Health trends

Could it be true that bacon is a healthy choice because it contains some of the same healthy kind of fat that's in olive oil? Well, although bacon fat may contain about half the amount of the healthful monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) found in olive oil, that does not make it half as healthful. Besides the disparity in monounsaturated fat, bacon fat contains twice as much of the cholesterol-raising saturated fat as that found in olive oil. Each slice of regular bacon adds one gram of saturated fat. The recommended maximum of saturated fat for most adults is 15 to 20 grams per day.

Furthermore, olive oil contains no sodium, whereas each slice of bacon contains about 185 milligrams. That's a small part of daily consumption, but because most Americans take in sodium well above recommendations, we need to look for ways to cut back. Also, bacon is one of the processed meats clearly linked to increased risk of colon cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.