Experts refer to "eating lard will cause cancer", which should refer to the fact that lard will produce carcinogens after high temperature heating, not that eating lard can directly cause cancer. We all know that the boiling point of oil and fat is generally about two hundred degrees, when cooking at high temperatures, oil and fat will produce a large number of aldehyde compounds, which may cause cancer, heart disease and other diseases. Therefore, not only lard, but also most grease are more likely to produce some carcinogenic substances after high temperature heating. Therefore, when we cook daily dishes, we should try to reduce the cooking temperature as much as possible to avoid oil smoke and carcinogens. However, lard does have two health weaknesses: a high proportion of saturated fatty acids and a high cholesterol content [1], and eating too much is really bad for the body.
Eating too much lard does increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Lard contains up to about forty percent saturated fat and contains more cholesterol. Fat (especially saturated fat) if consumed too much, will lead to excessive energy intake in the human body, thereby increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it is not encouraged to cook with animal oil, it is recommended to eat vegetable oil. The World Health Organization recommends that reducing saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy (basic meat consumption can be satisfied), trans fats to less than 1% of total energy, and replacing these fats with unsaturated fats from vegetable oils can reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases [2].
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents recommend that the amount of food and fat eaten each day should not exceed 10% of the total calories. For the average adult, about 2,000 kcal of calories per day, then saturated fatty acids should be controlled at about 22 grams; if all are converted into lard, it is about 50 grams. Be aware that there is saturated fat in the food, not just lard! The meat, eggs, milk, nuts, biscuits, pastries, etc. eaten every day contain saturated fat, and it is likely that it is far exceeding the standard before the lard is turned[3]. Therefore, lard should be eaten less, and eating more is really not good for the body.
In general, eating lard does not directly cause cancer, high temperature heating (greater than 200 ° C) lard will produce carcinogens, so do not make the oil pot smoke when cooking vegetables in daily life, smoke is too high temperature, and many nutrients will be destroyed at high temperatures.
This issue is written by Liao Yuying and Zhao Lichao
Editor: Peng Mingqian
Resources:
[1] Fan Zhihong_Original Nutritional Information, "Animal Fat, Really Harmful?" 》。
[2] Who's Recommendations for Healthy Eating
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs394/zh/
[3] Dr. Lilac, "Lard is very fragrant to cook, but if you can eat less, you can eat less, because..."
The image originates from the Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact to delete