Nitrites in meat products cause cancer


(Carl Keller) #22

I think I cut myself short actually. I was going to link more studies and articles but didn’t for redundancy’s sake. :stuck_out_tongue:

A lot of people, for a long time, have been scared into doing what industry, self-serving interest groups and medicine wants us to do (for them). I believe the responsible thing to do is to look at the science (which the article does not link) and to see who is saying what and for what reason. No longer should we believe something just because a “reputable” organization like WHO, AMA, AHA or anyone says it’s true. The lies of reputable organizations is a big part of why disease and poor health is in the sad state that it currently is.


#23

yeah, no need to post more articles I’m on that page already.

I like that there is discussion of this in papers usually devoid of anything advocating meat eating.

Science needs to be dynamic and constantly scrutinized and questioned. The scientific method is awesome however it is wielded by us hominids and therefore often turned to cheese.


(Running from stupidity) #24

Good business decision, though.

:smiley:

Works for me…


(David Cooke) #25

I learnt how to do this in Portugal a few years ago. I may no longer be the youngest but that wasn’t in the 17th century. My bacon doesn’t look like shop bought bacon (not pink) and doesn’t taste like it (Tastes better - I choose the cut).


(David Cooke) #26

There was a big drama in Switzerland about 30 years ago when it was discovered that many vegetables cultivated in “Cabbage Country” (near where I lived) contained high levels of Nitrites and thus liable to cause cancer. The fact that people living in this region, who ate above average amounts of these vegetables, lived longer, went less often to the dentist, and were generally healthier, had no influence on the discussion. Maximum Nitrite levels were regulated and enforced, the newspapers let us know everything was OK, next scandal please.
A few years ago I noticed that that regulation had been very quietly removed and was no longer applied.


(Tina Emmons) #27

I recently found two brands in stores with only salt and spices. No celery-anything! I was pretty excited. Taste great, color different. The nitrates give the pink color. Garrett Valley sugar-free(tho they do have celery powder/salt in some of their other products) and Wellshire sugar-free. I’m not so crazy about avoiding nitrates/nitrites, just really like the simplicity of the ingredients.


(joseph) #28

Dr. Ken Berry has an interesting short video on nitrates/nitrites. Unfortunately I don’t can’t find the link of his you tube channel and episode #.


#29

So it’s okay to eat meat that has gone from red or pink to grey? My mom said it’s okay but I’ve never tried It! I’m a bit fearful.


#30

Living causes cancer.


(Bunny) #31

I think the nitrite/nitrate thing is just a shady sham (extrapolations) by a certain someone or group of someone’s to scare peeps into submission?

Nitrites/nitrates may be beneficial to our health just as too much of one thing can be bad for us over a long period of time without diversity and variety for a better balanced equilibrium of macro & micronutrients in our dietary considerations?


(Richard Morris) #32

Aseem Malhoutra posted on FB he was weighing into this debate, and I had to tell him I thought he was wrong

But first a quick side bar: Some people asked what is the difference between Nitrates and Nitrites


Nitrate

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Nitrate is an ion containing a nitrogen atom with 3 oxygen atoms that bonds ionically to a mineral like sodium or potassium to form a salt. It degrades easily into sodium (or potassium) nitrite and oxygen.

Nitrite

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A nitrite is a ion with a nitrogen atom and just 2 oxygen atoms. Sodium nitrite is usually the active component in curing salt.

Nitrate and Nitrite seem to be used interchangeably when referring to the meat curing process, but it’s sodium nitrite that inhibits you getting botulism from the meat you eat.


We make a bunch of things from nitrite, one of which is nitric oxide which is a vasodilator important for vascular health. We also make N-Nitrosamines when nitrites come into contact with some amino acids in an acidic environment - which is inevitable in the stomach. N-Nitrosamines are the putative carcinogenic agents.

Many vegetables have a lot more nitrites than preserved meat. Vitamin-C inhibits the reaction that produces N-Nitrosamines. That is why many processed meats (eg: spam) contains small doses of ascorbate. And why hot salamis containing peppers (which contain vitamin-C) are probably not a worry.

Sodium Nitrite is important to kill an old enemy, clostridium botulinum … so important that humans have evolved to secrete sodium nitrates at the top of our gut in saliva and we’ve probably been dosing all our meat with nitrites for the past 300,000 years as we ate it. Botulism has paralyzed and killed many humans who chose to not use nitrites (nitrate derived or otherwise) to treat their food.

This 1973 study showed if you are going to can processed ham (spam) you need to innoculate it with sodium nitrite or you will kill some mice. The levels of 14 N-nitrosamines after that treatment (including dimethylamine) is undetectable.

Finally there was a study referenced by the WHO report showing an 18% increase in lifetime relative risk of bowel cancer (absolute risk from 5% and change to 6% and change) in people who did a “lot of things” but who also ate processed meat. I don’t believe they accurately factored out the “lot of things”. I’m skeptical that you can rule out confounds in epidemiological studies, especially ones based of food frequency recall questionnaires.


Nitrates and nitrites. Pure myth
Enjoy Your Bacon! 🥓🥓 Ken Berry MD 🤣
Bacon strips ? That was the old days
Nitrates and nitrites. Pure myth
(Adam Kirby) #33

Thanks for the science, Richard. Is the ONLY stigma against processed meat based on epidemiology? It seems like one of those zombie myths that’s unkillable.