Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff, a production of IHEART radio. Hey,
Speaker 1: brain stuff, Lauren Volga bomb here. Nitrates are usually associated
Speaker 1: with processed meats like Bacon or Bologna. But should you
Speaker 1: be worried about them? Perhaps, surprisingly, nitrates are not always bad,
Speaker 1: though of course, everything about nutrition is complicated, so let's
Speaker 1: back up a step. What is a nitrate? A nitrogen,
Speaker 1: of course, is a chemical element necessary for living things
Speaker 1: to survive and grow. Nitrate is one of the nitrogen
Speaker 1: compounds that's used by animals and plants as a source
Speaker 1: of nitrogen. It's chemical formula is n o three, meaning
Speaker 1: it's a nitrogen atom with three oxygen atoms. Nitrite is
Speaker 1: another useful nitrogen compound. It's n o two, or a
Speaker 1: nitrogen atom with two oxygen atoms. For the article, this
Speaker 1: episode is based on how stuff work. Spoke with register
Speaker 1: her Dietitian, Chrystin Gillespie. She said nitrates are stable and
Speaker 1: unlikely to cause bodily harm. However, bacteria and enzymes have
Speaker 1: the ability to convert them into nitrites, which may be harmful. Indeed,
Speaker 1: nitrates can be converted into two types of nitrites, either
Speaker 1: nitric oxide or nitrosamine, which yield very different results in
Speaker 1: the body. A nitric oxide is a good thing, but
Speaker 1: a conversion into nitrosamines is dicey. More on that in
Speaker 1: a minute. A nitrates are often associated with processed meats,
Speaker 1: but those aren't the main source of the compound. In
Speaker 1: most human diets, around eight of the nitrates consumed by
Speaker 1: the average person come from vegetables, including things like beets,
Speaker 1: carrots and leafy Greens like spinach. Nitrates found in vegetables
Speaker 1: are converted into beneficial nitrites when they come into contact
Speaker 1: with bacteria in the mouth. These help produce nitric oxide,
Speaker 1: which causes vasodilation, or widening of the arteries. This widening
Speaker 1: lowers your blood pressure, allowing it to stay in a
Speaker 1: nice and normal range. But nitrates are associated with processed
Speaker 1: meats because they're added as preservatives to prevent botulism, which
Speaker 1: is a potentially deadly form of food poisoning, and nitrates
Speaker 1: help keep the meats looking fresh and pink or rather
Speaker 1: than browned. HASTAF works also spoke with registered Dietitian nutritionist
Speaker 1: Danielle Gaffin. She explained nitrite or nitrate salts, that is,
Speaker 1: sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate potassium nitrite and potassium nitrate are
Speaker 1: used in most cured meat products, especially processed meats like ham,
Speaker 1: hot dogs, Bacon, sausage, Bologna, Salami, smoked fish and cold cuts.
Speaker 1: When added to meat, the Nitrite Molecule chemically reacts with
Speaker 1: the meat to create nitric oxide, which is the agent
Speaker 1: responsible for curing the meat. A nitrate will not cure
Speaker 1: meat until it's converted to nitrite. Naturally occurring nitrates, such
Speaker 1: as those found in vegetables, are believed to be safe
Speaker 1: and even beneficial to consumers. Some studies have shown that
Speaker 1: they may reduce the risk of some cancers and chronic conditions. However,
Speaker 1: nitrates found in foods like cured meats can turn into
Speaker 1: those less desirable nitrites and nitrosomines when they're cooked with
Speaker 1: protein at high temperatures or when combined with stomach acid.
Speaker 1: NITROSAMINES have been found to be potentially carcinogenic, that is,
Speaker 1: cancer causing. However, Gaffin pointed out that, once the concern
Speaker 1: became apparent to the scientific community, the nitrate levels deemed
Speaker 1: acceptable in processing were lowered. As she said, also because
Speaker 1: of this, vitamin C and e are now often added
Speaker 1: to cured meats to help reduce the nitrate reactions in
Speaker 1: the stomach. The other good news is that the average
Speaker 1: person doesn't consume enough processed meats to do too much damage.
Speaker 1: For example, the risk of bowel cancer is pretty small.
Speaker 1: According to article from the BBC, six percent of people
Speaker 1: in the United Kingdom will get bowel cancer at some
Speaker 1: point in their lives. For people who ate fifty grams
Speaker 1: of processed meat, or about three strips of Bacon every day,
Speaker 1: the chance moved to just seven. How stuff works. Also
Speaker 1: spoke with Dr Chris Airy, medical director at the UK
Speaker 1: based optimal. He said, of course, everything in moderation. I
Speaker 1: would say that if your diet is generally unprocessed produced
Speaker 1: rich full of healthy CARBS, fats and proteins, then the
Speaker 1: occasional charcuterie or bacon breakfast won't make or break your health. Remember,
Speaker 1: it's what we do on a daily basis consistently, rather
Speaker 1: than single meals or workouts, contribute the most to our
Speaker 1: overall health. Today's episode is based on the article should
Speaker 1: we be worried about night trates in our food? On
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, written by Leah Hoyt. Brain
Speaker 1: stuff is production of I heart radio in partnership with
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.
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