What do you mean Bacon is Good for Me?

Hi everyone, C-pher here and I figured that I would start a topic with one of my favorite foods.  Down home, we grew up eating bacon.  It's been a staple at the breakfast table at my Mimi's house, that's my Grandmother for all my Yankee friends, since I was knee high to a grasshopper.  So, I'm not gonna lie about this topic.  I have to admit that over the years of my life, I've kinda grown this unhealthy addiction to Bacon.  Hell, of the people that know me, knows that it's my middle name on Facebook.  Also, if you've been around for the past Eight years, then you might have made it to one of my annual "Bacon Beerfests."  That's my tribute to this little strip of meat.

There's only a two rules to this annual party:

1. Bring something to eat with bacon on it, in it, or around it.
2. Bring a six pack of a beer that's not commonly available in local drinking establishments and that becomes communal.

This allows people to eat a lot of interesting foods made from bacon and try beers that they have never tried before.  My Untappd profile gets a good kick from this party.  Not to mention, after Eight years I can tell you that the foods brought get more and more interesting.  This is because everyone wants to out do what was made the year before.  Tying all these foods can be a bit daunting as we're now around 150 people that come for this event.  And I can promise that no one leaves hungry.

So, I figured we'll do a little talking about the health benefits of bacon. (wait..what?) And being how Beer is a huge topic of discussion on this blog, how it can help with that not so happy feeling you might end up with the following morning.

So, what's all this about health benefits of Bacon?  Say it isn't so?  You're telling me that I can eat bacon without all the guilt?  You really need to explain all this...

SO, I guess I will.  Everyone wonders why I don't weigh a bazillion pounds from all my Facebook posts about all the food I eat while I'm traveling for work.  It's easy, I don't eat like that all the time.  If I did, I most likely WOULD be a bazillion pounds.  Yet, the only thing y'all see are the amazing places that I get to eat while traveling.  Hey, we all watch Triple D, or Man vs. Food, and some of those places are just too good to NOT try.  (If you're on the road, there's one site that I'm never without while looking for these places.  The site is called TV Food Maps and you can look up all the places near your current location that has been on one of the shows)  But, the other times I end up having small breakfasts, end up missing lunches or quick small lunches...those are what you don't see.  So, it lets me eat all that yummy bacon when I can!

So, what's so healthy about bacon?  Let's take a look!

Two thick slices of bacon are only around 150 calories and from what I can find, has about 10 grams of that good ole healthy fat and none of it are those yucky trans-fats.  WHOO-HOO!  And while everyone complains about the sodium, it's not huge, and where I don't eat a high salt diet (which is crazy for a Southerner, I know) the sodium I get from bacon isn't a lot being I rarely use salt in any of my other foods.

You know what else is in that yummy bacony goodness?  Vitamins B1, B12, Choline, zinc and selenium.  So, what does that mean?  Well, one thing we know about the Vitamins B is that they are good for producing red blood cells.  We also know that a Vitamin B deficiency can cause fatigue and depression. So, that means that eating bacon actually gives you energy and makes you happy.

Yea, yea, yea, I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me, but I'm going to believe this and you can't tell me otherwise.  So, let's keep going down this road...because I LIKE IT!

Then we've got that Choline to talk about. Choline is good for a health nervous system.  So, they are saying that if you're pregnant, Choline is necessary for the development of a healthy brain and nervous system in a growing baby.  So, if you're pregnant, eat that good ole wonderful magic meat!!

So, we've got some good vitamins in there...let's talk about two important minerals, zinc and selenium. Zinc is responsible for many of the enzymes created in our bodies, boosting immune system function, and in DNA formation. So, don't worry about those zinc pills when you have a cold, just eat some bacon! And they say that selenium is an important antioxidant, fighting to keep those free radicals out of your system.  SO, bacon doesn't make you radical!  Now that's pretty rad...(don't judge)

Now we know that it's heather for us than we thought. Let's keep talking...

This blog talks a lot about beer.  We talk about good beer! That means that we're doing Beer clubs, Beer Pairing Dinners, we're working on brewing, Beer Festivals and Tastings...that means we tend to have a day or three where we might have "tried" just a few too many.  And that means that we have to suck it up the next day...

How can we make this next morning a little better?  You guessed it, Bacon!

So, from what I can find, Scientists at Newcastle University say that one of the best hangover cures is the bacon sandwich.

What?  A bacon sandwich?  GET OUT!

Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University's Centre for Life said, "Food doesn't soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.

"Bread is high in carbohydrates and bacon is full of protein, which breaks down into amino acids. Your body needs these amino acids, so eating them will make you feel good."

Ms Roberts said, "Bingeing on alcohol depletes neurotransmitters too, but bacon contains a high level of aminos which tops these up, giving you a clearer head."

I guess that they also found out just by cooking the bacon, there's a chemical interaction that produces a smell that starts the healing process.  How cool is that, not only is the bacon itself good for you, the smell of bacon cooking is as well. Man, just looking this stuff up has made me love this amazing food even more.

From the article: The science at work, behind the tantalizing smell of bacon causing the hangover to begin dissipating involves the effect on the human body when you have the specific, particular amino acids and sugars released into the air when heated above 150 degrees centigrade. This creates a physiological effect known to scientists studying the effects of nutrition on the human body, as “The Maillard Reaction!”

So, there you go, Bacon is good for you!  And if you don't want a bacon sandwich, then maybe you could make yourself a Baconhenge.

Wait, what's that about our beer??

Hi Everyone, I want to start off by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!

I spent much of the holidays watching the Mythbusters Marathon on TV...and that got me to thinking...What are some of the myths that we hear about beer?  Are they true?  Maybe it's just stuff that we've believed all along because that's what we've been told.

With that, I say that today, why don't we dive into those myths and see what we can find?  Are there things that we thought we knew but we've been wrong about?

The first one, "Beer tastes better in Bottles than in Cans."

We've all heard this one, "You should drink beer in bottles!  It doesn't have that metallic taste."

Hey, I get it, Bud, Miller, Pabsts...they all come in cans.  All the good beers, like those are in those 22oz bombers, they're glass.  I get my Bruery or Goose Island beers in bottles, so they must be better, right?

Not necessarily.  Actually cans can keep beer fresher than bottles.  And even in bottles, the color of the glass can make a HUGE difference on how long beer can stay fresh.  There's two evil factors working against your tasty beer; Oxygen and Light.  So, with the potential of oxygen that's in the bottle, oxygen that's coming in under the cap, and light coming through the bottle...you can see why a can might keep beer fresher longer.  The worst bottles for beer are those clear glass, and the green really isn't much better.  Brown glass is going to hold out the most light, but add in twist offs and you still have the issue of letting in oxygen.

"But C-pher, what about that metallic taste that you get with cans?"  Well, fortunately, modern day cans have a coating inside them that's called a comestible polymeric coating.  This forms a protective barrier between the can and the beer.  That keeps the beer from oxidizing with the can and giving it that metallic taste.

And to prove it, many craft brewers are now canning right along with bottling.  If cans were worse than bottles, do you really think that many craft brewers would risk their beer in cans?

Any way that you want to look at it, the best way is to drink from a glass anyway.  So take those cans and bottles and empty them into the proper beer drinking glass.  What glass you ask?  Well, stand by,

we'll talk about later!


The next one is anything you've heard about dark beers.  They are heavy, they are more caloric, they have higher APVs, etc...

There's really no correlation between the color of the beer, and anything listed above.  Actually, Guinness, which most people call, "Liquid Bread," is only about 4% ABV and about 125 calories at 16 ounces.  Put this against a Coors or Bud, which is around 200 calories and has about a 5% ABV per 16 ounces.  You'll see that you're better off with that dark beer sometimes.

There's a lot of light, dark beers, and very heavy, light beers.  As we've been told growing up, you can't judge a book by it's cover. Honestly, the main reason that the beer is dark is because they roasted the malts longer.  It's the same malts used in other beers, just roasted longer.  It's much like roasting coffee, dark roast beans and light roast beans have the same amount of calories.  The difference is the dark roast has a more robust flavor due to the longer roasting times.  But it doesn't add calories into the bean.


What was that?  Beer needs to be served in a frosted glass and extremely cold?

Don't do that...different beers are meant to be served at their own temperature range.  And for the love of all things holy, DO NOT USE A FROSTY GLASS!

Frozen glasses cause all types of issues.  They water down the beer, as that ice melts off the glass that water is going into your tasty drink.  Also, beer served at near frozen temps will blind the taste buds against beer served at a recommended temperature. You lose aromatics when you serve beer too cold as well.  We all know that a large portion of taste is also attached to the smell.  You're wanting to taste and smell all those flavors in the beer that you drink, not hide them under cold conditions.  Also, the frost in your freezer picks up the flavors of other things in the ice box.  That means, when you frost a glass, you're going to end up adding those flavors into your beer. So, you'll once again never get the taste that the brewer intended you to taste.  While our well known American Light Lagers should be served around 38 degrees, the rest of the beers we drink shouldn't be.

And, speaking of glasses, much like there's different glasses for wines, there's different glasses for beers.  If you want, use them, they will enhance the enjoyment of your beer.  If you only buy one, then I think that the standard tulip glass is the best all around glass for drinking beer.

The Beer Temple has a great guide for beer temperatures and glasses.


Now, the last thing I want to talk about is how all those ads actually tell us something.  I mean, we heard it with the girl and her blind date with a french model.  I saw it on the Internet/TV, it MUST be true.

Well, sorry to tell you, the beer companies have been telling us lies and spreading these myths we're talking about as long as I can remember.  Hey, Guinness is Good for you, right?

Look what are we hearing from Miller Now, "Our Beer is Triple Hopped."  I'm pretty sure that most all beers today are using three additions. So, what's so new about that? And I believe that Coors is excited about their beer being cold filtered.  Is there really a Hot Filtering process? So, they make up things to make us think that they are doing something different.  The main problem with beer ads is that they aren't targeting anyone new.  We all know about these brands, they are trying to get more of the market share.  Trying to get us to. "Switch."  Well, knowledge is power!!

I think that the best thing that you can do is do like the rest of us that love beer.  Go out, ask questions, look up how your beer is made.  That will tell you more about how to best enjoy what you like to drink.

When you know more, you can enjoy that beer just that much more, right?  And ultimately that's our goal, to fully enjoy those beers we like so much.   And as always, if there's a myth about beer that you want to talk about, then let us all know!