Turkey Bacon As A Healthy Alternative

I once met a vegetarian who told me, with a rapturous expression on her face, that the only meat she missed since going vegan was bacon. For many people bacon represents the best in taste and the worst in health. Sweet, sugary, honeyed and dripping in fat, ordinary bacon is just one recipe for either heart failure or diabetes. But my family still ate it occasionally, until the day I discovered turkey bacon.

Tasty Alternative

Turkey bacon is delicious. It’s lower in fat, but can be found cured, uncured, smoked or made into strips just like your regular pork bacon. Cured turkey bacon made from dark meat can even be 90% fat free. However, if you have a recipe that normally calls for frying bacon in its own drippings, you need to reduce the cooking time as turkey bacon doesn’t contain enough fat to do that, and you may end up drying out your dish.

Fat Content

Whereas 2 strips of turkey bacon can range from 2.5 to 4 grams of fat, the same amount of regular pork bacon is usually around 9 grams of fat.

Caloric Content

2 strips of turkey bacon equal about 60-70 calories; 2 strips of regular bacon equals about 100 calories.

Sodium Content

Unfortunately, turkey bacon and other turkey products may contain twice the amount of sodium as its pork equivalents. Try to check the nutritional information when buying, and always go for the reduced sodium variety if you can find it.

Nutritional Content

Turkey is an excellent source of protein and B vitamins, especially B3 and B12. It is low in carbohydrates as well as fats. All poultry

meat has beneficial amounts of phosphorous and potassium. Interestingly, dark poultry meat contains twice as much iron and zinc as light poultry meat. Turkey also contains over 33 percent more zinc than chicken; face it, would you really eat chicken bacon? It just doesn’t sound tasty.

For the Food Nerds:  Turkey Bacon Nutrition Facts

Water content (grams per 100g) 32.6
Calorie content of food (kales per 100g/3.5oz) 382
Protein content (grams per 100g) 29.6
Fat content (lipids) (grams per 100g) 27.9
Ash content (grams per 100g) 6.8
Carbohydrate content (grams per 100g) 3.1
Dietary Fiber content (grams per 100g) 0
Sugar content (grams per 100g) 0

Mineral Nutrition in Turkey Bacon:

Calcium (Ca) content (mg per 100g) 9
Iron (Fe) content (mg per 100g) 2.11
Magnesium (Mg) content (mg per 100g) 29
Phosphorus (P) content (mg per 100g) 460
Potassium (K) content (mg per 100g) 395
Sodium (Na) content (mg per 100g) 2285
Zinc (Zn) content (mg per 100g) 3.03
Copper (Cu) content (mg per 100g) 0.15
Manganese (Mn) content (mg per 100g) N/A
Selenium (Se) content (µ per 100g) 25.8

Vitamin Nutrition in Turkey Bacon:

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) content (mg per 100g) 0
Thiamin content (vitamin B-1) (mg per 100g) 0.06
Riboflavin content (vitamin B-2) (mg per 100g) 0.24
Niacin content (vitamin B-3) (mg per 100g) 3.53
Pantothenic Acid content (vitamin B-5) (mg per 100g) N/A
Vitamin B-6 content (mg per 100g) 0.32
Folate content (µg per 100g) 9
Folic Acid content (µg per 100g) 0
Food Folate content (µg per 100g) 9
Folate content (DFE per 100g) 9
Vitamin B-12 content (µg per 100g) 0.36
Vitamin A content (µg per 100g) 0
Vitamin A content (Int. Units, IU, per 100g) 0
Retinol content (µg per 100g) 0
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) content (µg per 100g) 1.03

What’s Shakin’ Bacon?

Was this article helpful? Let me know by leaving a comment below.