processed meats paper mar 2013

8/9/2019 Processed Meats Paper Mar 2013

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Hi, Loren,

I apologize for e-mailing you on such a trivial question. However, what do you think of

lunch meats - like thinly sliced turkey, chicken (not the bologna or hot dogs--junk!).

These make for convenient protein for salads. How about turkey bacon? Are you

concerned re the nitrate content, or other carcinogens?

Thanks for your time.

Pam

Pamela Abrams, MD90 Health Park Drive, #260

Louisville, CO 80027

Hi Pam,

This is a very good question indeed, and cannot be simply answered without exploring a

number of nutritional issues. Nevertheless, my initial approach would be to apply the

evolutionary template which clearly indicates our hunter gatherer ancestors would have

never consumed processed, cured or canned meats (1). Their staples were the fresh

meats, flesh and organs of wild animals along with gathered wild plant foods (2).

Common additives to canned, cured and processed meats include:

Salt, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose (glucose), sucrose (table sugar),

modified food starch (made from wheat, corn, potatoes, soy, etc ) sodium lactate,

potassium lactate, calcium sulfate, BHA, BHT, citric acid, propyl gallate, silicon dioxide,

vinegar, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrite, potassium nitrate, sodium

tripolyphosphate, hexametaphosphate, acid pyrophosphate, orthophosphates,

erythorbate, vitamin C, vitamin E, oleoresins, spices, monosodium glutamate (MSG),

sodium diacetate, bromelin, carrageenan, ficin, gelatin, hydrolyzed proteins (wheat, soy,milk), papain, sodium caseinate, dried whey.

Read the labels of most lunch meats, processed meats, canned meats, sausages, salamis

and bacon, and you will invariably find numerous additives listed above.




Clearly refined sugars, salt, soy, dairy and cereals added to processed meats are not“Paleo” ingredients. Many other compounds in this list are added to prevent food borne

illnesses, bacterial contamination, and spoilage. Prominent in these functions are added

nitrites and nitrates (3). We all know that fresh, raw meats rapidly spoil and can cause

illness, gastric distress and diarrhea if left unrefrigerated at room temperatures for long

periods. So this fact alone should tip you off to potential health hazards associated with

consumption of processed meats, which typically don’t spoil at room temperatures

because of their chemical additives. If the chemicals in these meats are “bad” for

bacteria, they just might be “bad” for our body’s cells as well. Before I get into nitrite

and nitrate health concerns, let’s talk about more wide-ranging nutritional issues

involving consumption of processed meats.

Unless you can find a supplier who manufactures their processed meats from wild game

or grass-fed animals, any processed meat you consume originates mainly from feed lot

animals eating virtually nothing but grains (corn primarily) before they are slaughtered.

As my research group and I have previously pointed out (4, 5), this practice produces

inferior meat with an unnatural fatty acid balance characterized by high omega 6 fatty

acids, low omega 3 fatty acids, a low protein content, a high fat content and many other

important nutritional shortcomings (6). So, with almost all processed meats, we’ve got a

nutritionally inferior product to start with even before it is transformed into hams, bacon,

lunch meats, bologna, hot dogs, salamis, sausages, deli meats, canned spam, Vienna

sausages, etc.

Feed lot produced animals whether cattle, hogs, chickens, or turkeys are invariably

exposed to pesticides (7, 8), or are deliberately administered antibiotics (9), and

hormones (10-12); all of which may ultimately find their way into our food supply.

Virtually all feed lot cattle in the U.S. are implanted with estrogenic hormones in their

ears to promote rapid growth and weight gain. Although the jury is still out, exposure to

these hormones may compromise our health (10-12). Hence, most processed meats

should be avoided on at least one level because they are significant dietary sources of

pesticides, antibiotics and hormones which have the potential to disrupt our health. In

contrast, grass produced or free ranging animals are not fed cereal grains, thereby

potentially reducing pesticide exposure. Further, most grass fed animals are never givenhormones to increase their growth rate and rarely are routinely administered antibiotics.

Almost all processed meats typically are cooked for long periods, frequently at high

temperatures. Cooking meats in this manner produces at least two cancer causing

compounds: 1) heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and 2) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAHs) (13). Further, consumption of cooked, canned and cured meats causes high




levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) to accumulate in the bloodstream (14).As AGEs build up in higher and higher concentrations in the blood they increase the risk

for heart disease (15), cancer (16) and inflammation (17), a process that underlies

virtually all chronic disease. If these events weren’t enough to make you shy away from

eating these adulterated meats, they are also concentrated sources of oxidized

cholesterol (18), a potent compound known to promote artery clogging or atherosclerosis

(19).

One of the original reasons scientists advised us to limit consumption of processed

meats was because of their high concentration of nitrites and nitrates. These chemicals

are added to salami, lunch meats, bacon, sausages and other processed meats because

they inhibit bacteria which cause food borne illnesses while also enhancing the color andflavor of processed meats (20). Many early scientific studies examining dietary nitrites

and nitrates suggested that the metabolism of these compounds in our bodies produced

potent cancer causing chemical called nitrosamines. Hence, consumers were advised

not to eat processed meats containing nitrites or nitrates (20). This viewpoint has been

challenged in the past decade by a number of researchers who suggest that dietary

nitrites and nitrates are actually protective against cancer, heart disease and other

illnesses (20-23). In the body, these compounds are metabolized to nitric oxide, a

chemical which promotes cardiovascular health and has many other therapeutic effects

(21-23).

In the U.S. diet, nitrates and nitrites are not only found as additives in processed meats,

but rather their greatest dietary source comes from fresh fruits and vegetables (20, 22)

which are protective for cardiovascular disease, cancer and other illnesses. Hence, the

available evidence suggests that the cancer causing effects of processed meats stems

not from their nitrite or nitrate additives, but rather from HCA, PAH or other chemicals

added to them during processing.

The scientific data showing that consumption of processed meats has multiple adverse

health effects is persuasive, unambiguous and overwhelming (24, 25 ). These facts are

not surprising when considered in the evolutionary light. Our hunter gatherer ancestors

had practically no evolutionary experience with these Johnnie come lately foods, andconsequently our physiological and metabolic systems have had virtually no time to

overcome these food borne toxins with genetic adaptations. I believe that consumption

of fresh, grass produced meats under the context of a diet high in fruits and veggies (i.e.

The Paleo Diet) will reduce your risk for all chronic diseases that plague western

societies.




References

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research-about-the-paleo-diet/#2005

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animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-

gatherer diets. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2000, 71:682-92.

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processed meats paper mar 2013

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