Lard offers protection from heart disease compared to olive oil

This post includes a summary of a study published in Lipids 2011 Apr;46(4):381-8 and instructions on how to render lard on the stove top.

Study title and authors:
Palm olein and olive oil cause a higher increase in postprandial lipemia compared with lard but had no effect on plasma glucose, insulin and adipocytokines.

Teng KT, Nagapan G, Cheng HM, Nesaretnam K.

Books:

Food Technology and Nutrition Unit, Product Development and Advisory Services, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. kt.teng@gmail.com

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21197586

High triglyceride levels measured after meals have the strongest association with heart attacks and cardiovascular events. See here.

The study was designed to compare the effects of a high-fat load (50 g fat), from either (i) palm olein (ii) lard (iii) virgin olive oil, on triglyceride levels.

The study found that triglyceride concentrations were significantly lower after the lard meal than after the olive oil and palm olein meals.

To conclude: Lard offers protection from heart disease compared to olive oil and palm olein.

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Recipe of the day

How to Render Lard on the Stove top

Ingredients for Rendering Lard
■2 ½ pounds of pastured leaf lard or hog fat

Home Made Rendered Lard

■½ cup filtered water

Stovetop Method for Rendering Lard
1.With a sharp knife, trim any blood spots or remaining meat from the lard.

2.Chop the fat into ½-inch cubes.

3.Add the chopped fat and the filtered water to a heavy bottomed stock pot and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

4.After about 45 minutes to one hour, the water will evaporate, the fat will begin to melt and the cracklings – little bits of browned fat – will begin to float to the surface of the pot. Continue to gently stir the melted fat periodically, taking care not to let it splatter.

5.Eventually those cracklings will sink to the bottom of the stock pot, at that point you may remove your pot from the heat.

6.Line a fine mesh sieve with a 100% cotton cheesecloth and strain the melted fat, reserving the cracklings for another use (they’re quite nice salted and eaten as a snack or served in place of breadcrumbs in a gratin).

7.Pour the melted fat into mason jars and allow to cool. The melted fat will be golden-brown in color, but, when cooled, will appear a creamy white.

8.Use your freshly rendered lard in pastries or as a fat for braising vegetables or seasoning meats.

Rendered Lard