The levels of nitrosamines—considered the most carcinogenic agents in cigarette smoke—were recently measured in an array of processed meats including chicken, turkey, and pork.
Prevention Is Better Than Cured Meat
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Nitrosamines are considered the most carcinogenic (the most cancer-causing) agents in cigarette smoke.
In 2011, scientists measured the amount of nitrosamines in meat products. This is a table showing quantities of seven different preformed carcinogenic nitrosamines. So, from chicken meatballs, to pork, turkey slices, hot dogs, foie gras, and sausage, processed meats come prepackaged with carcinogens—thanks to the transformation that occurs from nitrite to nitrosamine, in the absence of phytonutrients.
How much is there in meat, compared to tobacco? The Cancer Project uses this graphic to warn consumers about the cancer risks associated with processed meat—which kind of suggests a few hot dogs may contain the carcinogenic load of a pack of cigarettes. Turns out they hit it right on the head. Filtered cigarettes have 11 times more nitrosamines and nitrosamides, but that’s per kilo. Cigarettes have less than a gram of tobacco each. Hot dogs are about 60 times heavier, and so four hot dogs has more than a pack of 20 cigarettes.
Here’s how much nitrosamine you can measure over the course of a day in someone eating ham, or sausage. And here are two representative graphs of how much is flowing through the bodies of those eating vegetarian.
In fact, you can take people who eat smoked or canned meat, put them on a vegetarian diet, and very quickly see a drop as their body starts detoxifying itself within a day or two.
Here’s a chart of the effect of changing from a meat diet to a vegetarian diet on urinary nitrosamine levels—a reflection of what’s flowing through their bloodstreams. Looking at four different carcinogens, you can see day one and two eating meat, then vegetarian days three through five, and you can see the dramatic drop—though it doesn’t drop as low as those on the control vegetarian diet. Presumably, though, a few more days eating vegetarian, and their bodies would be able to flush out the remainder.
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 Dianne Moore.
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- Campillo N, Viñas P, Martínez-Castillo N, Hernández-Córdoba M. Determination of volatile nitrosamines in meat products by microwave-assisted extraction and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A. 2011 Apr 8;1218(14):1815-21. Epub 2011 Feb 13.
- Haorah J, Zhou L, Wang X, Xu G, Mirvish SS. Determination of total N-nitroso compounds and their precursors in frankfurters, fresh meat, dried salted fish, sauces, tobacco, and tobacco smoke particulates. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Dec;49(12):6068-78.
- Akopyan G, Bonavida B. Understanding tobacco smoke carcinogen NNK and lung tumorigenesis. Int J Oncol. 2006 Oct;29(4):745-52.
- Stich HF, Hornby AP, Dunn BP. The effect of dietary factors on nitrosoproline levels in human urine. Int J Cancer. 1984 May 15;33(5):625-8.
Images thanks to the CancerProject.org and Cory Salveson via flickr. Images have been modified.
Nitrosamines are considered the most carcinogenic (the most cancer-causing) agents in cigarette smoke.
In 2011, scientists measured the amount of nitrosamines in meat products. This is a table showing quantities of seven different preformed carcinogenic nitrosamines. So, from chicken meatballs, to pork, turkey slices, hot dogs, foie gras, and sausage, processed meats come prepackaged with carcinogens—thanks to the transformation that occurs from nitrite to nitrosamine, in the absence of phytonutrients.
How much is there in meat, compared to tobacco? The Cancer Project uses this graphic to warn consumers about the cancer risks associated with processed meat—which kind of suggests a few hot dogs may contain the carcinogenic load of a pack of cigarettes. Turns out they hit it right on the head. Filtered cigarettes have 11 times more nitrosamines and nitrosamides, but that’s per kilo. Cigarettes have less than a gram of tobacco each. Hot dogs are about 60 times heavier, and so four hot dogs has more than a pack of 20 cigarettes.
Here’s how much nitrosamine you can measure over the course of a day in someone eating ham, or sausage. And here are two representative graphs of how much is flowing through the bodies of those eating vegetarian.
In fact, you can take people who eat smoked or canned meat, put them on a vegetarian diet, and very quickly see a drop as their body starts detoxifying itself within a day or two.
Here’s a chart of the effect of changing from a meat diet to a vegetarian diet on urinary nitrosamine levels—a reflection of what’s flowing through their bloodstreams. Looking at four different carcinogens, you can see day one and two eating meat, then vegetarian days three through five, and you can see the dramatic drop—though it doesn’t drop as low as those on the control vegetarian diet. Presumably, though, a few more days eating vegetarian, and their bodies would be able to flush out the remainder.
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 Dianne Moore.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Campillo N, Viñas P, Martínez-Castillo N, Hernández-Córdoba M. Determination of volatile nitrosamines in meat products by microwave-assisted extraction and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A. 2011 Apr 8;1218(14):1815-21. Epub 2011 Feb 13.
- Haorah J, Zhou L, Wang X, Xu G, Mirvish SS. Determination of total N-nitroso compounds and their precursors in frankfurters, fresh meat, dried salted fish, sauces, tobacco, and tobacco smoke particulates. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Dec;49(12):6068-78.
- Akopyan G, Bonavida B. Understanding tobacco smoke carcinogen NNK and lung tumorigenesis. Int J Oncol. 2006 Oct;29(4):745-52.
- Stich HF, Hornby AP, Dunn BP. The effect of dietary factors on nitrosoproline levels in human urine. Int J Cancer. 1984 May 15;33(5):625-8.
Images thanks to the CancerProject.org and Cory Salveson via flickr. Images have been modified.
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Title
Prevention Is Better Than Cured Meat
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
Eating a plant-based diet can also help detoxify your body from some of the industrial pollutants found higher in the food chain, but it takes substantially longer than a few days. For a comparison of the levels of different carcinogens in meat, see Food Sources of PCB Chemical Pollutants and Carcinogenic Putrescine.
For more context, check out my associated blog posts: Using Greens to Improve Athletic Performance; Eating To Extend Our Lifespan; Harvard’s Meat and Mortality Studies; Adding FDA-Approved Viruses to Meat; How To Reduce Dietary Antibiotic Intake; Avoiding Cooked Meat Carcinogens; and How Chemically Contaminated Are We?
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