How bad is lard for the human body and does anyone fry with it anymore?

Too much fat is bad for you no matter what form it comes in. That being said, there are those who argue that lard is less bad for you than trans-fats, which are essentially vegetable fats that have been modified to remain solid at room temperature (so they can emulate the properties of lard and/or butter)

Do I deep fry in lard? No, I stick with (liquid) vegetable oil for that. However, there are some things like tamales that just don’t taste the same if you try to use anything other than good old fashioned lard in the recipe.

I have before. I try to limit that kind of high fat intake. Kinda on the same level as skillet gravy where you put flour,milk, and bits of sausage in the melted fat in the skillet and stir it all in. Taste really really really good but is also so bad for you if eaten everyday. I tend to eat that sparingly.

Cream gravy, right. Or sausage gravy. Haven’t had that in many years.

I grew up with biscuits made with lard. i grew up with lard being used to deep-fry chicken and other foods. today, i am healthy and have a low cholestrol level.

Like my mother always said, “everybody needs a little grease once in a while”.

She is 93 and still kicking.

I have seen it in the grocery store, so somebody still uses it. I have been told lard is the secret of an exceptional pie crust.

And, if you’re in need – Six four-pound buckets o’lard, $77.99!

@john65pennington that’s wonderful about your mother, John.
Now since you mentioned it , I recall making biscuits by hand with lard in the sixties. I had the energy early in the morning! They were really great as I recall. My mother told me if I ate butter my joints wouldn’t hurt or something. I think she believed it.

Ugh. Not only is it a heart attack waiting to happen, it’s also vile. My mother bakes with lard and the pastry is fine, but I detest food that’s been fried in lard. :-&

@downtide I don’t. I think it’s delicious but it is something that needs to be eaten sparingly.

Aster, thanks. i now know your age. i will devulge a secret, if everyone promises not to tell. at a very famous restaurant, lard is still used to make their very famous biscuits.

Using vegetable oil instead of lard is a supremely bad idea. Vegetable oils contain polyunsaturated fats that become oxidized in your body. In addition. vegetable oils, with the exception of olive require industrial processes to manufacture them.

The fatty acid profile in lard is very similar to olive oil. The fatty acid profile in vegetable oil, which is probably soybean oil, is primarily polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Eating fat when restricting carbohydrates is actually healthy. Also keep in mind that there are protein-deficiency and fat-deficiency diseases. There are no carbohydare-deficiency diseases.

^^^^^^^^^^^ thanks, @edterry . “they” keep changing their minds so we don’t ever know for sure what’s bad and what isn’t.