Dear Nutritionist,
Hey, thanks for the great content! I would like to know if you feel bacon is healthy. I’ve read a lot about it being bad but I don’t really understand why if it’s naturally cured. And it seems to be all the rage in low carb circles. Do they know something we don’t?
Thank you,
Ron
Dear Ron,
GMO’s weren’t controversial enough, I guess! Bacon is one of those subjects people get pig-headed about. It’s terribly contentious at present, no doubt to a large degree because food policy is so incredibly profitable in today’s economy.
It’s one of those conversations that invariably comes up with clients in my 90 day resets, when I give them meal plans and bacon is included. I get emails from people in shock. Of course, there are others that just go hog-wild with it, no questions asked. I imagine them telling their incredulous spouse, as they load up the cart, “My nutritionist said it’s good to eat bacon.” When we have our next check-in it kind of goes like this, “Guess what I’m eating for dinner? BACON!” And guess what I had for lunch? BACON! And guess what I had yesterday? BACON! And I’m still losing weight! My blood sugar is perfect! This is INSANE!!!”
So buckle in, readers. Today I’m going to tell you why I whole-heartedly recommend consuming bacon as part of a healthy diet. And why, despite the hype around this food and processed meats in general, it remains a staple in low carb circles - which are gaining a lot more popularity and show no signs of being the “fad” they were dismissed as. But first I’m going to tell you about we’ll-call-her Sandy.
Sandy came to me about 6 years ago. She was horribly depressed, possibly even suicidally so. She was a parent and was in such a worn down state she could barely function. She expressed that she no longer had any joy or pleasure in life. She was hiding this from her family and colleagues, and felt utterly hopeless. She was in a leadership position at work, but that was hanging on by a thread with her current performance. She just didn’t have the energy or drive anymore.
When I inquired about her diet I found that she was eating what many nutritionists advocate: chicken breast and fish, lots of salads, veggies all the time, low to no fats, and she was weighing everything and counting calories. She worked out intensely almost every day, as she had always been into fitness. But now, no matter what she did she couldn’t get rid of the belly and weight around the middle. And her energy had plummeted to an all time low. She needed naps and chocolate just to function.
She confided in me that she had been diagnosed with a mood disorder years prior, and had been taking several powerful mind-altering medications for decades. It had taken years of trial to find ones that worked for her, but she didn’t feel they were working any longer. She felt “dead inside.” But she dreaded changing them because the side effects were so bad she couldn’t cope. She also relayed that she was afraid to ask her doctor for change, because of the pressure she experienced in those conversations to “comply” with what she was told was best for her. The diagnosis had caused her physician to behave in a way that robbed her autonomy. She didn’t want to cause conflict, but she didn’t know how she could keep going like this. Her mood and mental state had gotten too low. She was at the end of her ability to suffer any longer.
Six months later you wouldn’t recognize her. Sandy had stopped measuring food and exercising so much. She was off the meds (her choice) and no longer had the symptoms of a mood disorder. She was taking a handful of supplements every day, and was eating red meat and fat regularly. She had started to lose the belly. One year later this very same woman radiated happiness. She was still not taking any mood stabilizing pharmaceuticals (her choice), and she felt truly alive for the first time in decades. The weight around the middle was gone completely and she exercised less often, with far less intensity than before. She was loving her work and her life, and was now able to be available for her beautiful family in a way she hadn’t been able to be before. I promise you this relates to bacon. But if you want to know how, you can tune in next week for the rest of that story. Today we have some fat to get chewing.
Bacon the Bad
Those who eschew bacon do so for several reasons:
- It’s high in salt, which is believed to be bad for blood pressure
- It’s high in saturated fat, which is believed by some to be bad for your cholesterol and arteries
- Nitrates: these are believed to be carcinogenic.
- Heterocyclic amines (HCA) form when meat is cooked. Bacon has HCAs. These HCAs have been linked to cancers in observational studies.
- It is now classified by the WHO as a processed meat and group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is sufficient evidence they cause cancer.
- Animal activism that states animal husbandry and animal product consumption is a primary driver of climate change.
Bacon the Good
Those who support bacon do so on these grounds:
- Studies show salt is not bad for health when balanced with potassium. It’s the ratio that’s important. Consuming regular green foods and potassium rich foods prevents pathology related to salt. Bacon contains potassium, as does fresh coffee and creamer. Add a green smoothie to your day as I advocate in my 90 day resets and you’re in the optimal zone.
- It was a myth that dietary intake of saturated fat increases risk for heart disease and stroke. It’s been repeatedly debunked by metanalysis.
- Vegetables are the number one source of nitrates. In fact, naturally cured bacon is cured with nitrates extracted from celery. It’s unclear if naturally cured is any better therefore, than the normal bacon. And nitrosamines form when the bacon is well done, so if that’s your preference, take it with some vitamin C or a piece of fruit after, as I advocate in my program. Vitamin C has a preventative action on nitrosamine formation.
- HCAs are present in when all meats are cooked to searing. There is more in rotisserie chicken skin and fresh cooked meat than in bacon.
- The same organization that damns processed meats like sausage and bacon champions processed meat alternatives with ingredient lists that include 5 chemicals you don’t want to eat: propylene glycol, tertiary butylhydroquinone, magnesium carbonate, erythosine (Red #3), and ferric orthophosphate. They also contain high PUFA vegetable oils and likely GMO soy. We don’t really know because Canadian’s don’t have the right to know if we’re consuming GMO products. Our government has decided this.
- Holistic animal husbandry shows more promise for soil regeneration than any other human practice to date. The Savory Institute has been designed to spread these practices. Purchasing your bacon through holistic, sustainable farms is a great start.
But the primary reason to eat bacon is not about bacon at all. It’s about insulin resistance and satiety. You see, the largest threat to our collective health today is insulin resistance. This has been brought about by the massive explosion of highly processed, high glycemic convenience foods and snack foods - like breads, cereals, cakes, cookies, pastas, noodles, and pizza, not to mention candies and chocolates. These foods cause insulin resistance, which drives type II diabetes and obesity and these are epidemic in our society today. Look around. How many people do you see who are overweight? How many kids are overweight? Now think back. How many were overweight when you were a kid and went to school?
Insulin resistance doesn’t just cause obesity and diabetes. It increases the risk for heart disease and all cause mortality more than any other factor. Please read that sentence again.
It has also been shown to be the number one marker correlated to poor outcomes with COVID19.
Insulin resistance is essential to get a grip on for optimal health and longevity. And nothing combats this more than a low carb, ancestral, ketogenic diet rich in animal products and saturated fat. Foods like bacon.
I hope this is helpful, Ron! Thank you for reading and for writing in!
As always, if readers have their own health questions, I welcome them. Just send me an email at [email protected]. Readers can read past questions on my blog at Askthenutritionist.ca and sign up for my free newsletter at hopenotdope.ca for upcoming events like my kombucha class in the coming weeks through Barrie Public Library. Have a great week, and enjoy your bacon!
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
