When people hear the word ‘fat’, they grimace, shudder, and assume that it’s something they should not eat. We often hear older people telling, avoid fatty foods since it hampers a healthy living. Most of us are too hesitant to add fat to our diet. ‘Fat increases your body weight’, this is a common phrase that people use to describe fat. It is a preconceived notion that fat is not required in our diet. Whatever be your assumptions and beliefs on fats, the benefits of duck fat is going to turn it down.
What is Duck Fat?
Duck fat is most commonly referred to as a ‘Healthy fat’. As the name suggests, it is provided by cooking duck meat. Duck fat contains a lot of monounsaturated fat that protects our body from harmful saturated fats. Monounsaturated fat is the main fat present in olive oil. Duck fat is considered to be preferable to other animal fats because it has a high content of monounsaturated fat than others (beef dripping, butter). Duck fat would be a healthy alternative for butter.
| Types of fat | Percentage |
| Monounsaturated | 50.5% |
| Saturated | 35.7% |
| Polyunsaturated | 13.7% |
Misconceptions About Fat:
Americans were told to reduce the addition of fat to their diet. People started avoiding all that was labeled as fat from the late 1980s. Removing even healthy fats from a diet did not do any good, but only increased the risk of chronic diseases and obesity. All fats cannot be treated as of the same. Some of them cause harm to your system like the trans-fat in margarine, and on the other hand there other fats who are real champions in maintaining good health. We do require essential fats to have a healthy living.
Why Should you Cook With Duck Fat?
Duck fat can withstand very high temperatures and due to its high smoking point is suitable for perfect roasting without burning. People usually love eating foods that are fried and roasted. Duck fat is considered to be the best alternative to frying foods in pork fat, beef fat, or even butter. French recipes would always include some quantity of duck fat in them. Maybe that would also be a reason why French people are lean when compared to Americans.
Duck Fat Benefits:
Duck fat is considered to provide you with the top benefits and there would not be any reason for you to say no to it. Here are some benefits of duck fat that are hard to ignore.
Healthy fat:
Duck fat is proved to be a healthy dietary component, and it is the best recommended for people who would wish to add only healthy fats to their daily diet.
Healthy cells:
Linoleic acid is one of the most important fatty acids which is used by the body to maintain healthy cells. Duck fat consists of linoleic acid and promotes cell division and restores your healthy cells.
Healthy bones:
Duck fat also helps to improve strength in your bones. Linoleic acid present in duck fat helps the bones to absorb calcium. Women who are at risk of osteoporosis are advised to add duck fat to their diet.
Flavors your food:
Duck fat has the power to transform a dull course into a flavorsome, delectable one, most suited for the palate. Therefore, by adding duck fat to your dish, you need not compromise with the nutrition and the health benefits the food renders.
Reduces cholesterol levels:
Monounsaturated fat benefits you in lowering the bad cholesterol levels and enhancing the good cholesterol in your body. Therefore, it also prevents other health problems that occur due to high cholesterol levels.
High in anti-oxidants:
Free radicals damage the development and survival of cells in the body. Duck fat is high in anti-oxidant content which readily knocks down these free radicals and eliminates them from the body.
Improved immunity:
Duck fat shockingly provides the body strength to fight against foreign invasions like germs and pathogens. The minerals and antioxidants present in duck fat are responsible for this remarkable activity.
How to Render Duck Fat at Home?
Duck fat is now available in grocery stores but could be expensive. So it is always better to make duck fat at home. Anyone who has eaten food roasted in duck fat would vouch for the rich flavor it offers.
Duck fat can be collected from the whole bird, or from its parts like the breasts, legs, etc. The main purpose is to pick up the fat that lies under the skin. Make cuts with a toothpick or a knife to release the fat. Make sure that you clean the duck fat once you have rendered it before storing it. The cleaned fat can be stored in the refrigerator and used when needed. This fat would do well while frying vegetables or roasting meat. Duck fat does not require any preservatives or additives to be added when storing, and there is no need to compromise on nutrition.
Duck Fat vs Butter:
Monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats should be included in your diets, since they are healthy ones, whereas, saturated fats are unhealthy. The majority of fat present in duck fat consists of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. However, in the case of butter, the majority of fat is saturated fat. Thus, duck fat is considered far superior to butter.
Anything that you do with butter or olive oil can be done using duck fat also, which even provides you with much better outcomes. Knowing that duck fat benefits so extensively, no one would ever think of any alternatives for it.
It is always important to remember that, essential fats are mandatory to help you have a healthy living. When you prefer healthy fats in your diet it would even help you to build up your muscles. So you should be prudent when you choose to frame your daily diet. Next time, when you hear the word ‘fat’ do not misjudge it to be something to be avoided.
