Pork Skins More Healthy than we Thought?

The paleo guru Mark Sison just gave his blessing to pork skins as a healthy supplement to a primal diet.

"Pork rinds have a long and storied history in every pig-eating country. Walk any major Latin American city and you’ll probably come across someone hawking chicharrones. In Canada, they’re scrunchions. In the US, they’re cracklings (usually pronounced “cracklins”). In Britain, they’re pork scratchings. Most Asian countries also have their own form. Wherever you are, though, the pork rind is essentially the same save for whatever seasonings were applied: slices of the skin fried in its own fat as it renders out.

The resultant fatty styrofoam-esque puffs are ubiquitous at mini-marts, truck stops, and ethnic supermarkets. They’re a rich source of protein, but it’s “unusable” and “useless” gelatin that won’t get you “hooge” or “anabolic” due to a lack of essential amino acids (if you listen to most fitness forums). That’s a simplistic way of looking at protein, as I’ve said before. Gelatin is rich in glycine, improves sleep, helps with joint pain, and can actually be protein-sparing. Most of us aren’t eating enough of the whole animal anymore, so the occasional handful of pork rinds can be an easy way to get your gelatin (though I’d say real bone broth, gelatinous cuts of meat like shanks, and even plain gelatin are arguably superior sources).

If you’re worried about seed oils being used as the frying medium, just check the label. You want “pork skin” and “salt,” ideally. If oils were used, they’ll be listed in the ingredients. This is pretty rare, though, as frying a piece of fatty skin in exogenous fat, instead of using the fat inherent to the skin, only costs the producer more money. MSG is often added, too, so watch out for that if you’re sensitive and wish to avoid it.

Some people crush them up and use them as breading for fried meat dishes. You probably don’t want to make this a regular thing, but it’s a nice alternative to standard breading.

The one thing I’m still wondering after all this: why do I keep misspelling “pork” as “prok”?

Verdict: Primal, as long as they’re cooked in their own fat."

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-paleo-pork-rinds-cottage-cheese-monk-fruit-sweetener-sago-elderberry-syrup/#ixzz2NLHs6h8i