Pigging Out: San Diego Man Goes on All-Bacon Diet

Is Mike Nelson a certifiable nutcase, or a dietary genius?

The San Diego resident has embarked on a month-long "nothing but bacon" diet. He's eating just over a pound of bacon a day--that's bacon for every meal for all of February. Why? Well, as explained in an NBC video report, he's an SD website personality, and the site's readers have joined the rest of the country in having an obsession with the divine pork product. The fondness for pork fat inspired Nelson to go on a bacon-y trip down memory lane and then the idea of "the bacon diet" was born.

"There can never be too much bacon," says the man who admits he's "not a huge fan of vegetables."

So is he onto something here, or headed for a heart attack? Well, Nelson says he's lost weight and his blood pressure has gone down. He attributes this partly to his getting full pretty fast and not leading him to eat starches. Nelson also rationalizes that "pork fat is very similar to olive oil," so you've got "perfect proportion of protein and fat."

All bacon--and just bacon--could be tasty, but it could also get a little boring. We prefer our pork fat in tandem with other tastes, like a bacon-studded donut, or wrapped around a verboten sidewalk hot dog.