Grease From Beef Is Bad for You

Since today is National Greasy foods day, I thought to commemorate it by writing up a blog on whether or not grease is really as unhealthy as people say it is!

Nutritionists say that eating a lot of grease is not healthy for you. You should opt for something grilled instead of fried because it does not require grease to grill something and fried is being cooked directly in grease.  Doctors say that it is not healthy for the heart for you to eat certain types of grease. Is it really true that some people have died from eating too much grease? Here we will take a look at 2 different sides of arguments. One that says grease is not healthy and the other side that says grease can do no harm if you eat it.

Grease is unhealthy for you. I mean a little grease cannot be a bad thing. It's good to enjoy something greasy every once in a while, as long as it is not in excess. I do not see how grease could necessarily be a bad thing.

The other argument would say that grease is totally okay to eat as much as you want whenever you want. Doctor's don't know what they are talking about. Just because they have a degree does not give them the right or the knowledge to tell you what you can or can't eat.  They say it is for our health so we don't die of a heart attack or obesity, but what do they really know? Maybe being overweight runs in my family and heart problems? Is it really any healthier to eat grilled food then it is to grease? Chicken is chicken whether it is fried in grease or grilled on a grill.

Nutritionists and Doctor's go to school and have proven that eating as much greasy foods as you want is most definitely a bad thing. It has contributed to obesity and heart attacks. There were reports of a certain restaurant selling a thick burger. I don't remember the name, but a few different incidents where these customers who ate this burger ended up with a heart attack. I am not saying the burger started the heart attack. I am saying that it did not help to prevent their heart attack versus the grilled chicken sandwiches' or grilled chicken salad's that are offered at most restaurant.

Grease is not bad for everyone. Some people have high cholesterol and therefore cannot have grease as it is a bad thing for them and can raise their cholesterol. However, others have no medical conditions where it requires them to limit their grease and are perfectly healthy. Grease cannot hurt everyone, but it can hurt some people. Whether it is a bad thing or not depends on the person and their medical conditions.  (McAbee, 2012)

There is such a thing as good fats. These are vegetable lard, Tallow, Butter, coconut oil, palm oil and olive oil. These kinds of fats will help you to stay lean, fit, and healthy. You would not think that there are any healthy or needed fats but there are. Fats are under the same category as grease so this here proves my point that some fats are not bad when taken in moderation. (M, 2009)

Not all grease is as bad as they say it is. Nutritionists and doctors would like you to believe that grease is a totally horrible thing and that it will damage you severely. It is not as bad as they make it to sound, although if you have cholesterol problems then watch your intake because it is not good for you to have on a regular basis, but if you have no cholesterol or heart problems then feel free to indulge yourself more than once in that juicy fried chicken dipped in grease.

When it comes down to foods there are certain types of foods that you can eat (heart-healthy food) to help lower your cholesterol levels. Tran's fats and saturated fats are a big no-no and you should stay away from them, so make sure you choose healthier fats. Limiting the cholesterol in your foods will help to lower your cholesterol.  Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and omega 3 rich foods are great sources, and they have the correct type of fats for your heart.  (Staff, 2012)

Grease is not so good for you but when used in moderation it will not pose so much a problem. I know people who rarely use it to cook and others who use it in southern style green beans and on occasions such as thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.   The "grease" you get from FAT food restaurants is from vegetable oils. These oils, like soybean, canola, cottonseed, and corn oils are polyunsaturated and very unstable. When they heat them, ever so slightly, they oxidize (go rancid).

They are rancid before they open the bottle to use them. This hype about them being "trans fat free" is total bunk. Nature packaged vegetable oils very nicely in seeds where lots of antioxidants are found that protect the oils from being oxidized. Once the oils are extracted from the seeds, oxygen goes to work on them. Any omega 3 fatty acids in them are converted to the "trans" configuration from heat and light.

Your body knows all this and looks at these oils as toxins. They end up on your skin because the liver and kidneys get overwhelmed with this junk and your skin acts like a third kidney where the toxins can be easily deposited.  Hydrogenated oils are the worst. Hydrogenation is done as an attempt to make the polyunsaturated oils act like saturated fats that are very stable. Your body knows the difference.

FAT food restaurants are probably the epitome most closely emulating the movie, "Soylent Green." Everything being sold there has a profit motive, not health. The marketing departments do a great job convincing a public that has no clue of what is good and bad food or they would never step into one of those places. If you wanted to destroy a nation from within, sending people to those places would be the best way, because of this, approximately 53% of the Americans are chronically ill. (Fleischer, 1973)

Any type of lipid is considered cooking grease. This could include solid liquid at room temperature. Grease naturally has a bad name for being unhealthy. This is because people overuse or abuse it, but not all grease is bad either. Grease, fats, or lipids are primarily used to add fat to your cooking.  (contributor, 2012)

Grease can and will contribute to the clogging of arteries, if not used in moderation. You can take bacon grease and add flavors to other types of food with, some have reported using it to flavor up Brussels sprouts. You should however, eat more natural foods, cook in less grease. You will be healthier and happier.

One of the world's most popular restaurant has become a topic of debate…How healthy are the healthier choices at McDonald's'? McDonald's is unhealthy because it is very high in fat, especially saturated fats and trans fats. It is low in vitamins and minerals, especially lacking in fresh fruit and veg. A regular Big Mac meal with large fries and a milkshake comes in at about 2000 calories. That's equivalent to the entire daily allowance for a physically active adult woman.

McDonald's contains Trans Fats which is said to be bad for you. It also has high calories, high fat, low fiber, low nutrients, high carbs, high saturated fats, fried in saturated oils, and large portions. Some types of grease such as bacon grease is a contributing factor to Obesity and other health problems. I was reading an article with a title that surprised me. "Go Ahead, Drink Bacon Grease for Breakfast", I naturally had to read it! Do people really drink bacon grease, or is this just a figurative way of saying eating? I had to read on to find out.

There were two different types of studies that were done. One of the studies, a low fat diet did NOT reduce the risk of cancer and heart attacks as doctors would say. The other study found that taking calcium supplements did more harm than good. "A low-fat diet recommends only 20 to 25 grams of fat per day, which would be about 10 to 15 percent of a 2,000-calorie diet.  The subjects, all women, couldn't reach the modest study goal of 20 percent.

They tried, but they ended up with 24 to 29 percent of their calories from fat.  The researchers compared these ladies to a control group at the 35-percent fat level." Calcium tablets in studies were found to give people kidney stones. Some people blot the grease off the pizza or bacon. I know I used to do that in my teen years because the schools pizza was too greasy for me.

Restaurant's such as McDonald's and Burger King are working on a more health conscious diet, adding apple slices with happy meals and kids meals, salads added to the menu's and even advertising the milk products as being low fat.  (Gottlieb, 2007)

I had run into a list of the top 10 unhealthiest foods. I will list them, with the link to them so that you might see why they are unhealthy. The list consists of the Triple whopper from Burger king with cheese, Qdoba Mexican Grill's Taco Salad, Dairy Queen's six piece chicken strip basket, Hardee's thick monster burger, Domino's three cheese and mac bread bowl pasta, Five guys burgers and Fries' Large French Fries, Rudy Tuesday's Boston Blue Burger, Carl's Jr.'s double six dollar burger, Nathan's Famous Fish and Chips, and last but not least, Quiznos Large Tuna Melt. (Hill, 2012)

They do have a fat trapper to help remove unhealthy grease from meals.  Most of us have grease in our cupboards and may not even realize it. Canola Oil which is used recommended for baking and stirs fry. You also have Sunflower Oil which is recommended for high-heat frying, browning, and searing. Margarine is recommended over butter as a healthier alternative but is used for some baking as well as spreading on things such as the toast you eat for breakfast in the morning.

Coconut Oil is used for frying because of its high tolerance to heat. Olive oil is used on salads, in cold ingredients, as well as some baking. Butter is used for frying, cream-sauce making, and baking. Peanut oil used for baking is another form of grease, and of course, last but not least, you have palm oil which is recommended for frying. (Womans Day , 2012)

Grease not only clogs up your arteries but it can clog up your pipes if you pour it down the drain as well. There is a way to both save it and dispose of it. I need to rephrase something. SOME grease is bad for you, while others are not. Though, one of the most popular greasy foods we eat is Bacon.

Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon (also known as green bacon). Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon is typically cooked before eating. Boiled bacon is ready to eat, as is some smoked bacon, but may be cooked further before eating.

Bacon is prepared from several different cuts of meat. It is usually made from side and back cuts of pork, except in the United States, where it is almost always prepared from pork belly (typically referred to as "streaky", "fatty", or "American style" outside of the US and Canada). The side cut has more meat and less fat than the belly. Bacon may be prepared from either of two distinct back cuts: fatback, which is almost pure fat, and pork loin, which is very lean. Bacon-cured pork loin is known as back bacon.

Bacon may be eaten smoked, boiled, fried, baked, or grilled, or used as a minor ingredient to flavor dishes. Bacon is also used for barding and larding roasts, especially game, e.g. venison, pheasant. The word is derived from the Old High Germanbacho, meaning "buttock", "ham" or "side of bacon", and cognate with the Old Frenchbacon. In continental Europe, this part of the pig is usually not smoked like bacon is in the United States; it is used primarily in cubes (lardoons) as a cooking ingredient, valued both as a source of fat and for its flavor.

In Italy, this is called pancetta and is usually cooked in small cubes or served uncooked and thinly sliced as part of an antipasto. Meat from other animals, such as beef, lamb, chicken, goat, or turkey, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to a "bacon". Such use is common in areas with significant Jewish and Muslim populations. The USDA defines bacon as "the cured belly of a swine carcass"; other cuts and characteristics must be separately qualified (e.g., "smoked pork loin bacon"). For safety, bacon must be treated to prevent trichinosis, caused byTrichinella, a parasitic roundworm which can be destroyed by heating, freezing, drying, or smoking.

Bacon is distinguished from salt pork and ham by differences in the brine (or dry packing). Bacon brine has added curing ingredients, most notably sodium nitrite, and occasionally sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate (saltpeter); sodium ascorbate or erythorbate are added to accelerate curing and stabilize color. Flavorings such as brown sugar or maple are used for some products. If used, sodium polyphosphates are added to improve sliceability and reduce spattering when the bacon is pan fried. Today, brine for ham, but not bacon, includes a large amount of sugar.

Historically, "ham" and "bacon" referred to different cuts of meat that were brined or packed identically, often together in the same barrel. Most of the time people will blame the food, but I have to wonder how much at fault is the food really? You turn on the television and see obese children on this Disney or nick jr. show, while yet, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with it. When you see that obese child grab a supersize shake and pack on a lot greasy foods, it does not exactly set an example for that child who is watching the show.

There is a difference in Trans Fats and Saturated Fats. Many people make the same mistakes with cooking, turning a healthy meal into an unhealthy one. If you are frying your food, stop. It is not quite as healthy as if you were not frying your food. Putting salt, sugar and fat on your food is another common cooking mistake especially if you have cholesterol problems.

It is much healthier to go for fresh foods then it is to go for processed foods, which is described as canned foods. From my research you should definitely avoid the breaded foods. You should definitely cut down on the meat while yet you don't have to cut it out of your diet completely. The worst mistake anyone can make is eating out. It is much healthier to eat at home with some lovely, tasty home cooking then it is to go and get some food at a restaurant. (Mann)

Fats are an easy substitute, but there are several different types of fat and each has different substitutions. For example, in most cases olive oil can be substituted for unhealthy oils and fats, such as bacon grease. Olive oil does contain fat, but it contains healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. According to the Harvard School of Public Learning, these types of fats lower disease risk. Butter can be a bit tricky. When choosing between butter and margarine, margarine is only a healthy substitute for butter if it has zero grams of trans-fat and doesn't contain partially hydrogenated oils.

According to the Mayo Clinic website, margarine that contain trans-fat can actually be more harmful than the saturated fats found in butter. When baking, recipes sometimes don't even need fat. The fat usually is there to keep baked goods moist. Instead of using harmful fats, apple sauce, fat-free yogurt and fat-free sour cream make great substitutes. If a recipe depends on the flavor of butter, whipped butter may make a good substitution, especially those that contain olive oil.  These substitutions are lower in saturated fat but still add great flavor to baked goods. Just remember that in most cases, tub margarine will not work for baked goods because it contains too much liquid.

The CDC states that two-thirds of Americans should consume around 1,500 mg of sodium per day. Unfortunately, many Americans consume two times as much sodium. While cutting processed foods from your diet will lower the amount of sodium consumed, there are ways to lower sodium in homemade foods as well. The easiest way to cut sodium and maintain flavor is to use herbs and spices. Homemade spice blends add wonderful flavor without adding excessive amounts of sodium. Be careful of store bought spice blends though because they can contain large amounts of sodium.

Another way to add flavor is to use citrus juices. Fresh lemon, lime and even orange juice can add wonderful flavor, especially to grilled meats. They also pair perfectly with certain spices and herbs. With a bit of experimentation, cooks can create delicious flavor blends that are low in sodium.

Look at the label of many processed foods and it will not only list loads of sodium, but many products are also loaded with refined sugar. Even when preparing foods at home, too much sugar can be consumed. An easy way to cut sugar from your diet is to choose sugar substitutes.

                                    Bibliography

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Fleischer, R. (Director). (1973). Soylent Green [Motion Picture].

Gottlieb, O. (2007, April 30). Mcdonalds and Obesity. Retrieved from Voices.yahoo.com: http://voices.yahoo.com/mcdonalds-obese-fast-food-grease-joint-healthy-312310.html?cat=5

Hill, M. (2012). top 10 most unhealthy fast foods. Retrieved from http://www.toptenz.net: http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-unhealthy-fast-foods.php

M, K. (2009). Healthy Fats. Retrieved from Food renegade: http://www.foodrenegade.com/healthy-fats/

Mann, A. (n.d.). Top 5 bad cooking habits and how to break them. Retrieved from http://www.spryliving.com: http://www.spryliving.com/articles/top-5-bad-cooking-habits-and-how-to-break-them/

McAbee, K. (2012, July 23). Interview. Personal. Hampton, Virginia, USA.

Staff, M. C. (2012, May 27). Reduce Cholesterol. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/reduce-cholesterol/CL00012/

Womans Day . (2012). The grease in the pan, 8 cooking oils. Retrieved from http://www.womansday.com: http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-shortcuts/the-grease-in-the-pan-8-cooking-oils-75532

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