Science Says This Is The Healthiest Way To Cook Bacon – Health Digest

You may love bacon, but its nutritional elements aren’t likely to love you back. Truth is, bacon isn’t exactly the type of food you’d find on most healthy eating meal plans since it’s basically a fatty cut of meat. However, you may not have to say goodbye to bacon entirely, especially if you’re willing to switch up the way you cook each fat-striped slice.

What makes bacon an “eat with caution” type of ingredient in the first place, though? To be honest, it’s filled with fat and salt, as well as low on essential nutrients like vitamins. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture notes that for every slice of bacon you consume, you’re getting 10.4 grams of fat and 210 milligrams of sodium. That’s significant, given that the U.S. Food & Drug Admininstration recommends that adults eat 78 grams of fat and 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily. By chowing down on just one slice of bacon — and it’s notoriously hard to eat just one slice in a sitting — you’re getting more than 10% of your fat allotment and about 9% of your sodium target for the day.

With this in mind, you may wonder how you can reduce the overall nutritional impact of bacon. The answer is to follow some simple rules when preparing your bacon. (Hint: You won’t need any pans and griddles.)

Since saturated fat is one of bacon’s downsides, you’ll want to take steps to limit how much of bacon’s natural fat content reaches your plate. According to Angel Luk, a registered dietitian and nutritionist, all you need to accomplish this feat is an air fryer.

“Cooking strips of bacon directly on the tray of an air fryer helps excess oil drip off, thereby reducing extra calories from fat compared against bacon cooked in a pan or griddle,” says Luk, who runs the Food Mysteries website. So, how much fat can you shave off of each slice? The exact amount of fat will vary, but any fat rendered off the bacon will wind up in the air fryer rather than in your body.

To get the crispiest possible result, Luk suggests flipping your bacon midway, being careful to avoid the hot grease. Additionally, she advises resting the cooked bacon on a plate lined with a paper towel. Add another paper towel on top, and you’ll soak up the maximum amount of oil before diving into your bacon.

No air fryer? No problem. You could also try cooking your bacon in the oven. Use a pan outfitted with a wire rack, and when the bacon’s finished, turn to Luk’s paper towel method to grab as much grease as you can.

There’s another way to get a better dietary outcome from your bacon: Swap out regular bacon for an alternate type of bacon-like product. For your troubles, you may end up not just improving your health, but also lowering your risk of being diagnosed with cancer.

Angel Luk notes that regular bacon is classified by the World Health Organization as a group 1 carcinogen because it’s a processed meat. “There is very strong evidence that it [bacon] causes cancer, just like other processed meats, including ham, salami and frankfurts,” she says. “Also, there is some evidence that eating red meat is associated with certain cancers, including colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate.”

What’s a good swap for pork-based bacon? Turkey bacon could be an appealing substitute, particularly if you’re mostly concerned about reducing your intake of meat-related fat. Data from Healthline shows that turkey bacon has about two-thirds the fat content of bacon made from pork.

Not a fan of turkey bacon? Looking for something that’s even leaner? Plant-based bacon exists. Luk calls it a more sustainable option because it has a smaller carbon footprint, as well as a decreased saturated fat profile. A 2023 CNET vegan bacon review reveals that bacon made from plants contains about one gram less of fat per slice than pork bacon, which is about the same “fat savings” as turkey bacon. However, bacon created from meat substitutes can offer other benefits, including fewer calories and salt than pork bacon.