1. What is lard?
Lard, also known as meat oil or lard, is one of the edible oils extracted from pig adipose tissue by heating.
The main component of lard is fat, and the composition of fatty acids is relatively balanced, with saturated fatty acids (SFA) accounting for 43.2%, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) accounting for 47.9% and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) accounting for 8.9%.
In addition to fat, it also contains vitamins and trace minerals necessary for human body, such as vitamin A and thiamine. The decomposition products of a small amount of special protein and some glycerides in lard volatilize, which can produce unique fragrance and stimulate people's appetite.
Generally speaking, lard is a nutritious food.
Second, is eating lard good for health?
First of all, nutrition is not the healthiest, because the saturated fatty acid content of lard is too high! Dietary guidelines in all countries recommend reducing the intake of saturated fatty acids. But the saturated fatty acid content of lard is as high as 40%, which is nearly three times that of ordinary vegetable oil!
Excessive intake of saturated fatty acids will obviously affect the blood lipid level and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and death, while unsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids can reduce the levels of "bad cholesterol" and triglycerides in the body, which is beneficial to health.
Judging from the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, lard is excellent among animal oil esters, and the content of unsaturated fatty acids is between butter and olive oil, which is why some people advocate eating lard. However, almost the same amount of saturated fatty acids in lard also enters the human body.
The high saturated fatty acid diet provides a lot of raw materials for the synthesis of endogenous cholesterol, which increases the cholesterol level and even causes hypercholesterolemia. Excessive cholesterol accumulated in the blood is an out-and-out vascular killer, which is easy to cause atherosclerotic diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke.
So, on the whole, although lard is delicious and fragrant? Eating less is healthier!
3. Which is healthier, lard or vegetable oil?
Most families choose vegetable oil for cooking, thinking that eating vegetable oil is healthier than lard, but this view is not comprehensive.
The main components of vegetable oil are polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids. Too much saturated fatty acids can easily lead to the increase of cholesterol and blood lipids, while polyunsaturated fatty acids can reduce blood lipids and protect blood vessels, but it does not mean that the more polyunsaturated fatty acids, the better.
Because unsaturated fatty acids contain more unsaturated bonds, they are easy to oxidize in human body and produce excessive peroxide, which will promote the aging, cell decline and tumor formation of the body.
Therefore, eating only vegetable oil for a long time is not the healthiest choice. The components of saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids all have different effects on human body, so we should choose a reasonable nutritional mix according to health requirements. According to the recommendation of China Nutrition Society, the best ratio of these three fatty acids is 1: 1: 1.
4. What oil should we eat every day?
The correct way to eat oil should be a small amount of balance. Control the oil consumption at about 10g each time, and eat more lard and vegetable oil. After all, saturated fatty acids are also necessary for the human body.
Saturated fatty acids can provide energy for human body, and can also be converted into fat to help maintain body temperature and promote the production of cholesterol, which is an important component of cell membrane and can maintain cell structure.
No matter what kind of fatty acid it is, as long as the intake is reasonably controlled, it is beneficial to the human body, and excessive intake will have adverse effects on the body.
My family will eat a little oil. In my opinion, each oil has different nutritional advantages, so it is best to use it alternately to avoid the hidden danger of nutritional imbalance caused by long-term single use of a certain oil.