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BACON SALVATION

Astonished old grandmother lost her dentures while she try to blowing out the candles on the cake for her birthday. Image shot 2008. Exact date unknown.I’m not sure if this will be “weird news” worthy, but it is definitely going to be further fuel for the pro-bacon camp that steadfastly stands by their salty delight. One centenarian is swearing by her daily consumption of fried pork products as the key to her impressive longevity.

A 105-year-old Texan (why do these stories always originate in the South?) by the name of Pearl Cantrell, has come forth with an affirmation that bacon is not the devil’s delight, but a godsend. A widow since the age of 38 and a mother of 7, she has been a hard-working woman her entire life with labor-intensive jobs including both being a hay-bayler and a cotton-picker.

“I love bacon. I eat it everyday,” Pearl Cantrell told NBC affiliate KRBC. “I don’t feel as old as I am. That’s all I can say,” Cantrell added.

The centenarian still regularly waltzes and two-steps, and recently attended her birthday with a guest-list of over 200 people. Though the local papers still say that her active lifestyle, including mowing her own lawn until the age of 100, most likely is the cause of her unusual longevity, Cantrell still swears by bacon.

The scientific and medical communities are still on the fence about the pro’s and con’s of fried pork products in one’s health regiment. An over consumption, they have found, can decrease one’s lifespan by up to 20%, while a moderate intake has proven to actually increase one’s lifespan by nearly 3%. And, by “moderate” we’re talking a pat-of-butter-sized portion. That’s quite a big difference between life and death timelines. Perhaps, it all goes back to the simple mantras of “everything in moderation” and “remember to enjoy your life.”

Ms. Pearl Cantrell continues to stand by her processed pork products and was given a ride in Oscar Meyer’s Wienermobile through the streets of her hometown of Richland Springs, Texas, as well as a special pork delivery.

To each their own oink. Personally, I’ll take mine covered in chocolate.

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**Photo courtesy of the Huffington Post