During the winter solstice, the ground freezes and the weather is cold. Some people are accustomed to cooking food with lard to be full of calories and aroma. It is said on the Internet that lard is rich in vitamins D and B, with a higher nutrient content than any vegetable oil, and because of its low degree of commercialization, lard does not have many additives like vegetable oil. So, is lard really purer, safer, and friendlier to the human body than vegetable oil? We can take a look at the interpretation of Fan Zhihong, a professor at the School of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University.
Question 1: Lard is higher in vitamins than vegetable oil?
Lard fat contains 4 fat-soluble vitamins, namely VA, VD, VE, and VK. VA is only found in animal foods and not in vegetable oils. Some vegetable oils have a yellowish color because they contain a small amount of carotenoids, i.e. provitamin A, but after refining, their content decreases. So, vegetable oil is not a valid source of VA.
According to the data in our country’s food composition table (standard version), 100 grams of refined lard contains 27 micrograms of VA, which is indeed higher than most vegetable oils, but it is not very meaningful. Because the VA’s storage warehouse is actually animal liver rather than fat, if you want to supplement VA, chicken liver, duck liver, foie gras, pork liver, and lamb liver are all good choices. For example, according to the data in our country’s food ingredient list, 100 grams of broiler chicken liver contains nearly 3,000 micrograms of VA.
In addition to animal liver, some orange-yellow and dark green vegetables and fruits can also provide provitamin A, and their VA supplementation is also more effective than lard. For example, according to the data in the food ingredient list, the calorie value of 100 grams of bok choy is only 14 kcal, but it can be converted into 154 micrograms of VA in the human body. Eating 100 grams of refined lard can only get 27 micrograms of VA, and it will also consume 897 kcal. Obviously, eating lard to supplement VA is too cost-effective.
Then say VD. VD is found almost exclusively in animal foods, and there is zero in vegetable oils. However, VD, like VA, is mainly stored in the liver. Theoretically, animal fat is not a storage place for VD, and the content in lard is unlikely to be high. Therefore, cooking with lard is of little significance to supplementing the daily VD needs. As for the online video, the VD content in lard exceeds 1,000 IU, but no data source is provided. There is no VD content data for lard in the Chinese food composition list, check the USDA Food Nutrition Database, and there are only 102 IU VD2 and D3 in 100 grams of lard.
Let’s talk about VE. Refined lard does contain VE, which can reach 5.2 mg (per 100 grams), but compared with the vegetable oil content, this data will undoubtedly be crushed. For example, according to our country’s food composition table data, 100 grams of rapeseed oil contains 60.9 mg of VE, and 100 grams of soybean oil contains 93.1 mg of VE.
Finally, let’s talk about VK. The VK content in lard is extremely low and almost impossible to measure. Vegetable oils generally contain VK, with the highest levels being soybean oil and rapeseed oil, followed by olive oil.
In addition, although there is a little bit of B vitamins in the fat of pigs, because all B vitamins are water-soluble and insoluble in fat. Therefore, the content of vitaminB1,B2, niacin, and vitaminB12 in refined lard is very low and can be basically ignored.
In short, the claim that eating lard is a better vitamin supplement than eating vegetable oil is not well justified.
Question 2: Lard has a lower level of commercialization and less polluting components than vegetable oil?
Such a statement is biased. As one of the by-products of pork processing in slaughterhouses, lard has always been commercially supplied, which can be bought everywhere in supermarkets and vegetable markets, and is also widely used in the processing of various snacks, snacks and dishes. In recent years, the price of refined lard per catty is usually more than 20 yuan, which is more expensive than soybean oil, rapeseed oil, and palm oil, and there is no situation where “lard is difficult to commercialize”.
Some people think that vegetable oil contains food additives, but lard does not, but not necessarily. Fan Zhihong analyzed that in order to extend the shelf life and delay fat oxidation, commercially available vegetable oils may add synthetic antioxidants such as TBHQ, BHA, BHT, and natural antioxidant ingredients such as vitamin E. However, commercially available refined lard may also contain antioxidants. Although lard is more saturated than most vegetable oils, it also needs antioxidant protection because the natural content of vitamin E in lard is much lower than that of vegetable oil. Of course, additives used in accordance with national standards do not need to worry about their safety.
It is true that antioxidants are not added to the lard refined by the family, but the lard refined by the family is often not as pure as the commercially produced one, and there are often trace water and iron ion residues, which are more likely to oxidize and deteriorate, and must be eaten as soon as possible after refining.
At the same time, when refining lard at home, because the firepower cannot be accurately controlled, overheating the fat will produce harmful heterocyclic amines, and may also produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon carcinogens, as well as AGEs (advanced glycation end products) that promote aging. This is especially true for those lard residue that are darker in color and have a strong fragrance. Therefore, home-refined lard should not be eaten too often.
Let’s talk about environmental pollutants in oil. According to the basic laws of ecology, for every trophic level increases, the refractory polluting components will increase by about 10 times. From this point of view, compared with the same amount of consumption, the environmental pollutants obtained from eating lard are likely to be higher than the amount of vegetable oil.
Question 3: Lard has more cholesterol than vegetable oil?
The answer to this question is yes. Because plants themselves do not synthesize cholesterol, vegetable oils are also 0-cholesterol foods. Plants can synthesize plant sterols, including sitosterol, stigsterol and vegetable sterol. For example, 100 grams of sesame oil contains 588 mg of phytosterols, and 100 grams of soybean oil contains 317 mg of phytosterols. In the process of digestion and absorption, plant sterols will compete with cholesterol, so if you consume more plant sterols, the absorption rate of cholesterol in food will be low, and the level of human blood cholesterol may decrease.
Lard does contain cholesterol, according to our country’s food ingredient list, 100 grams of lard contains 110 mg of cholesterol, a value that most healthy people do not need to worry about.
For example, if you eat 25 grams of lard a day, you will theoretically eat 28 mg of cholesterol. For healthy people, this amount is not a cause for concern. However, for people who are prescribed to control blood cholesterol, the daily cholesterol limit is 200 mg, and 28 mg accounts for 14% of 200 mg, so it needs to be controlled in moderation. Fan Zhihong advises people with high blood lipids to try not to use animal oil for cooking, including lard. It is better to use a limited share of cholesterol to eat fish, shrimp and lean meat.
Lard and vegetable oil have always complemented each other in our diet, and the key to which cooking oil should be used depends on the physical condition, the daily diet structure and fatty acid balance, and the cooking temperature. To put it simply, people who eat less meat and more soy products are suitable for using some lard or butter, and people who eat a lot of meat do not need to buy lard to cook.
From the perspective of supplying vitamin E and vitamin K and food safety, lard does not have an advantage, consumers do not have to blindly listen to the “Internet words”, regard lard as the main stir-fried oil or even nutritional products, and do not need to be overly afraid of lard because of cholesterol problems. After all, lard is not a pure saturated fatty acid, and the cholesterol content is not so high.
