Is Bacon Good or Is Spinach Bad?
If the nitrates in vegetables such as greens are health-promoting because they can be turned into nitrites and then nitric oxide inside our bodies, what about the nitrites added to cured meats such as bacon, ham, and hot dogs?
Topics
Supplementary Info
Is Bacon Good or Is Spinach Bad?,
Sources Cited
Webb AJ, Patel N, Loukogeorgakis S, Okorie M, Aboud Z, Misra S, Rashid R, Miall P, Deanfield J, Benjamin N, MacAllister R, Hobbs AJ, Ahluwalia A. Acute blood pressure lowering, vasoprotective, and antiplatelet properties of dietary nitrate via bioconversion to nitrite. Hypertension. 2008 Mar;51(3):784-90. Epub 2008 Feb 4.
Acknowledgements
Images thanks to Glane23 and Renee Comet for the National Cancer Institute via Wikimedia commons.
Transcript
Nitrites: Harmful, harmless, or helpful?
Nitrites are preservatives added to cured meats—like bacon, ham and hot dogs—to prevent botulism and make them pink by combining with iron in the blood in the meat.
Everybody knows nitrites are bad for you, right?
But wait a second, didn’t I just show all this research suggesting that in fact the reason dark green leafy vegetables may be so healthy is that the nitrates in them turn into nitrites in our mouths? And the nitrites go on to produce nitric oxide which is what's so great for our arteries. So which is it? Are nitrites good for you or bad for you?
If nitrites are good for you, then hey—pass the bacon. If nitrites, however, are bad for you, then shouldn't we stay the heck away from spinach?
On one hand, we have the food group widely considered to be worst possible thing you can eat, processed meat, and on the other hand you have dark green leafy vegetables, considered the best. Yet they are respectively being trashed and touted for the exact same reason—nitrites. It’s got to be one or the other, right?
Now things are starting to get interesting… —stay tuned.
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by MaryAnn Allison.
To help out on the site please email <a
href= “mailto:volunteer@nutritionfacts.org” >volunteer@nutritionfacts.org
Doctor's Note
In response to a CDC study linking Spam consumption with diabetes, the president of the American Meat Institute recently defended processed meat, stating that "93 percent of human nitrite intake comes from vegetables and human saliva – not from cured meats. If nitrite were the issue, then one would think the vegetables would be the cause of the diabetes, yet no one is suggesting that association." This is the first of the 8 videos on figuring out this apparent conundrum that will close out my 3-week series on the cardioprotective (see Hearts Shouldn’t Skip A Beat) and athletic performance-enhancing benefits (see Doping With Beet Juice) of nitrate-rich vegetables. For a review of the relationship between nitrates and nitrites, see Priming the Proton Pump. So far there have only been a few precautionary notes (see Asparagus Pee). What about this nitrite issue? As I say at the end of the video, stay tuned! In the meantime, I have a few videos on processed meat and hundreds of other videos on more than a thousand subjects that you can check out.
For some context, please check out my associated blog post, Using Greens to Improve Athletic Performance.
-
Michael Greger M.D.
Next Video
-
When Nitrites Go Bad
Nitrites in processed meat form nitrosamines, a class of potent carcinogens found in cigarette smoke, which may explain why hot dog consumption has been associated with the two leading pediatric cancers, brain tumors and childhood leukemia.
Watch Now
Previous Video
-
Vegetables Rate by Nitrate
If nitrates can boost athletic performance and protect against heart disease, which vegetables have the most: beans, bulb vegetables (like garlic and onions), fruiting vegetables (like eggplant and squash), greens (such as arugula), mushrooms, root vegetables (such as carrots and beets), or stem vegetables (such as celery and rhubarb)?
Watch Now
Related Reading
-
Fighting Inflammation With Food SynergyOne of the reasons some studies haven’t shown more impressive results tying disease reduction to the.. -
Breast Cancer and DietOctober is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a concept invented more than 25 years ago by.. -
How Does Meat Cause Inflammation?The anti-inflammatory effect of plant-based diets is about more than just the power of plants. It’s.. -
Adding FDA-Approved Viruses to MeatBacteria-eating viruses (bacteriophages) have been approved as meat additives to reduce the food safety.. -
NutritionFacts.org: the first monthNutritionFacts.org is the first non-commercial, science-based website to provide daily updates on..