There’s a lot of talk right now about being healthier in the new year, especially around eating. There’s also a lot of talk about vitamin D deficiency during the winter months and Seasonal Affective Disorder. In fact, 94.3% of the US population do not meet the daily requirement for vitamin D! 😬 So I thought I would offer this little tidbit. One of the easiest things you can do right now is just give yourself an oil change.
Do you know what food has the 2nd highest amount of vitamin D of any food? 👉 PASTURE 👏 RAISED 👏LARD 👏
The Weston A. Price Foundation found that pasture-raised lard contains 1,000 IU of vitamin D in just 1 tablespoon! It is only slightly lower than cod liver oil at 1,360 IU.
But make no mistake - being raised on pasture matters! Pastured pigs run around in the sunshine, that’s where the vitamin D comes from.🌞 Conventionally raised hogs are raised inside steel buildings their whole lives and have vastly lower levels of vitamin D, like a hundred times lower. The USDA reports that the vitamin D content of conventionally raised lard is just a measly 13 IU. So don’t just cook with any old lard. Find some pig fat or rendered lard from a local farmer who is raising their pigs on pasture!🙋🏼♀️
Pasture-raised lard also has a high omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, is high in vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant, and it is rich in a little known but essential nutrient called choline.
Rendering lard yourself is crazy simple. Just chop it up, pop it in a slow cooker on low, stir occasionally, and spoon off the rendered fat after several hours. The remaining cracklings can then be fried up into a delicious snack or used as a topping for salads, soups, eggs, etc.
Besides using it for nearly all of our cooking and baking, we make everything from soaps to salves to furniture polish with lard.
You know how Gus from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding feels about Windex? Well I’m kind of like that…but with lard.
Chapped lips? Lard. Frizzy hair? Lard. Dry skin? Lard. Bath soap? Lard. Squeaky hinge? Lard. Dried out wood? Lard. Old cowboy boots? Lard. Rusty cast iron? Lard. Best pie crust you ever tasted? Lard.
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