fatty acids – to be absorbed and utilized in the body. Lard provides the perfect package of vitamin D along with the required fatty acid cofactors. Other food sources of vitamin D, including pastured egg yolks and liver, pale in comparison to the amount of vitamin D in lard.
There is a catch, however: only lard from pastured hogs contains vitamin D, since the pigs must have access to sunlight to synthesize the D and store it in their fatty tissues. Grocery store tubs or sticks of lard are from confined, antibiotic-laden pigs and should be avoided. Purchase your lard from a butcher or farmer who can tell you how the pigs are raised.
6. Lard is sustainable
Pigs are easily adaptable animals that can thrive nearly everywhere. Raising pastured hogs is a practice that produces a sustainable source of meat while improving the health of the environment. By rooting and foraging, hogs help to turn over topsoil and naturally fertilize the ground.
You know what’s not sustainable? A bagillion acres of genetically modified, pesticide-drowned, synthetic-fertilizer-laden corn used to produce corn oil. Just saying…
7. Lard is local
Purchasing a pastured pork and lard from your local farmer has a very low carbon footprint. I drive 5 minutes away to collect my weekly eggs, raw milk, pastured meat and lard at a designated pick-up spot. These items are delivered from a farm about an hour away. So my lard comes from a source that is a 65 minute drive away from my house.
My coconut oil, on the other hand, comes from the Philippines which is many, many more minutes away from my house. Just saying…
8. Lard is great for baking
You may not think that lard pairs well with sweet foods, but traditionally lard was used for deep frying donuts and making flaky pie crusts. If you haven’t made a pie crust with lard, you are in for a beautiful surprise! In baked goods, lard lends tenderness and moisture without a discernible flavor.
I love using it in my Sweet Spiced Coconut Flour Biscuits. Substitute lard for coconut oil, vegetable oil, shortening or butter in your baking recipes.
9. Lard is a healthy source of cholesterol
lard ranks #18 in foods richest in cholesterol. As a healing agent in the body, levels of cholesterol rise during periods of stress or when inflammation is present. Studies show that cholesterol consumption does not carry a cause-and-effect relationship with blood cholesterol levels. This is because the body produces the cholesterol it needs. Providing cholesterol through good quality fats, however, reduces the burden on the body to produce cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol from whole foods like lard supports inflammation management and hormone production.
As a matter of fact, numerous studies associate low blood cholesterol levels with:
- A higher risk of mortality (6, 7. 8)
- A higher risk of depression (9, 10)
- A higher risk of committing violent crime and suicide (11, 12)
- A higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (13, 14)
10. Lard is traditional
When I’m asked for simple advice for avoiding unhealthy foods, I give two simple rules of thumb:
- “Avoid any food with a TV commercial.”
- “Avoid any food that your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized.”
What are some examples of fats that don’t fit these guidelines? Canola oil, corn oil, fake butter, cooking spray and reduced-fat dairy products. Lard, however, was enjoyed by your ancestors thousands of years ago. My great-great-grandmother, a hard-working Danish woman who lived to the ripe old age of 107, grew up on copious dollops of lard, homemade sauerkraut and gallons of fresh milk from the family cow. You won’t see it advertised on TV, either, because large corporations won’t make money promoting the products of your local farmer.
Do you use lard in your home? Do you remember your grandmother or great-grandmother using lard in her kitchen?
Thank you so much for all the information. I am going to get lard immediately. I always try to avoid recipes that deep fry…like my favourite fish tacos or fried chicken but now, no longer will. Lard is good. I am a happy woman. Here in Ireland lard was a staple in our diet and of course now is not. I am a woman on a mission… BRING BACK LARD!
My mom used lard for years and switched to Crisco when it came on the market. I however, went back to using lard because I believe that it’s much healthier than Crisco and also my fried chicken doesn’t get greasy.
I’ve always used lard. Everyone thinks it’s bad but I know better
I lovr french frys or chicken fried in lard but I was always told it will clog ypur arteries/. The food cooked i. It is way better tasting. In your opinion lard is okay.
In Tuscany, where I live, it is routinely used (they do not allow antibiotics or other junk in their meats here since the early 1960’s..) and prized for its Vit D properties as well as deliciousness. And the older generation–who lived during the WWII war, so deprived often as children of proper food in the 40’s–are living to 95-100+, so…. They do a version in where they store it underground for several months with salt and spices that is divine…
I now use lard. But for years heard that lard was really bad for you. My ex only bought margarine and crisco. My other won’t use any thing but lard and real butter.
Yup. Agree. And, because it converts slowly into energy, less food consumption is required because the stomach doesn’t feel starved. But, there is a reason why saturated fats were blamed believe it or not. The problem has to do with the mixture of saturated fat and fluoride in the resulting toxic stomach. I forget exactly how it worked but it was something to do with aldahyde –sort of like formaldyde and a conversion that happens to the fat— similar to how milk plastic is formed from milkfat and acid. Because fluoride (as well as gluten in some) causes holes in endothelium barriers inside the arteries, more fat is pumped out to stop up the holes so you don’t have a stroke. But, then the fluoride in the stomach gas causes the fat that would ordinarily be scrubbed off by the large lipids that are made afterward, the arteries turn hard. Hardening of the arteries is not fat– it is and was and always has been Fluoride induced. So, maybe a diet warning for people who still do not believe fluoride is bad, is needed. They might understand if they haven’t been subjected to lipator or other cholesterol reducing drugs that dissolve the brain made mostly of fat and nerve coatings. I am convinced what we grew up being told by experts no less was part of a genocide, residual from the Society of Eugenics who managed to have us depopulate ourselves with “healthy” food.
I agree 100% that lard that comes from pastured hogs is very healthy. I grew up in Michoacan, Mexico for the first 12 years of my life. My mother cooked everything with lard. It was delicious! She is now 74 an my father is 69. My grandparents grew up cooking everything with lard. My paternal grandparents lived to the ages of 84 and 87. My maternal grandfather died at the age of 54 of stomach cancer. He was young but my grandmother is 98+ years old and will hopefully be 99 this coming February of 2019. Those are great genes. Most or all of her 6 or 7 sisters have live past the age of 80. My mother tells me stories of when they would kill a pig and cook it in its own lard (we call it making carnitas) have a fiesta and would save the lard to cook with it for weeks. It is also true that their lifestyle was different. They walked everywhere they went. They did physical work on a daily basis and drank mostly water. No sugar drinks were consumed or if they did, it was once or twice a month. After doing some research, I have come to the conclusion that it is more damaging to eat refined sugars and saturated fats like margarine than eating fat. They say that margarine is one molecule from being plastic like. yuk! I believe that we were made to eat foods that are made by nature and not processed foods. I recently started cooking with lard, specially my re-fried beans and boy, they taste so good! Yes, I do know how to make carnitas in a big cooking caso (pot). I come from the state that makes the best carnitas is the world-Michoacan.
I just started using lard for the first time since i was a child I think my grandmother used to cook with it any way
i started noticing that prior to using lard i seemed to have a reaction to margerine and vegetable oils as it caused me to cramp up especially around my waist like a muscle contraction
so when i started using lard
I was waiting for the same reaction to date i have not had that cramping anymore in my waist line
hence it appears this ingredient has some health benefits
I had to stop eating meats even though i only consumed very little
however i returned to meats usually in soups or stews that i have made from parts of the meat that provide geletin so when i eat it I usually can eat every thing as it simply dissolves in my mouth hence when i used the lard with it
it seems i am eating something that is adding flexibility to my tissues muscles and i seem to be able to do more i have more energy wow
who knew lard could make such a difference
and the cost is amazing
i used to cook everything even fried foods with coconut oil at over three hunded a bottle here
it was getting costly
now i can make my breads and english muffins and pizza for a fraction of the cost
thank you for this article
I had rendered a lot of lard each year way back in the 60s and 70s. Then I moved and thought I had to use that stuff from the grocery store. About 10 years ago, I realized that really good cooks use lard in their pies. But the only lard I could find in the store was “partially hydrogenated”. A few years ago I got some “real” lard from a friend and loved it. Then my daughter gave me some “real” lard that she had rendered herself. Today I rendered 8 lbs. of lard. So simple. And I know that pies and such taste so much better if made with lard.
PS: I got my pork fat from the local butcher who sells it for 50 cents a pound already ground. You can’t beat that unless you “grow your own”.