I know many of my readers follow a paleo diet, I did too for a couple of years and now eat mostly paleo with a little gluten free sprinkled in the mix. Frequently on the paleo menu is bacon. Look around paleo circles and you’ll see “I LOVE BACON” everywhere!
It gets a little crazy in the paleo world actually with most people thinking they’ve been granted a free license to go burkers on bacon 
But is bacon healthy?
I want to keep this short and sweet but aim to bust a few myths about bacon because I actually don’t think it’s that healthy (at least the conventional kind), and in fact it could be the one thing keeping you unhealthy!
Is Bacon Healthy?
The bacon that most people eat comes direct from the regular supermarket and grocery store.
Fact number 1: Bacon is a processed meat. Processed means it’s not as healthy as unprocessed meat options, now that’s common sense thinking, right?
Fact number 2: The ingredients in conventional bacon usually looks something like this:
Bacon (Cured with Water, Salt, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite, May Also Contain Smoke Flavoring, Sugar, Dextrose, Brown Sugar, Sodium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Flavouring)
There is A LOT of salt in bacon and for those who have heart problems, hypertension, diabetes and other issues this is not good, and yet I see loads of people with these problems following a paleo diet and eating loads of conventional bacon.
Sodium Erythorbate – produced from sugars derived from different sources, such as beets, sugar cane, and corn. Used to help get a faster cure and retain pinkness of meats and prevent carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Sodium nitrite – an inorganic compound also used in pharmaceuticals, dyes, and pesticides. Used as a food additive to prevent botulism and the growth of bacteria.
Most conventional bacon also contains sugar, nitrates, and any of the other things listed above too, none of which I’d really consider healthy.
Now I bet you might have thought I was going to say fat was bad…nope I don’t think the fat in bacon is the issue here at all.
My experience
I used to eat lots of bacon when I first started paleo years ago. I mean it is a bit like a party to know it’s okay to eat, it does taste great after all. But it never did ‘feel’ quite right and so I decided to experiment and cut it out. Personally I think it made a HUGE difference, and while I do eat it occasionally for a Sunday breakfast once a month or so, I don’t think it’s something you want to have on your menu every day or even every other day.
I think weight loss and health results can be improved much more by cutting out the bacon! (Sorry to burst your bubble)
The exception to the rule
What I’m talking about above is the type of bacon most people eat on paleo and think is healthy, when it’s not. You can buy good quality bacon and that’s a different story.
For example, US Wellness Meats make a bacon with just pork and sea salt. No white sugar, brown sugar, honey powder, agave, turbinado sugar, MSG, nitrates or nitrites. Eating this type of bacon is an entirely different story.
Here in Australia you can shop around local butchers, local organic producers and see what you can find, you will pay a premium price though, which is why most people eat conventional bacon in the first place.
So that’s my take on bacon.
Of course, you don’t have to listen to me but if you’re not happy with your current results, you might just want to try cutting it out and see what happens.
Wishing you the best in health
Jedha
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