This is Part 2 of the previous discussion regarding Vitamin D and the importance to all people but most especially melanated people due to the fact that most of us have a hard time with vitamin D conversion from the sun because of our skin tone which is why the foods we eat to make sure that we get enough of Vitamin D is of utter importance. As we know, Vitamin D is chief in the role it plays in our health, which is why talking about diet is predominant in this very discussion. I noted in the preceding blog some foods that were high in vitamin D but one of the main foods that I would like to further consider is pork!
I'm like a fly on the wall as I listen to conversations about diet, superfoods, what's healthy, what's not healthy and so on. One thing that truly bothers me is when I hear conversations of how our ancestors ate a slave diet and that they were fed scraps that the slave masters didn't want to eat. That bothered me so much because, it's as if the generations before us was so naive and helpless that they did not know anything about the food they ingested and what they needed to survive and thrive, especially working on a plantation all day, in a hot field from sunup to sundown. I know this maybe a slight exaggeration from my subconscious but, you get the point. As I started to analyze this a bit closer, I found some very interesting things about, pork, the other white meat (remember that commercial?) and why it WAS a main staple in the MELANATED communities.
Ok, so first, let's get this one thing straight, pork is not white meat, it is actually, red meat. When pigs are fed their natural diet and are allowed to roam freely on pasture their meat is actually red, not white. It's the quality of the meat, not the meat itself that makes it unhealthy as some will say. Also, in comparison to steak and beef, pork was always the more efficient choice for families that were low income or for a big family, but not only that pork is very high in natural vitamin D due to the fact of the thinness of the pig's skin which allows the sun to easily penetrate making the meat very high in vitamin D. The more sun the pig is allowed to have the higher the vitamin D levels.
Yeah......I know people feel that pork is unnatural and not a part of the "dietary law" after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ but that is a whole 'nother topic for a whole 'nother day and I'm not here to argue but just make you think and also to help you on your health journey. Now, that we got that established, let’s move on................................
Here is a study that was done on pigs and sun exposure.
Sun exposure in pigs increases the vitamin D nutritional quality of pork Sun exposure in pigs increases the vitamin D nutritional quality of pork (nih.gov)
There is a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency worldwide likely because of both limited sun-exposure and inadequate dietary intake. Meat, including pork, is not typically considered a dietary source of vitamin D, possibly because of management practices that raise pigs in confinement. This experiment determined the vitamin D content of loin and subcutaneous adipose tissue in sun-exposed finisher pigs. Two separate groups of pigs were used. The first group (28 white Landrace-Duroc) was assigned at random to either sunlight exposure (SUN) in spring and summer or confinement per standard practice (Control). The second (24 Yorkshire-Duroc-Landrace) underwent the same exposure protocol but was exposed in summer and fall or assigned to control (Control). A subsample of five SUN and four Control pigs, matched for weight and body condition score, was selected for slaughter from each group. Pigs (n = 10 SUN, n = 8 Control) had blood drawn for analysis of 25(OH)D3 concentration before/after sun exposure or control, and tissue samples were taken at slaughter for analysis of tissue vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D3 concentration. Three random samples from a single loin chop and surrounding adipose were collected and analyzed. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D3 did not differ (P≥0.376) between treatments prior to sun exposure in either group, but was increased (time*treatment interaction, P<0.001) with SUN exposure. Total vitamin D content (D3 plus 25(OH)D3) of loin tissue was increased (P < 0.001) with sun exposure and averaged 0.997±0.094 μg/100g and 0.348±0.027 μg/100g for sun and control pigs, respectively. While exposure to sunlight increased (P = 0.003) tissue content of 25(OH) D in subcutaneous adipose tissue, vitamin D3 content was similar between treatments (P = 0.56). Sunlight exposure in pigs increased the vitamin D content of loin, and may provide an additional source of dietary vitamin D. Vitamin D is known for its critical role in bone health [1]. Increasing evidence also suggests vitamin D plays a role in the prevention of many chronic diseases including certain cancers [2,3,4], cardiovascular disease [5], type 2 diabetes [6], and Alzheimer’s disease [7]. Of the 30 leading causes of death in the US in 2010 19 were linked to low vitamin D status [8]. At the same time, a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency worldwide has been identified [9,10].
It seems that the increase of being “conscious” of what you are putting in your body takes precedence over what your body needs to thrive, be well and to regenerate. We are now more focused on eating a "pure" diet that we forget, what truly makes us pure as human beings; integrity, character, honesty, loyalty………………
Here is some additional information regarding not only pasture raised pork but lard.
Pastured Pork is Nutrient Dense and Healthy! - PASTURE SONG FARM
"Pork has a high nutritional value, one that deserves our attention and appreciation. It is rich in protein and a range of minerals and vitamins. Pork is a good source of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, selenium, and zinc. Iron from animal sources is more readily available than from plant sources. Concerning vitamins, pork is particularly high in thiamine (vitamin B1) and riboflavin (vitamin B2). It is a good source of vitamin B6, niacin (vit B3), vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. The fat of pork is an excellent source of the important fat-soluble vitamin D, a vitamin that is hard to get from food sources. It is especially rich in the fat from pigs raised outdoors in sunshine.
It is worth elaborating about pork fat, also called lard. Contrary to popular belief, it is a healthy fat to savor and use frequently! It is 40% saturated, 48% monounsaturated (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 12% polyunsaturated. It is a stable fat, wonderful to fry with. The amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids in lard varies according to the diet of the pigs. If their diet is full of green plants and/or nuts, which are foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, then their fat will reflect this. This is why lard from forage grazed pigs is higher in omega 3 fatty acids, than lard from pigs fed a more conventional diet consisting mostly of grains".
Most people have replaced using healthy saturated fats like butter, lard or tallow to cook with to now using highly inflammatory oils like vegetable, corn, cottonseed, and canola. Saturated fat that we get from cooking with animal fats have been demonized because of it “causing” high cholesterol which is actually not a bad thing. You can find numerous health studies stating how important cholesterol is for the developing and aging brain and that how having low cholesterol is actually hazardous to ones’ health, especially women.
The Elder generation truly understood nutrition and the value of our food and our health. I think that it is very disrespectful to say they had no other option but to eat scraps from the slave master's tables as if they were so feeble minded, they didn't know what was good for them or for their families. They knew enough for themselves to be healthy enough to live past 70 and to birth multiple children!
I feel that pork was one of the main meats of choice because it was more readily available than say, salmon or cod liver and not to mention more cost efficient especially if you had a large family to feed. It is so unfortunate the way pork is villainized when its nutritional value is actually superior.
"Phosphorus, calcium and our hormones all have something in common, they need fat-soluble vitamin D. Fat soluble vitamin D is considered a hormone rather than a vitamin. Fat soluble vitamin D is essential to balance the ratio of calcium and phosphorous in our blood to stop tooth decay". (Cure Tooth Decay by Ramiel Nagel)
According to professor and physician Edward Mellanby of England, the famous researcher who discovered vitamin D. He and his wife, Mary Mellanby did extensive research on tooth decay which included decades of feeding experiments on animals and humans. He wrote:
"By far the most important factor producing well calcified bones and teeth is vitamin D"
We need fat-soluble vitamins A and D for our cells to produce osteocalcin, the protein responsible for deposition of calcium and phosphorous into our bones.
Dr. Westin A. Price DDS found that modern people suffered from tooth decay because modern diets are severely lacking in fat soluble vitamins. To cure cavities many people simply need to add these vitamins back into their diets.
There is an actual agenda to keep us sick and unhealthy but through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, a lot of this information is coming back to the forefront to those that have an ear to hear and understand what is truly going on in this world around us. Vitamins and minerals are what our bodies need to be and stay healthy, not pharmaceutical drugs or just exercise only. What we consume as food or sustenance is very, very important to our body and what it needs to function. Our human bodies require immense nutrition that we don't realize the vital significance of what it takes to truly build strong bodies.
And He saith unto them, are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without enter into the man, it cannot defile him; because it enter not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man Mark 7:18-20 KJV