You should eat pork in moderation, but is it really bad for you? Do you think you will continue to eat pork after reading this? I hope it was helpful and inspiring for you. Everyone who comes to the clinic is given the tools they need to make better decisions about their bodies and long-term health.
Knowing more about the food we eat is a major part of the decision making process.
Our clinic has been around for over 40 years and has helped thousands of people change their lives. Since the beginning our diets have had clients avoid pork. MD Diet has been ahead of the curve on many health and diet trends. Come see what makes us different, call us today to get started! 801-758-2130.
Pork is a popular type of meat that’s commonly found in dishes like bacon, ham, pork chops and sausage. Some people decide to eliminate pork from their diets for health, ethical or religious reasons. But what actually happens when you stop eating pork? Here’s a look at some of the key effects.
Potential Changes in Energy Levels
One of the first things that may happen when you cut pork out of your diet is fluctuations in energy levels Pork provides protein, iron, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and other nutrients that help sustain energy
When you remove this meat source, you also eliminate these energy-promoting nutrients As a result, you may initially feel more sluggish, tired or weak without pork in your diet
However, these effects are usually short-term if you replace pork with other healthy, energizing foods. Good sources of iron include lentils, spinach, beef and supplements. Thiamin, niacin and vitamin B6 are plentiful in fish, eggs, potatoes and fortified cereals.
Overall, while you may notice a dip in energy at first without pork, adjusting your diet can help normalize your energy levels long-term.
Potential Improvements in Heart Health
One of the biggest benefits of cutting out pork is the potential to improve cardiovascular health. Pork tends to be high in saturated fat and cholesterol compared to other meats.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to 5-6% of total daily calories and dietary cholesterol to 300 mg per day. Just 3 ounces of pork can provide over half of the recommended daily limit for cholesterol.
By removing pork from your diet, you eliminate a major source of these heart-harming components. This can lead to reductions in LDL “bad” cholesterol, blood pressure and inflammation.
Over time, your risk for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular conditions may decrease significantly without pork.
Increased Risk of Certain Nutrient Deficiencies
As mentioned earlier, pork provides important vitamins and minerals like niacin, vitamin B12 and zinc. Without pork, you may be at a greater risk for deficiencies in these nutrients if you don’t replace them via other dietary sources or supplements.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to anemia, fatigue, weakness, constipation and neurological problems. Zinc deficiency may impair immunity, wound healing and growth.
To prevent these deficiencies, make sure to eat zinc-rich foods like oysters, beef, nuts and fortified cereals. Choose B12 sources such as dairy, eggs, poultry, fortified plant milks and supplements.
Potential Weight Loss
Eliminating pork may support weight loss and maintenance in some individuals. On average, pork tends to be slightly higher in calories and fat than other lean meats. For example, a 3 ounce serving of pork loin has 180 calories and 7 grams of fat, while the same amount of chicken breast has 140 calories and 3 grams of fat.
Cutting pork may help reduce your overall calorie and fat intake, leading to weight loss over time. However, overall diet quality and lifestyle factors also play key roles in managing weight.
Decreased Exposure to Harmful Substances
Today’s pork industry heavily relies on antibiotics, hormones and other drugs to increase growth rates and prevent disease in crowded pig farms. Traces of these substances can be found in pork products.
By removing pork from your diet, you can significantly reduce exposure to antibiotics and hormones. This may help avoid disrupting your gut microbiome and hormonal balance.
Furthermore, undercooked pork poses a slight risk for parasitic infections like trichinosis. While rare, these infections can have serious consequences. Eliminating pork removes this risk factor.
The Bottom Line
Switching up your diet always leads to a period of adjustment. But overall, research shows that cutting out pork can have benefits like improved heart health, potential weight loss, reduced exposure to drugs and lower infection risk.
Be sure to replace nutrients like protein, vitamins B12 and zinc from other sources. With some dietary modifications, you can thrive without pork through increased energy, better digestion and protective effects against chronic illness.
3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You
People in the U.S. are becoming more aware of the effects of a bad diet, so we are taking a closer look at many of our favorite foods. As a result, the next generation may not want to eat something that was a staple for our grandparents because they prefer new superfoods.
Before you click away because you think this is another biased article that criticizes one food over another, I want to let you know that despite the title, this article will teach you about the history of raising pork and give you scientific proof of how good the meat is. You will have to decide for yourself if this is a food you want to keep and eat.
What I will say is this. MD Diet has been around for over 40 years. When people are on the high-protein diet, we always tell them not to eat pork, and the HCG diet does the same. We do allow pork in the keto diet and our lifestyle plans. Pork is obviously not desired in our plant-based diets.
How did pork become so popular? What is the history of America’s favorite meat? Is it good for you? We will briefly talk about the moral and ethical issues that come up when pork is raised for the masses. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
Ancient vs. conventional wisdom
Let’s talk about the history of this meat. In many ancient and modern religious practices, Pork was banned because they were considered unclean animals to eat. In ancient times, many cultures thought it was common knowledge that eating pork would make you sick. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
Many things could cause this “uncleanliness,” such as the fact that pigs don’t sweat or that their digestive system works quickly and leaves behind a lot of waste. Now I already told you I would not be biased in this article. I am going to talk about opinions on both sides of the industry. This is especially important to consider the source, when it comes to the cleanliness of pig meat. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
If you look at what is being published by pig farmers or investors they will say things like “Pigs do not sweat but they are able to rid themselves of heat in other ways such as via their skin and through respiration. Because an animal does not sweat does not mean toxins build up in the body. Most pigs are fed highly balanced, nutritionally fortified diets and are kept in climate controlled facilities.” – Swineextension. org
If you look at what is being published by the health, fitness, science, and medical communities you will see things suggesting that consuming pork can lead to Hepatitis E, Multiple Sclerosis, Liver Cancer, Cirrhosis, Yersinia (worms), and other issues like heart disease associated with red meat consumption. This is due to many reasons, including the pigs physiology, diet, environment, and more.
Even the CDC warns of the risk of eating pork being associated with increased risk of swine flu if handled improperly. They do also say that you won’t get swine flu from the consumption of properly prepared and handled pig meat. So if you plan on having pork, at least make sure it was handled and prepared properly. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You
The ancient religious dietary guidelines taught that we should avoid eating pork because the animals were unclean. Conventional modern wisdom argues back and forth. Some ads have even said that pork is a white meat, so people don’t have to worry about the health risks that come with eating red meat. Just a reminder, pork was and always has been red meat.
Up until about the 20th century, pork consumption was much lower (statistically speaking) worldwide than it is today. After industrial farming took the world by storm, people sped up their processes to handle more meat to meet the needs of a bigger and wealthier population. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
Mass production agricultural farming became the new norm. For better or worse, which will be discussed more in depth at the end of this article. On an interesting note, pork and chicken were the two types of meat that went up the most. This makes sense given how popular and affordable both of them are for the consumer.
Pork has more or less the same macros as beef. It all depends on the cut you get and the sourcing of the animal. The real difference between America’s two most popular red meats is the micronutrient profiles of each. Beef typically has much more nutrients such as Iron, B vitamins, and other essential nutrients than pork. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
When it comes down to getting the most bang for your buck. It is better to pick a leaner cut of beef that is full of micronutrients than a pork cut that is high in fat and low in nutrients. Some of your leanest options for protein will actually be some of the following. Many of which include much more protein and micronutrients than pork does.
As Americans and others around the world eat an increasingly higher amount of pork. It is alarming to see the correlated increase in obesity and health issues. See Figure 2 and 3. Now this doesn’t mean that one causes another. It would be far too one dimensional to think that pork alone is responsible for the obesity epidemic. You should know from reading other articles that the main thing that determines whether we gain or lose body fat is how many calories we eat. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
Figure 3: Both the production of pork and the number of obese people have been going up at about the same rate. Similar to many of our increasing deadly diseases such as heart disease, cancer, etc. This might be because of the problems with pork meat we already talked about, or it might be because of the changes in western lifestyles, or it might be a mix of the two.
By now we have all heard of how terrible life is for a factory farm animal. I don’t think I need to describe this business in graphic detail to make this point clear. Instead, I’d like to take this chance to remind and encourage readers to get their animal-based proteins from sources that are moral as much as possible. 3 Reasons Why Pork Is Bad For You.
Preferably source your meat from a small local farmer with a proven ethical track record. Unfortunately, even if you try to buy pork that says “free range” on it. The USDA doesn’t have rules about this label for pigs, so the company that made the food can put that label on it without letting the animal live outside of a cage.
What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Eating Meat
FAQ
What are the benefits of not eating pork?
Is it healthy to avoid pork?
What are the benefits of cutting out pork?
What are the effects of eating gone off pork?
Is pork bad for You?
The main (but not the only) reason why pork is bad for you is its high content of saturated fats and cholesterol. However, as is often the case with nutrition, the scientific studies are not always clear-cut, and dietary recommendations tend to be laxer than existing evidence. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia, around 15,000 years ago.
Why is pork not recommended to eat?
This is not true, some cuts like sirloin and pork rump steak, for example, are very healthy, even healthier than beef and chicken. Only the fattest cuts like bacon and crackling should be avoided.
What happens if you stop eating meat?
Cutting out meat can lead to clearer skin for some individuals. This is often due to a decrease in consumption of hormones and antibiotics found in meat, combined with an increase in fruits and vegetables that support skin health. When someone decides to stop eating meat, several changes happen in the body that can impact overall health.
Why do people eat pork?
Pork is why we love BBQ, taco al pastor and schnitzel. As pigs in a blanket or bacon-wrapped dates, it’s one food that makes a party delicious. This well-known red meat from domestic pigs is the most commonly eaten meat in the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.