PRAISE THE LARD ...

[Paul_c]

[edit to add] Who ever said that bacon today is not like bacon in times past is spot on. Bacon is another thing I very rarely eat, as it just isn't the same, and you have to wonder what that white stuff is that appears. Even the taste the difference and better quality bacon is just not the same as it used to be.

You want to stick to dry cured bacon. Non of that gucky white residue or something shrinkage when you cook it.

[GraceK]

[edit to add] Who ever said that bacon today is not like bacon in times past is spot on. Bacon is another thing I very rarely eat, as it just isn't the same, and you have to wonder what that white stuff is that appears. Even the taste the difference and better quality bacon is just not the same as it used to be.

You want to stick to dry cured bacon. Non of that gucky white residue or something shrinkage when you cook it.

Get your dry cured bacon (Boczek) from the Polish section of the deli counter at Morrisons!!! But make sure you leave some for me!

I think that gucky white residue on our standard bacon is saltpetre which they use to give it a pinker colour. Eeeewwww.

[Paul_c]

the dry cured bacon I'm on about I get from the meat counter of Morrisons... and you have to cook it anyway. I shall be on the lookout for Boczek this afternoon... I'm sure I've seen it in there.

That's one of the benefits of having so many Poles etc. across over here. The supermarkets have taken notice and dedicated whole aisles to their local produce... plus we've got all these funky little shops opened up down in the side streets.

[Defren]

Unfortunately I live in a small village and the town where I shop is quite small too. We have and Asda which I wouldn't touch with someone else' bargepole (my daughter got food poisoning from a chicken from there some years ago) and Sainsbury's. I like Sainsbury's and considering it's only a small town branch has very good wet fish, deli and butchery departments. Friday is shopping day, so I shall look out for Boczek and dry cure when I am there today. My daughters always pick out the Aberdeen angus burgers for Friday tea, while I tend to go for a nice piece of rump or sirloin if I don't have fresh fish.

What ever that white stuff is Grace, it's foul and obviously not meant to be there, so I only eat bacon once in a blue moon and I really have to fancy it. However, quite often the thought of white sludge is enough to put me off and the dogs get it.

[GraceK]

the dry cured bacon I'm on about I get from the meat counter of Morrisons... and you have to cook it anyway. I shall be on the lookout for Boczek this afternoon... I'm sure I've seen it in there.

That's one of the benefits of having so many Poles etc. across over here. The supermarkets have taken notice and dedicated whole aisles to their local produce... plus we've got all these funky little shops opened up down in the side streets.

Our local Tesco has a Polish food section but it's very disappointing. There are things like packets of cheap soup mix, stock cubes and jars of gherkins and sauerkraut and bottles of carrot juice. It's basically what you can get on any other shelf but with the labels written in Polish. Nothing out of the ordinary. But if you want salamis and boczek, the Deli counter is the place to look for it. You're more likely to get authentic food from the quirky little shops. Unfortunately I don't have any of those where I live but my son lives near Manchester and he has a Jewish Deli just down the road - he loves his food - doesn't eat a lot but what he does eat - he makes sure is the real deal. He took me there a couple of months ago and wow ... I saw foods in there that I haven't seen for decades and thought nobody made or ate any more. Unfortunately though, I wasn't feeling well that day so I didn't stay long enough to take a good look around but it was like being transported back in time yet the shop was modern. So it's nice to know that some things haven't died out along with the older generation. It's amazing how different the shopping and food experience can be from one area to another.

[SweetHeart]

After my last bloods, my cholesterol levels had gone up from 5.7 to 6.0 (no breakdown of lipids, sorry guys) so am I not eating enough animal fats, or have I got the balance wrong or what?

Ju

[carty]

My husband wont eat a scrap of fat on his meat but after I have slow cooked lamb (from the local butchers and grass fed on local hills(the lamb not the butcher)) I separate the fat and he has it on toast .This is dripping NOT fat.
CAROL

[GraceK]

My husband wont eat a scrap of fat on his meat but after I have slow cooked lamb (from the local butchers and grass fed on local hills(the lamb not the butcher)) I separate the fat and he has it on toast .This is dripping NOT fat.
CAROL

Grass fed butchers ... wonder what they taste like? ROFL

And yes, of course - it's dripping. It IS dripping. Everyone knows it's dripping not fat.

[borofergie]

After my last bloods, my cholesterol levels had gone up from 5.7 to 6.0 (no breakdown of lipids, sorry guys) so am I not eating enough animal fats, or have I got the balance wrong or what?

Ju

You need to try and get the breakdown Ju, it's a bit meaningless without them.

It's not a question of how much fat you eat, but more a question of how many carbs.

Eating a low-carb diet will usually:

1. Increase your good "HDL" cholesterol
2. Decrease your triglycerides
3. Improve the quality (if not quality) of your "bad" LDL cholesterol

There are other factors at play though (some of them genetic) that means that some people do poorly even on a low-carb diet.

[SweetHeart]

Improve the quality (if not quality) of your "bad" LDL cholesterol

There are other factors at play though (some of them genetic) that means that some people do poorly even on a low-carb diet.[/quote]

Which way round is that?

I was doing very well, not sure where I fell off the wagon. Despite the higher level, I do feel very well physically.

Ju

[borofergie]

Improve the quality (if not quality) of your "bad" LDL cholesterol

There are other factors at play though (some of them genetic) that means that some people do poorly even on a low-carb diet.

Which way round is that?

I was doing very well, not sure where I fell off the wagon. Despite the higher level, I do feel very well physically.

Ju[/quote]

It should make you LDL big and fluffy, rather than small and dense.

In the words of Dr Richard Feinman:
"Dietary carbohydrate restriction is the single most effective method (except for total starvation) of reducing triglycerides, and is as effective as any intervention, including most drugs, at increasing HDL and reducing the number of small-dense LDL particles. Beyond lipid markers, carbohydrate restriction improves all of the features of metabolic syndrome. "
https://rdfeinman.wordpress.com/2012/03 ... 15-theses/

[hanadr]

I'm of 100% Czech blood and eat natural fats too. I love pork scratchings and cooking with lard.These are natural foods that humans have eaten for millenia. No-one can tell me that margarine, invented in someone's lab can be as good for me.
Since I went low carb and returned to natural foods, I have been so much fitter. In addition, my chronically dry flaky skin has improved beyond measure and just today i was asked my skincare secrets by a woman a whole generation younger than myself. I have pretty much no wrinkles [at 65!]
I'm about 25 kilos lighter thaan Iwas when eating "healthy wholegrains"
I'm currently under a lot of pressure And COPING WELL. T1 husband has been ill for about 3 weeks and it has co-incided with upheavals in my daughter's life[ new job, child starting school!] and I've been needed a LOT. I've been juggling hospital appointments with childcare. I'm shattered, but still here and sane.
Hana
PS I eat animal fats in preference to plant oils, because, being an animal, they have the components I need. I AM NOT A GERANIUM!

[librarising]

SweetHeart wrote
After my last bloods, my cholesterol levels had gone up from 5.7 to 6.0

Per Barry Groves (Natural Health And Weight Loss)

for women,research has demonstrated that a high cholesterol level is healthier than a low one. In 1992 a report of 19 major studies published over the previous twenty years suggested that public policy for reducing blood cholesterol should be reviewed

See, you're better off at 6.0 than at 'healthy' range.

I agree with borofergie.
I expect that your HDL will have increased, your triglycerides gone down, and your LDL gone from harmful into friendly. Only a lipid profile will tell you. My total went from 5.0 to 5.4, but like you, I didn't have a profile.

Geoff

[SweetHeart]

I'm going into see the GP on Monday so I shall ask for lipids figures then. The GP I saw when I got the results doesn't think a lay person would understand the results so she never gives them out. I feel a bit better about the above info though!

Ju

[Paul_c]

the lipids figures you'll get won't be proper lipid figures... the NHS just does the cheap test and then guesses the cholesterol figures from one factor they're checking on. A proper full lipid profile that actually checks your fluffy LDL against your small deadly LDL is too expensive for them to do... so as far as the NHS are concerned, all LDL is bad... cos they won't put up for the proper tests. This is why they have such a downer on low-carb high fat diets... it raises the LDL levels which they consider to be bad...