Should You Worry About Nitrates in Your Food?

We associate nitrates with processed meats, but they occur in vegetables, too -- and they're not all bad. Learn more about nitrates and nitrites in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/nitrates.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain stuff, a production of IHEART radio. Hey,
brain stuff, Lauren Volga bomb here. Nitrates are usually associated
with processed meats like Bacon or Bologna. But should you
be worried about them? Perhaps, surprisingly, nitrates are not always bad,
though of course, everything about nutrition is complicated, so let's

(00:26):
back up a step. What is a nitrate? A nitrogen,
of course, is a chemical element necessary for living things
to survive and grow. Nitrate is one of the nitrogen
compounds that's used by animals and plants as a source
of nitrogen. It's chemical formula is n o three, meaning
it's a nitrogen atom with three oxygen atoms. Nitrite is

(00:49):
another useful nitrogen compound. It's n o two, or a
nitrogen atom with two oxygen atoms. For the article, this
episode is based on how stuff work. Spoke with register
her Dietitian, Chrystin Gillespie. She said nitrates are stable and
unlikely to cause bodily harm. However, bacteria and enzymes have

(01:09):
the ability to convert them into nitrites, which may be harmful. Indeed,
nitrates can be converted into two types of nitrites, either
nitric oxide or nitrosamine, which yield very different results in
the body. A nitric oxide is a good thing, but
a conversion into nitrosamines is dicey. More on that in

(01:30):
a minute. A nitrates are often associated with processed meats,
but those aren't the main source of the compound. In
most human diets, around eight of the nitrates consumed by
the average person come from vegetables, including things like beets,
carrots and leafy Greens like spinach. Nitrates found in vegetables
are converted into beneficial nitrites when they come into contact

(01:53):
with bacteria in the mouth. These help produce nitric oxide,
which causes vasodilation, or widening of the arteries. This widening
lowers your blood pressure, allowing it to stay in a
nice and normal range. But nitrates are associated with processed
meats because they're added as preservatives to prevent botulism, which

(02:13):
is a potentially deadly form of food poisoning, and nitrates
help keep the meats looking fresh and pink or rather
than browned. HASTAF works also spoke with registered Dietitian nutritionist
Danielle Gaffin. She explained nitrite or nitrate salts, that is,
sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate potassium nitrite and potassium nitrate are

(02:34):
used in most cured meat products, especially processed meats like ham,
hot dogs, Bacon, sausage, Bologna, Salami, smoked fish and cold cuts.
When added to meat, the Nitrite Molecule chemically reacts with
the meat to create nitric oxide, which is the agent
responsible for curing the meat. A nitrate will not cure
meat until it's converted to nitrite. Naturally occurring nitrates, such

(03:00):
as those found in vegetables, are believed to be safe
and even beneficial to consumers. Some studies have shown that
they may reduce the risk of some cancers and chronic conditions. However,
nitrates found in foods like cured meats can turn into
those less desirable nitrites and nitrosomines when they're cooked with
protein at high temperatures or when combined with stomach acid.

(03:23):
NITROSAMINES have been found to be potentially carcinogenic, that is,
cancer causing. However, Gaffin pointed out that, once the concern
became apparent to the scientific community, the nitrate levels deemed
acceptable in processing were lowered. As she said, also because
of this, vitamin C and e are now often added

(03:43):
to cured meats to help reduce the nitrate reactions in
the stomach. The other good news is that the average
person doesn't consume enough processed meats to do too much damage.
For example, the risk of bowel cancer is pretty small.
According to article from the BBC, six percent of people
in the United Kingdom will get bowel cancer at some

(04:04):
point in their lives. For people who ate fifty grams
of processed meat, or about three strips of Bacon every day,
the chance moved to just seven. How stuff works. Also
spoke with Dr Chris Airy, medical director at the UK
based optimal. He said, of course, everything in moderation. I
would say that if your diet is generally unprocessed produced

(04:27):
rich full of healthy CARBS, fats and proteins, then the
occasional charcuterie or bacon breakfast won't make or break your health. Remember,
it's what we do on a daily basis consistently, rather
than single meals or workouts, contribute the most to our
overall health. Today's episode is based on the article should

(04:50):
we be worried about night trates in our food? On
how stuff works dot com, written by Leah Hoyt. Brain
stuff is production of I heart radio in partnership with
how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.
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