This Little Piggy Ate More Soy

A study published in the August 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has me wondering if the scientists are on to something by testing a new diet on Iowa pigs.

I was born and raised in Iowa. My great-grandparents were hog farmers and my father first trade was as butcher. I guess it stands to reason that we ate meat in our family. Pork roast dinner prepared by my mother was one of my all time favorites when I was growing up at home. Today I still eat meat but not on a daily basis, maybe once every couple of weeks I'll have a portion of red meat. Mostly I prefer vegetables, fish and poultry. Regardless, smelling pork tenderloin charring on the grill will get my mouth to watering. Yes... I cut off the fat before I eat it!

Scientists Want To Help Protect Your Heart

Scientists realize that most of us are not as health conscious as we could be. And for those that are more inclined to honor their bodies with more nutritious choices, chances are they will occasionally cheat because the lure of favorite not-so-healthy foods is hard to refuse.

Researchers in Iowa were able to reduce a pig's normal composition of saturated fat by altering their diet, exchanging it with the healthier, polyunsaturated kind. Murray Kaplan, MD (Kaplan works in the Departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University), explains "people are going to eat traditional foods." This is why he and his study team chose to focus on changing the diet of the food source (pigs) instead of asking pork lovers to change their diet habits to choosing fish over pork.

In order to make healthier pork, researchers reduced the ground corn used in traditional feed. Instead, additional soybean and soy oil was given to the pigs in the study.

Twenty women volunteered to eat the soy fed pork a couple of times a week in addition to their usual diet. Later, consuming the same number of calories and total percentage of fat as before they switched back to having the regular pork. When comparing the results, the women treated to the soy piggy dinners for eight weeks had lower cholesterol levels when consuming the increased soy fed pork over the usual mostly corn fed pork. Unhealthy fatty acids found in their blood were also lower. The women also reported they couldn't tell the difference taste wise. This indicated that the modified pork could be added to a heart healthy diet soon.

Where's The Bacon?

One draw back that was noted by Jeanne Stewart (student at Iowa State) was that this special diet made the meat too soft to procure bacon from.

Where's The Beef?

It was also reported that a cow's complicated digestive tract makes it nearly impossible right now to slim them down. Don't expect to find beef as a healthy choice any time soon.

Article dateline: August 2001