The truth about lard and health revealed: Scientific understanding helps you lose weight more effectively.

Is Lard Healthy or Unhealthy?

Lard was a common cooking fat for our parents' generation, but now it's something many people avoid. Like eggs, which were misunderstood for many years, lard is criticized for being "high in saturated fatty acids and likely to cause cardiovascular disease."

However, in 2018, a BBC article reported that scientists ranked the top 100 most nutritious and healthy foods, and lard surprisingly ranked eighth! Some people might be confused: is lard healthy or unhealthy?

In fact, for the past 50 years, saturated fatty acids have been unfairly blamed for causing heart disease. However, with scientific advancements, more and more research evidence shows that there is insufficient evidence to prove any link between saturated fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. The saturated fatty acids that have been demonized for so long actually have no effect on whether or not someone develops heart disease. The only type of fat that contributes to heart disease is trans fatty acids.

In reality, the saturated fatty acids abundant in lard are very stable in their molecular structure, not easily oxidized, and play important roles in improving human immunity, strengthening bone health, maintaining hormone levels, reducing inflammation, and reducing oxidative stress. Besides containing saturated fatty acids crucial for human health, lard also contains a large amount of monounsaturated fatty acids (similar to olive oil). Monounsaturated fatty acids can help improve insulin resistance, protect cardiovascular health, and prevent heart disease.

At the same time, lard is also rich in vitamin D and choline, and it contains zinc, which is essential for strengthening immunity, promoting wound healing, and human growth and development. Furthermore, the oleic acid in lard has the effect of protecting the gastric mucosa, inhibiting inflammation, and reducing the risk of depression. Lard contains twice as much oleic acid as butter!

Therefore, lard is truly a healthy fat that has been misunderstood for many years.