7 Things You May Not Know About Bacon
It's Labor Day today and we thought we'd share an article that would do two things for you: 1) give you some background info on something you may be eating today; and 2) give you something interesting to talk about at barbecues so that you can appear smart in front of your friends and family.
It’s about time someone stood up for bacon. We thought we’d share an article that would do two things for you: 1) give you some background info on something you may be eating today; and 2) give you something interesting to talk about at barbecues so that you can appear smart in front of your friends and family. Without further adieu, things you may not know about bacon:
Photo: Mandy Jouan / Flickr
1. The amounts of Vitamin B3 in bacon may help you live longer
Eat long strips of bacon and prosper! Photo: Didriks / Flickr
A recent study showed that niacin (also known as Vitamin B3) - which is present in bacon - can help you live a longer life. While niacin is also present in other potentially healthier foods like chicken, peanuts and dates, you may be able to give the executor of your will a little extra time if you have some bacon in your diet.
2. Bacon is addictive. It contains umami, which produces an addictive neurochemical response.
It’s pretty easy to get addicted to chocolate bacon donuts.
Human taste buds can detect five main forms of flavor: bitter, salty, sweet, sour, and umami. Umami is like a super flavor, and bacon has 6 different umami flavors in it. When you combine multiple umami-giving compounds, they enhance one another, causing a celebration in your mouth that is similar to the one you have in your brain when you just watched the most amazing viral video.
3. The average American eats about 18 pounds of bacon each year.
You know what else weighs 18 lbs? Photo: Dean Hochman / Flickr.
Just to put this in perspective, here are some other things that weigh about 18 pounds: a car tire, two medium sized bowling balls, and eighty sticks of butter. On the plus side, bacon tastes much better than a tire and a bowling ball.
4. Bacon may help cure hangovers.
If you had too many of these, than some bacon may actually help. Photo: Anne Petersen / Flickr
A study by the Newcastle University’s Centre for Life showed that a bacon sandwich can help speed up your metabolism and help your body get rid of booze more quickly. Drinking alcohol can also deplete your neurotransmitters, but bacon contains a high level of aminos which tops these up, and helps clear your head. It’s like a good, caring friend who just wants to help nurse you back to recovery.
5. A 250 pound pig yields about 23 pounds of bacon.
“I’m a cool 248 lbs, thank you very much.” Photo: David Merrett / Flickr
Not all of the pig is edible. On average, about 57% of the pig makes it from its pen to your stomach. So a 250 pound pig equals about 144 pounds total of retail cuts. The chart below adds some more color (note: the color of the sections of the pig below are not the actual colors of the cuts of meat):
Photo: courtesy of wikipedia.com (Boston butt)
6. Canadian bacon is not really bacon. It is fully cooked, smoked pork loin.
Close enough, right? Photo: Stefano A. / Flickr
Don’t allow this fact to let you get carried away with other things that are Canadian. Canadian baseball is really baseball and Canadian football is really football (though it is true that Canada does not have a team in the NFL).
7. When he is not acting, Kevin Bacon performs in a band with his brother called "The Bacon Brothers"
Even Snapchat is now less than 6 degrees away. Photo: danielle defrancesco / Flickr
Didn’t see that coming, did you?