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Bacon is among the worst processed
meats you can eat. And adding one ounce of processed meat to your
daily diet elevates your stomach cancer risks by as much as 38 percent.
Among the likely contributors: Nitrates, along with excess salt and smoking
that extend the shelf-life of such products.
Meat cooked at high temperatures can
also contain as many as 20 different kinds of heterocyclic
amines, or HCAs for short. Many people feel that it is important to
cook food well in order to avoid bacterial infection, but these same people
do not realize that cooking meat, poultry, or fish at high temperatures for
long periods of time can also be dangerous to your health.
In one study, researchers found that
those who ate their beef medium-well or well-done had more than three times
the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef rare or
medium-rare. Other studies have shown that an increased risk of developing
pancreatic, colorectal, and breast cancer is associated with high intakes
of well-done, fried, or barbequed meats.
According to strict metabolic typing
guidelines pork does well for protein types and mixed types. Ideally, it
should be from non-farm-raised animals fed organically. I personally avoid
most pork but primarily base this on Levitical guidelines, which clearly
may be flawed.
Additionally, many of our patients
seem to do well on clean pork products. Ultimately, it is a decision
each individual needs to make for themselves.
If you're eating meat loaded with
pesticides and hormones, then cook it at high temperatures, you're asking
for trouble. That's why I limit my meat choices when possible to grass-fed and organic
meats.
Vital
Votes reader Jim, from Massachusetts, comments:
"I
guess it's about time to invest in a slow cooker (a.k.a. 'crockpot').
I've seen more than one study that states that high-cooking temperatures
create ideal carcinogenic conditions. Barbecue, for instance.
The black stuff that's unavoidable in the barbecue process is deadly over
time. And the frying pan over a high flame (when you're talking the
talk and woking the wok)."
Rich, from Massapequa, New York,
adds:
"Bacon
is the worst of all meats to eat and it is not fit for human consumption,
period."
Other responses to this article can
be viewed at Vital Votes, and you can add your own thoughts or vote
on comments by first registering at Vital Votes.
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