On Sat, 2 May 1998, Mary wrote:

> A "paleo" food my kids really love is bacon, both HFS bacon and the
regular
> Oscar Meyer bacon.
>
> My concerns are:
>
> l. What about sodium? It has 220 mg per slice, isn't this a lot?

Yes, it is a lot.  Most Americans get too much sodium.  You might
consider giving the potassium supplements to balance the picture
somewhat.

> 2. How much sugar is in it? The HFS is uncured and has maple sugar added,
> Oscar Meyer has I imagine table sugar added. Yet on the label it says zero
> carbs? How can this be?

It means that there is less than a half gram of carb, so they
round downward.  The sugar is in there, but it's not much.

> 3. For someone with a  candida problem, shouldn't they stay away from this
> processed bacon, even tho it says no carbs? In other words, just how
healthy
> is bacon?

Opinions vary.  Most people who are opposed to bacon are afraid
of the high fat content.  That is not your concern at this point.
A few people say that the pork fat is bad because it is too
polyunsaturated, as a result of the way pigs are fattened.  There
may be some truth to this, so it would make sense to counteract
the high polyunsaturated fat levels with the use of antioxidants.

> Most "candida' type diets say absolutely no processed meats. So does this
> mean they should not have it? All three have candida, I think every kid in
> America has a candida overgrowth to some extent.

Well, some processed meats have quite a bit of sugar in them, but
I think it varies quite a lot.  The nutrition label should be a
reliable guide.

> The unprocessed bacon from the Asian store tastes a lot "worse' to them.
> What would you guys do?

I'd give them the Oscar Meyer bacon and be relieved that at least
they're getting a *lot* less sugar than they would in Cap'n
Crunch.

> With my son I have been giving him about 75% or more unprocessed bacon and
> then a little processed bacon as a kind of treat. So, what would be the
> glycemic index of this?

Extremely low, I would think.  But glycemic index is a
measurement of the effect of a food on blood sugar, not on
intestinal flora.  I doubt that there's a high correlation
between the two.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]