Dried meat products are on the menu of most citizens. For those who know a little more about them, this kind of food has been on the black list for a long time. Industrial dried meat products are certainly harmful and according to the general recommendations of a healthy adult, they should not be eaten more than 200 grams per week, or no more than 50 grams per day.
The general recommendation of the nutritionist is that children up to the age of 4 should not eat pate, hot dogs, salami and any other meat products. They are also not recommended in the diet of asthmatics, pregnant women or nursing mothers. Older children and adolescents are not advised to eat dried meat products more than once a week (and when they eat to choose the best quality, the best home-made: dried meet, prosciutto, home-made sausage, bacon) with nutritious food: integral roll, young cheese, seasonal vegetables and probiotic yogurt.
Cured meat products that are industrially produced contain additives that make it dangerous. These are primarily nitrates, nitrites and polyphosphates, as well as flavor enhancers (glutamate), salt and saturated fats. All this adversely affects the level of cholesterol in the blood and leads to obesity. Due to the high content of salt and flavor enhancers, dried meat products increase the risk of hypertension. Hot dogs also contain a significant amount of water (40 percent), so they provide fertile ground for bacterial colonies.
Daily consumption of dried meat products, even in several meals a day, results in an excessive intake of additives. The three are the worst.
* Sodium nitrate (NaNO3) is an additive marked E251 and is added to meat products as a preservative. A small amount decomposes into sodium nitrite. Studies have shown a link between high nitrate levels and higher mortality from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cancer of the colon, stomach and esophagus.
* Sodium nitrite (NaNO2), a nitrite salt, is an additive labeled E250 and it gives dried meat products a distinctive red color. Sodium nitrite is used to salt meat faster and prevent the growth of bacteria. It interferes with the transport of oxygen in cells and blood in a larger amount. Nitrite reacts with foods rich in proteins (ie meat, soy) and spices, forming carcinogenic nitrosamines.
* Carrageenan is a polyphosphate, an additive marked E470. It is obtained from seaweed, is sticky and is used in cooked meat products such as salami. Polyphosphates make meat juicier. They serve to bind water, which gives the product weight and loses weight. Carrageenan is deposited in the colon, where it sticks to the mucous membrane, causing its inflammation, and later colon cancer.
It is generally known that white meat is healthier than red, however, you will find a lot of additives in dried meat products from poultry, so it is not easy to give an answer.
The least harmful are domestic products that contain the highest percentage of meat, such as prosciutto, dried meet, pancetta, bacon, home-made sausages, because they are salted only with sodium chloride (kitchen salt) aged on a draft in an attic after a couple of "rounds" of smoking. The smoke they smoke is certainly carcinogenic, but they contain the least additives.
As the daily intake is limited to 50 grams, choose the highest quality products, the best homemade. Industrial products are a story in themselves, so the longer the declaration, the more harmful it is. Probably the worst products are tea, hot dogs and pate, or meat spreads. The content of saturated fats in such products is high, which raises the level of bad cholesterol and reduces the level of good.
As always in the diet should be moderate and of course well informed. Be sure to read the declarations and eat quality home-made products.
Ancient technology for meat preservation is applied in these products.., it have adverse affects just because of not properly handling nd 2nd in these products ungraded meat is used