Pork: Good or Bad?
We stirred up some controversy recently when we included pork on our list of energy-boosting foods. Some of you questioned whether it was healthy or safe to eat. So you can make your own decision, we thought we’d share pork’s nutrition facts. Is it really the “other white meat”?
Trimming the Fat
If you’re looking for the healthiest pork options, you want lean cuts — tenderloin, loin chops and sirloin roast. Bacon and other fatty cuts are very high in artery-clogging saturated fat and cholesterol and not for everyday eating. Baked ham and lunch meat fall somewhere in the middle when it comes to fat and calories. Just like with other meats, pork is safe when cooked to the proper internal temperature (it’s 160F for pork).
Some folks are conscientious of the environmental impact of meats they eat. If that’s you, look for local and free-range purveyors of pork products — just like you would for chicken and beef. Local or free-range products may have a higher price tag, but you can offset the cost in other ways like committing to a meatless day once a week.
Nutrition Facts
Lean cuts of pork are high in protein, low in fat and have more B-vitamins (thiamin, niacin, B6 and B12) than many other types of meat. These vitamins play a role in a variety of body functions, including metabolism and energy production (that’s why we had it on our “energizing foods” list). For some perspective, let’s compare 3 ounces of cooked pork tenderloin to the same amount of cooked chicken breast — as you’ll see, they aren’t all that different:
Pork Tenderloin
Calories: 96 calories
Total Fat: 3 grams
Saturated Fat: 1 grams
Cholesterol: 48 milligrams
Protein: 18 grams
Iron 6%
Thiamin 45%
Niacin 30%
B6 27%
B12 6%
Pork also contains healthy doses of zinc and selenium.
Chicken Breast
Calories: 142 calories
Total Fat: 3 grams
Saturated Fat: 1 grams
Cholesterol: 73 milligrams
Protein: 27 grams
Iron 5%
Thiamin 4%
Niacin 59%
B6 26%
B12 5%
Chicken is also a good source of selenium.
Of course, what you choose to eat is always a personal decision. If you’re a pork fan, below is a collection of recipes you might want to try. If not, check out alternative meats like bison, which is also lean, or consider a more vegetarian-focused diet.
- Pork recipes to try:
- Herb-Roasted Pork Loin with Parsley-Shallot Sauce
- Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Celery Root-Apple Puree & Cider Gravy (shown above)
- Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce
- Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin
- Chipotle Orange-Glazed Pork Chops
TELL US: Where do you stand on the pork debate?
43 miligrams of cholesterol for pork tenderloin? The package I read in the store (2 loins per pack)says the servings have 23% cholesterol of DV. That’s why I have stayed away from it. And is your chicken breast skinless, as well as free of fat globules that can easily be removed.
Thousands of lives per year could be saved by triming the fat off of pork cuts, from chops, roasts, and loins. Yet your star chefs seem intent on cooking untrimmed pork. The use of bacon and its proliferation on the Food Network is abominable. All the stars are fat, except for a couple, and only Alton has a true sense of the responsibilty to educate eaters on what is healty, and what is poison. Take it from a former chef who now has heart disease. Flay can eat his rib-eye with a big chunk of fat on the edge, and Paula can butter and cream herself into the hearts of a gullible and obese nation, but their day in the Cath lab is coming.
I listen to my body, I *really* listen to my body. I recently left my vegetarian diet of 5+ years (for a number of reasons), and have a pretty good idea of what a healthy diet consists of. Pork, on occasion, fits the bill. I like lean pork, of course, and (with regard to the above statement) still like bacon. I don’t eat a lot of it. What I do eat, though, answers a call that body appreciates.
I think pork, like with anything we put into our bodies, is something to regard with consideration and respect. It’s good for me, and I respond to it.
We raised our meat, and always had a large garden when pour children where going up. They where very healthy and not over weight. I am very careful, now that I buy my meat and vegtables. I like to buy in local markets and farmers markets not chain stores.
Why is that everyone I met that say they don’t eat pork is FAT? What ever they are eating they need to stop. For me I eat pork and I’m tall and slim. Now I don’t eat a lot of it but I do eat it. As a matter of fact there isn’t much I don’t eat. I just never over eat.
I find the pork tenderloin to be economical and delicious. My family also loves when I make it for dinner. Their favorite is when I cook it with BBQ sauce, a little honey & molasses. As for bacon, because it is fatty, I like to use Canadian bacon. It makes a great BLT and goes great with breakfast too.
My family enjoys pork tenderloin from time to time – we actually like it better than chicken, and it’s a tie with the traditional eye of round roast that my husband craves on Sundays (not every Sunday…but he would eat a mini “Thanksgiving” dinner every Sunday if I’d make it!). We roast it, grill it, saute medallions…we never bread or fry it, like some restaurants. We enjoy it!
yes pork is great if chops are not over cooked, with a bit of pink. as to fat, it is what makes pork great even if you do not like to eat it one needs a little fat from like pork too and some evo oil. we cook ours in olive oil great. i do not like any over trimmed cut of meat!!! will not buy it as i say where is the fat!
God said not to eat the UNCLEAN,pork is UNCLEAN.It has allways ben UNCEAN and allways will be. God doz not change !
Thanks for another great article. This comment is about pork or bacon causing heart disease… it is in the presence of EXCESS CALORIES that our bodies go haywire… don’t “flood the system” (imagine a light rain on your garden vs. a heavy rain which causes a puddle) which means DO NOT OVEREAT whether it be carbohydrates, saturated fat, or protein!!! The solution is not to vilify a single nutrient, but to include ample amounts of cardio-protective fruits and vegetables along with daily activity in the context of a eucaloric diet (one that meets BUT NOT EXCEEDS your energy needs). To eat a diet with too many calories, thereby accumulating excessive bodyfat and a dysfunctional metabolism (insulin resistance and dyslipidemia), and then place the blame on a single factor such as saturated fat is INCORRECT. People do this and then go to the other extreme and say “we must cut out evil bacon” vs. trying SMALLER AMOUNTS OF BACON in the context of a “healthy diet” (not excessive in calories).
i’m so glad to have stumbled upon this article–the title question has been resonating in my head every time i find myself at the meat counter! i really appreciated your detailed (and comparative!) info.
Chicken obviously has more protein, but Pork ain's doing bad at 18g per 96 cal. serving.
that was in the old testament…we follow the new testament
Now I have no particular religion but have read all the (very long winded) books and I believe Jesus said "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Which to most people must suggest he feels you should follow the Old Testament unless for some reason the rules changed.
I shall go eat pork happily, I have no one to tell me off… But Chris.. you really should feel a touch guilty and not just because of the calories
Moderation in everything including moderation.
Who want to eat a scavenger like pigs when there are so many other choices in the meat shelves at the local grossery?
To eat pork you can likely eat rats and lizzards and other creepy animals they also are full of worms and viruses not healthy for us as humans. We become what we eat, remember that!!! And the last but not least, what we eat also effect our soul so to maintain a good body and soul we have to eat clean and healthy food.
A chicken will eat anything it can get its beak on including each other. I eat both pork and chicken. the doctor tells me I am one of healthest 67 year olds he knows.