Nothing like the smell of bacon 🥓 on a Sunday morning.
But should we be worried 😦
Is it “bad” for you?
In this case, they mentioned how they had sausages a lot as their kids ate them
And they were a bit worried about their kids eating enough.
Also, it made their life easier as they knew they would eat it and everyone is happy and fed.
I get it.
So if you look at the research and guidance around processed meats, the main concern is the sodium nitrite added to preserve the meat.
The reaction in your body can make a compound known as nitrosamine, which is listed as carcinogenic.
Now, before we panic.
The devil is in the dose.
At the moment, the recommendation is no more than 50g a day, on average.
But again, it’s all relative risk.
It’s not “death” or “staying alive”
It’s all part of a risk.
And you have to also consider
👍 The psychosocial benefits of having the flexibility to have the odd bacon sandwich
💪 It’s still a way to get protein, iron, vitamin B, carnitine,and creatine in your diet
But can you get the best of both worlds?
Perhaps..
With consumer interest rising to get more “natural” ingredients
It seems “naked” / “natural” additives are now being seen more and more.
After all, nitrates are naturally found in vegetables
In fact, the nitric oxide effects of having beetroot
And the reason why beetroot has benefits for blood pressure and heart disease risk.
Take these in the pic
Instead of using sodium nitrite, they use
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
And salt
Which is great to see
So there you go.
It’s rarely “good” or “bad” in nutrition
Context is key.
Will it have a sausage, some bacon or a burger with sodium nitrite in again?
Yes.
Will I try to limit it and go for the Naked options like above where possible?
Yes.
It’s balance.
Who knows though..
They’ll probably be a new diet out soon
Called the “nitrate” diet
Where you don’t eat veg, meat, or fruit…
And the food is grown in a lab, nitrate free…
I could be wrong though…
And I think before that.
The bone density diet will be out first.
Replacing the current craze of testing your blood sugar levels after eating a food…
(I spoke about this more here: https://frucifit.com/personalised-nutrition-glucose-monitors/)
Anyway, enough of me rambling.
I’m just here to remind you
To question everything.
Even me 😂
Matt