Did you know that consuming processed meats can increase your risk of developing certain cancers? Research has shown that processed meats aren’t great for our health for many different reasons. However, one reason is because they contain chemicals called nitrites and nitrates.
Nitrites and nitrates do not solely exist in processed meats. What’s more is that many vegetables actually contain high levels of these chemicals. Containing nitrites and nitrates, one might be inclined to think they should avoid certain vegetables as well. Scientists have proven, however, that these vegetables actually help lower your risk of certain cancers.
This raises a very important question…
How can nitrates and nitrites be harmful when added to meat but healthy in vegetables? The answer lies in how nitrates and nitrites in food get converted into other molecules.
The Science
Nitrates and nitrites are two different types of compound. Nitrates consist of one nitrogen atom and three oxygen atoms. Nitrites consist of one nitrogen atom and two oxygen atoms. Nitrates are relatively inert, which means they’re stable and unlikely to change and cause harm. However, bacteria in the mouth or enzymes in the body can convert them into nitrites, and these may be harmful. In turn, nitrites can either turn into nitric oxide, which is beneficial for the body, or nitrosamines, which can be harmful.
Manufacturers add nitrites to meat to preserve them. They’re the reason why cured meat is pink or red. In meat, nitrites turn into nitric oxide. This reacts with proteins in the meat, changing its color and helping preserve it. Without nitrites and other additives, the meat would turn brown quickly.
The Increased Risk of Cancer
A study held by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast found that mice fed a diet of processed meat containing the chemicals, which are used to cure bacon and give it its distinctive pink color, developed 75% more cancerous tumors in the duodenum than mice fed nitrite-free pork. It also found that mice fed nitrite-cured pork developed 82% more tumors in the colon than the control group.
While nitrates alone aren’t necessarily the issue, it’s the chemicals that nitrates break down to that are. Through the cooking process, the nitrates in our food transform into nitrosamines, a chemical compound that can increase your risk of cancer.
Studies show that eating vegetables rich in natural nitrates can help reduce your risk of getting some chronic health conditions, whereas eating foods high in added nitrates can cause health risks. Why is that?
Experts suggest the antioxidants in vegetables with high nitrates help prevent their breakdown into nitrosamines. When your body breaks down the nitrates from vegetables, it makes nitric oxide instead of nitrosamines. Nitric oxide increases your blood flow and blood pressure, keeps your heart healthy, and helps your body make hormones and other signaling molecules. Foods high in added nitrates, such as cured meat, aren’t high enough in antioxidants to keep them from breaking down into nitrosamines.
Eating a lot of foods with added nitrates can increase your health risks for:
- Methemoglobinemia in infants (blue baby syndrome)
- Development of cancer, especially digestive cancers, such as colorectal, stomach, and esophagus cancer
- Complications during pregnancy
In Closing
The nutrients that we consume react together in many different ways – which is why nitrates and nitrites can be safe for us in some foods, and may be harmful when they come from others. However, some advisory bodies now recommend that because of their cancer risk we should eat little, if any, processed meat.