Traditional pork bacon is cut from the fatty part of the animal, and calories come from fat. Saturated fat is very hard to get rid of and takes some effort to burn doing exercise, so people on a diet want to avoid it.Here's why. For pork bacon that is 251 calories, all 251 calories come from fat. On the other hand, for a serving of turkey bacon that is 313 calories, only 206 calories come from fat. So as far as calories from fat are concerned, it looks like turkey is "lower in calories". But does that mean it's healthier?
Turkey bacon goes up and down the nutrition scale depending on the brand. Yup! Not all brands are the same. According to Wikipedia, two strips of Butterball turkey bacon contain 2.5 grams of fat and 70 calories (32% of which from fat); turkey bacon from Louis Rich and Mr. Turkey contain 5 and 4 grams of fat, respectively, per two slices. By comparison, two strips of regular pork bacon contain, on average, some 7 grams of fat. On average, turkey products (including bacon) contain twice as much sodium as the pork products they replace.
Bacon is a prime example of why label-reading is important.You can buy some brands of turkey bacon that do save you a lot of calories and fat, but you can buy some that aren’t all that much better nutritionally than the real thing. I personally think the taste loss is more dramatic than the calorie/fat savings. But that's just me.
This is a fact I didn't know. Turkey bacon was not developed as a solution for healthy eating. Turkey bacon was developed specifically for people with dietary or religious restrictions, and preferences such as vegetarians. Turkey bacon was not even "cut" from the bird: It was a processed patty-like product and had emulsifiers and all kinds of stuff that I have since forgotten since chemistry class. It was a laboratory product. Of course, popular brands have come a long way.
Pork bacon is cured and contains phosphates for preservation but is by far a more organic product.
If you are dieting, turkey is probably the lesser of the two evils. You can buy nitrate-free, natural, low-fat organic turkey bacon at Whole Foods and other health-food stores. If you want turkey bacon, this is the choice to make. But it really depends on what you define as "bad" or healthy.
A Registered Nurse and Clinical Nutritionist calls turkey bacon, Spam. [I have to laugh at that, sorry.] He says that turkey bacon is less healthy than pork bacon if you choose a quality low sodium pork product. It is a fact that dark meat turkey has as much fat and cholesterol as beef.
I'm not trying to pick on turkey bacon as a choice. I love turkey and have eaten my share of turkey bacon, because of the hype about it being healthier, especially for a diabetic. I don't eat turkey bacon anymore mainly because I don't eat much bacon to begin with, but also because it just isn't a taste I enjoy.
I try hard to avoid food that's not good for me, because my food choices are about how much pain I might suffer as a result of what I put in my mouth. It's essential for my health, and I weigh the health benefits carefully. I also consider the taste and portion size. This allows me to enjoy my food choices without hurting myself. I want to eat food that tastes good to me.
There's no doubt that any type of bacon is not very healthy and has risks: For example, you typically find sodium nitrite listed on the ingredient label for both pork bacon and turkey bacon. Not good.
But my honey loves bacon, so it's on the menu now and then. Unless you're a vegetarian, or don't mind depriving yourself of food that tastes good… choose the pork bacon for flavor, but limit yourself to perhaps Sunday mornings or once a month, and limit your serving size to one or two slices.
When you maintain a balanced diet, are relatively healthy and exercise regularly, to substitute or not is really moot.