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Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all. In t
by mathattack 13y ago
Believe it or not, though, bacon’s association with the American breakfast is barely a century old
I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all.
In the 1920s, Bernays was approached by the Beech-Nut Packing Company – producers of everything from pork products to the nostalgic Beech-Nut bubble gum. Beech-Nut wanted to increase consumer demand for bacon. Bernays turned to his agency’s internal doctor and asked him whether a heavier breakfast might be more beneficial for the American public. Knowing which way his bread was buttered, the doctor confirmed Bernays suspicion and wrote to five thousand of his doctors friends asking them to confirm it as well. This ‘study’ of doctors encouraging the American public to eat a heavier breakfast – namely ‘Bacon and Eggs’ – was published in major newspapers and magazines of the time to great success. Beech-Nut’s profits rose sharply thanks to Bernays and his team of medical professionals.
The irony is that this is at least half right. Eating protein for breakfast is considered healthy. Perhaps there are better ways to get protein than bacon and fried eggs, but it's not completely off base.
- mef 13y agoCitation for the protein assertion?
- mathattack 13y agohttp://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/many-benefits-breakfast http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-lots-protein-morning-3574.html http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/benefits-lots-protein-mornin... http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-breakfast-benefits http://greatist.com/health/high-protein-breakfast-benefits None of this says eat bacon and eggs every day, but it is pro-protein. Sometimes I'll cook peas with eggs, or have high protein yogurt (Siggi's or Chobani) or turkey bacon rather than picking up the fat in regular bacon. Of course if my midsection would allow it, I'd have a pound of the good bacon every morning!
- dylandrop 13y ago>Before this, the majority of Americans ate more modest, often meatless breakfasts that might include fruit, a grain porridge (oat, wheat or corn meals) or a roll, and usually a cup of coffee. Pretty hard to argue that bacon is really as healthy as oatmeal & fruit. Just for reference, fried eggs have a crapload of cholesterol (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=fried+egg) and bacon is pretty fattening and in general, not too great on cholesterol either (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2+strips+of+bacon). And this doesn't even include all of the oil these things are fried in.
- liquidcool 13y agoHowever, eggs have equal amounts of good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol, so most nutritionists feel they cancel each other out and hence eggs aren't considered bad. Few are recommending bacon (although Canadian bacon is fairly lean).
- dylandrop 13y agoYeah, I don't think eggs are the primary bad guy here, it's mostly the oil / butter for frying and the bacon. Also considering the alternative mentioned in the article, eating some fruit and some grains would probably be much healthier.
- nazgulnarsil 13y agoDietary cholesterol is not well correlated with blood serum cholesterol. Dietary fat is also not "fattening." I really wish people wouldn't mindlessly repeat nutritional maxims, they cause a lot of harm.
- rayiner 13y agoDietary cholesterol and dietary fat have very little to do with blood cholesterol and body fat.
- svachalek 13y agoMy wife is pregnant and dealing with gestational diabetes so recently I'm learning to track all this stuff. You'd be amazed at how bad an oatmeal and fruit breakfast can wreck your blood sugar (as in double it in a matter of minutes). Bacon may not be the best protein source but getting a little protein and fat in the morning calorie mix is really a must.
- bluedino 13y ago>> I'm not sure why this would be hard to believe at all. It's very hard to believe - bacon, cured in salt was a preserved food and you will find references to it in almost any account of American history. The early settlers in the 1500's brought pigs to America and it's been an American staple ever since.
- patrickg_zill 13y agoA keto diet would see bacon and eggs as completely normal, provided you didn't have a lot of toast with it.