For a long time, many people have always associated eating fatty meat with getting high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, obesity, and other conditions, as if eating fatty meat is the main culprit for people contracting these diseases. Even some elderly friends with high blood lipids avoid eating even slightly fatty meat. In fact, this is a misunderstanding of fatty meat.
The fatty meat we mainly refer to is pork fat, such as some parts of pork belly (pork belly) and pork leg (pork hind leg). Nutritionally, eating these fatty meats in moderation is not only harmless to the body but also beneficial to human health. Especially for the elderly, eating well-cooked fatty meat (simmered for about two hours) can lower blood lipids, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, prolong life, and improve intelligence and beauty.
Japan once investigated the eating habits of dozens of centenarians and found that in addition to loving labor, being active, and being optimistic, most of the long-lived people loved to eat stewed fatty pork, with almost more than 90% of them doing so. Moreover, none of these elderly people had high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, obesity, or arteriosclerosis.
Later, relevant experts pointed out through experiments that as the stewing time of fatty meat increases, the saturated fatty acid content in pork decreases significantly. Fatty meat stewed for more than two hours can decrease by 46.5%, reaching the lowest point. Meanwhile, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids continue to increase with the cooking time, reaching their peak value at two hours. This way, the factors in fatty meat that are unfavorable to the human body (saturated fatty acids and cholesterol) are converted into factors that are beneficial to the human body (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids). At the same time, the stewed fatty meat retains the original nutritional components of pork (rich in vitamin B1, protein, and essential fatty acids), and the gelatinous part is easier for the human body to digest and absorb. Therefore, it is especially suitable for the elderly to eat.
When residents buy pork in the market, they should choose pork with a bright and fresh red color, feel that the meat texture is firm, the surface is slightly dry or slightly moist and not sticky, the indentation after pressing can quickly recover, and there is no fishy or foul smell.
When cooking this slightly fatty pork for the elderly at home, it is best to use a sealed pressure cooker, which can make the meat more tender and well-cooked. In terms of cooking methods, fatty pork can be made into various dishes, such as boiled white meat, pickled cabbage with white meat, stewed pork belly, braised pork, and garlic white meat, etc.