🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Many elderly people associate braised pork with high lipidemia, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and other conditions, so even if they love it, they can only look at it longingly and avoid it altogether. In reality, this is a very one-sided view.
A 1990 survey by relevant authorities on the dietary habits of 40 centenarians in Beijing revealed that most of these longevity elders enjoyed eating braised pork almost daily. Surprisingly, their blood fat and cholesterol levels were not high, and none exhibited the aforementioned diseases. Could the notion that high-fat diets are harmful be incorrect?
Driven by this question, we conducted in-depth experimental research. Using different cooking methods and time intervals ranging from 0.0 to 5.0 hours (11 time points), with temperature maintained consistently between 100°C and 103°C, we found that braised pork (pork with alternating fat and lean) is not as detrimental as traditionally believed. The study showed that prolonged slow stewing (especially two and a half hours or four hours—results were similar with no significant difference, P < 0.05) caused profound changes in the internal nutritional composition of the fat: harmful fat content decreased by 41.04%, saturated fatty acids dropped by 40%–51%, and cholesterol reduced by 51.32%. Meanwhile, beneficial monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids significantly increased. Furthermore, refined lard made from pork fat saw its cholesterol content drop from 220 mg per 100 g to 102 mg.
Therefore, middle-aged and elderly individuals need not fear braised pork or lard in daily life, nor should they completely reject them and go to the opposite extreme. Most middle-aged and elderly people abandon lard entirely in favor of plant oils, leading to increased age spots—a result of unscientific eating habits. Long-term avoidance of fatty meat or lard leads to chronically low cholesterol, which is detrimental to older adults’ health. Chronic low cholesterol can cause loss of appetite, poor wound healing, premature graying of hair, tooth loss, osteoporosis, malnutrition, and increased risk of infection by various pathogenic bacteria.
Thus, we recommend that middle-aged and elderly people no longer avoid braised pork (fatty meat) and lard. As long as cooked properly—stewed slowly for at least two and a half hours—and paired with fiber-rich vegetables like kelp, carrots, or large radishes, the combination of meat and vegetables will satisfy taste preferences while benefiting health. Alternatively, melting pork fat into lard and mixing it with plant oil in a 1:2 ratio when cooking can also yield excellent results.