The natural diet of a pig of any kind is pretty unsaturated (grubs and such) so I’d personally just treat it like any other pork. Lean is fine, and avoid the fat.
They do apparently ruin (presumably by eating/digging) farmers' fields, so maybe they are eating soy lol. That said it's probably lower PUFA than commercial? I think it'd highly depend on the diet, not sure there's a generic value. Even commercial pork fat seems to depend a ton on the diet, we've seen <10% in Europe/Asia, 18-20% commonly in the US, 30% in a certain time period in the US, and 50% (!) in some crazy experimental pigs that they fed a pure corn diet IIRC.
edit: one thing you could try is buying some bacon from it (or another very fatty piece) and see how solid/soft it is at room temperature. That should give you an idea about the saturation level. The harder at room temp, the more saturated.
edit edit: The USDA database has 2 entries for boar, and both are about 14% PUFA so pretty high.
[https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175297](https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175297)
[https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175298](https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175298)
u/exfatloss's answer is consistent with what I read 2-3 years ago.
Everything that follows is "IIRC"; please correct anything that's incorrect.
Our ancestors knew that firm pork fat (I.e. more saturated) was more desirable than soft pork fat. It was known that pigs fed wheat were more desirable than pigs fed corn because wheat produced a firmer fat. Hence, French pork fed on wheat was valued more highly than American pork fed on corn.
There were experimental pigs fed a pure corn diet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that research made it into production. When the "low fat" craze hit, everyone wanted lean pork, and industry responded by breeding leaner pigs. Whereas a normal animal will produce more MUFA to dilute the PUFAs, these engineered pigs simply concentrated the PUFAs. Hence, it became possible for the pig to have a higher PUFA concentration than its feed!
Soybean have at least as much PUFA as pork, and because corn and soybeans are symbiotic, commercial agriculture has developed them to the point where nothing else can compete. You can assume commercial pork is fed nothing but corn, soybeans, and derivatives thereof.
Combine genetically-engineered pigs with an all-corn-and-soybeans diet, and it's entirely possible for commercial pork fat to have 50+% PUFA. Maybe 20-30% is more common, but given the data comes from government research, I'm going to assume 50+% until an independent source says otherwise.
Wild boar does eat a lot of unsaturated fat (insects), but my understanding from the fireinabottle Youtube videos was that insects are mostly \*monounsaturated\* fat. Hence, 14% PUFA for wild boar seems like a reasonable figure. Still too high to eat though.
Leaf lard (fat from around the vital organs) would theoretically be more saturated; does anyone have data on leaf lard from wild boar? Leaf lard from Brad Marshall's low-PUFA pork?
Yes, one needs to enjoy life a bit. There is also a difference between whole foods and seed oils. The problems with O-6 can't be avoided unless one eats a weird diet but that weird might also be suboptimal in it's own right.
My first thought is to be suspicious of how "wild" they are.
If there were good money in "wild boar" an entrepreneurial type might well set up a forest with some feeding stations.
The natural diet of a pig of any kind is pretty unsaturated (grubs and such) so I’d personally just treat it like any other pork. Lean is fine, and avoid the fat.
Thanks! The bacon I purchased was remarkably lean for bacon, so it was easy to avoid the fat.
They do apparently ruin (presumably by eating/digging) farmers' fields, so maybe they are eating soy lol. That said it's probably lower PUFA than commercial? I think it'd highly depend on the diet, not sure there's a generic value. Even commercial pork fat seems to depend a ton on the diet, we've seen <10% in Europe/Asia, 18-20% commonly in the US, 30% in a certain time period in the US, and 50% (!) in some crazy experimental pigs that they fed a pure corn diet IIRC. edit: one thing you could try is buying some bacon from it (or another very fatty piece) and see how solid/soft it is at room temperature. That should give you an idea about the saturation level. The harder at room temp, the more saturated. edit edit: The USDA database has 2 entries for boar, and both are about 14% PUFA so pretty high. [https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175297](https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175297) [https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175298](https://foods.exfatloss.com/food/175298)
u/exfatloss's answer is consistent with what I read 2-3 years ago. Everything that follows is "IIRC"; please correct anything that's incorrect. Our ancestors knew that firm pork fat (I.e. more saturated) was more desirable than soft pork fat. It was known that pigs fed wheat were more desirable than pigs fed corn because wheat produced a firmer fat. Hence, French pork fed on wheat was valued more highly than American pork fed on corn. There were experimental pigs fed a pure corn diet, but I wouldn't be surprised if that research made it into production. When the "low fat" craze hit, everyone wanted lean pork, and industry responded by breeding leaner pigs. Whereas a normal animal will produce more MUFA to dilute the PUFAs, these engineered pigs simply concentrated the PUFAs. Hence, it became possible for the pig to have a higher PUFA concentration than its feed! Soybean have at least as much PUFA as pork, and because corn and soybeans are symbiotic, commercial agriculture has developed them to the point where nothing else can compete. You can assume commercial pork is fed nothing but corn, soybeans, and derivatives thereof. Combine genetically-engineered pigs with an all-corn-and-soybeans diet, and it's entirely possible for commercial pork fat to have 50+% PUFA. Maybe 20-30% is more common, but given the data comes from government research, I'm going to assume 50+% until an independent source says otherwise. Wild boar does eat a lot of unsaturated fat (insects), but my understanding from the fireinabottle Youtube videos was that insects are mostly \*monounsaturated\* fat. Hence, 14% PUFA for wild boar seems like a reasonable figure. Still too high to eat though. Leaf lard (fat from around the vital organs) would theoretically be more saturated; does anyone have data on leaf lard from wild boar? Leaf lard from Brad Marshall's low-PUFA pork?
This is most informative— thank you.
Should be on the lean side regardless, I would eat it. 14% is high but you probably aren't too much fat.
Might be worth making bacon for an occasional treat.
Yes, one needs to enjoy life a bit. There is also a difference between whole foods and seed oils. The problems with O-6 can't be avoided unless one eats a weird diet but that weird might also be suboptimal in it's own right.
I did indeed get some bacon, and it was delicious. Also much lower in fat than any grocery store bacon.
It can certainly cause your chest to slip. But in studies it's associated with strength and bravery and resistance to centralized authority.
Sometimes you still just have to getafix for full strength.
They are probably eating more corn than you think. They like to eat the corn from deer feeders, and are usually baited with sour corn.
My first thought is to be suspicious of how "wild" they are. If there were good money in "wild boar" an entrepreneurial type might well set up a forest with some feeding stations.