bacon buying page 2

[RitaRose]

In other words, your spit contains far more nitrites than anything you could ever eat.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this. I've seen it a number of times, and even if there were a thousand studies saying it was absolutly true beyond a shadow of a doubt, the fact remains that I can swallow my own spit all day long with no bad effects, but if I ingest any food containing sodium nitirite, I will have a 3-day migraine within the hour. I'm not saying everyone has this problem (though it is fairly common), just that there's obviously more in the bacon/bologna/pepperoni/hot dogs than in my spit. It doesn't happen with anything other than sodium nitrite or sulfites (none in the vast majority of processed meats),

It’s important to understand that neither nitrate nor nitrite accumulate in body. Ingested nitrate from food is converted into nitrite when it contacts our saliva, and of the nitrate we eat, 25% is converted into salivary nitrite, 20% converted into nitrite, and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours of ingestion. Any nitrate that is absorbed has a very short half-life, disappearing from our blood in under five minutes.

Could be. For me, I think it's the initial impact that causes a problem, maybe before it converts. I honestly don't think bacon is an issue for most people, though I haven't done the research since it's literally painful for me, but if it wasn't I would probably have a few slices every day.

And if you think you can avoid nitrates and nitrites by eating so-called “nitrite- and nitrate-free” hot dogs and bacon, don’t be fooled. These products use “natural” sources of the same chemical like celery and beet juice and sea salt, and are no more free from nitrates and nitrites than standard cured meats. In fact, they may even contain more nitrates and nitrites when cured using “natural” preservatives."

This is absolutely true. America's Test Kitchen did a test where they tried both standard commercially cured bacon meat and meat cured with celery salt. The celery salt cured meat actually did worse. I'd link to it, but you have to pay for that article.

I know from personal experience when I didn't read the package of Hormel hot dogs. The package said "No added nitrates or nitrates!", then, in very tiny letters said "other than those naturally occuring in celery salt" or something like that. It's actually worse, but I had no clue and happilly consumed a couple of hot dogs. BAM! Migraine, and I couldn't figure out why until I read the package again and did some research. I called them the next day, in full migraine mode, and apparently they're pretty familiar with calls like mine. Thy don't care becaus it sells to others who don't get the migraine and think they're eating something healthier.