katsy

Processed Meats Declared Too Dangerous for Human Consumption

"Processed meats include bacon, sausage, hot dogs, sandwich meat, packaged ham, pepperoni, salami and virtually all red meat used in frozen prepared meals. They are usually manufactured with a carcinogenic ingredient known as sodium nitrite.2 This is used as a color fixer by meat companies to turn packaged meats a bright red color so they look fresh. Unfortunately, sodium nitrite also results in the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines in the human body. And this leads to a sharp increase in cancer risk for those who eat them."

Yikes! I always try to eat 'clean,' but this is just more motivation to do so. Processed meats are just one small part of the evil food world.

GMOs are pretty scary. Obama and the gov't recently passed legislation to help protect big companies, like Monsanto(the largest pesticide co that creates all our food) that produce gmos. Where are the studies about the effects of gmos on our bodies?

Most people do not even think about where our food comes from. In our fast-paced, hectic lifestyles it's just easier to buy what's readily available and the cheapest. Cost has always been a concern, but when it comes to what I put in my, and my children's, bodies I will pay extra to keep us healthy.

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Split the Lark-- and you'll find the Music - Emily Dickinson

CrazyVegn

This is NOT my problem, but thanks for sharing to others.

VEGANGELICA

katzy, the health problems associated with processed meat are especially great, but eating red meat in general also increases health risks.

I advise people to eliminate processed meats entirely and to reduce or eliminate red meat from their diets, replacing it with beans and nuts (and vitamin B12).

The Harvard School of Public Health provides some of the best unbiased nutrition information I've seen on the net, so anyone who wants to improve her diet would do well to learn about nutrition via this source:

Harvard School of Public Health » The Nutrition Source » Healthy Eating Plate

^ The sad thing is that the risks associated with red and processed meat have been known for years, but I suspect many people simply do not get this information and thus don't even know why they might wish to change their diets.

Here is new Harvard research corroborating earlier studies that show the harmful effects of processed meats and red meats in general:

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CrazyVegn, I don't know, but I'm guessing, a wild hunch here, that you're a vegn like me. I meet so few that I always enjoy it when I do! I only know 1 vegan personally (besides myself), so I get hopeful whenever there is a chance that there might be another one out there!

The problem is the harmful effects associated with eating processed meats and red meats end up being my problem because people I love, such as my child, sometimes eat red and processed meats, in his case purchased by his dad and that side of the family.

One outcome is that my child doesn't seem to care at all about food health issues, only taste issues, because I'm the only one he knows who explains the risks of red meats so that he'll know why to avoid them. I tell him that red meat and especially processed meats are harmful for him...there are better protein choices...and red meats are definitely harmful for the animals!

Right now, though, he likes to take after his dad's side of the family and he calls himself a carnivore.

Sigh. It is hard to raise a health-conscious child when every birthday party has pepperoni pizza and all your friends eat all sorts of meat. The best I can do is explain my position on meat to him. I also put my money where my mouth is by not buying him any meat, although he has the choice to eat it when he is at other people's homes. I am now a "mean mom," according to him.

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Burning Down

Oh, you're not mean! You are a good mom by not totally restricting him from consuming meat when he's with friends, and that you're also practicing what you preach at home. I think as he gets older and understands more about diet, nutrition, and health he will make an informed choice about the right kind of diet for him. I am betting that he will eventually gravitate towards vegetarianism at the very least, solely based on the diet you provide at home right now.

I'm not vegetarian by any means, but I don't eat a whole lot of meat products overall. But I do like it. I was always glad my parents were accommodating of any choices I made about my own diet - I was always given the choice of "meat or no meat" at mealtimes so I knew that if I had chosen to be vegetarian they would not have an issue with it. I assume most vegetarian/vegan parents are accommodating in that way while also explaining the benefits of no meat or animal products.

VEGANGELICA

Thanks for the support, Burning Down. I'm used to being called a 'mean mom' now for very minor things (such as I tell him to go to bed at 10:30 PM! And I don't let him play computer games until 2 AM!), so I take it in stride. I know he loves me, even when he's upset.

The issue of what foods to offer kids *is* an interesting one. Your parents had an open-minded attitude of "meat or no meat" at mealtimes.

Given the negative health consequences of red meat, do you feel it is mean to offer meat to kids regularly? Generally, giving people something that increases their risk of mortality significantly isn't a very good thing to do, and especially not if they are kids.

In that recent Harvard study, it was found that "one daily serving of unprocessed red meat (about the size of a deck of cards) was associated with a 13 percent increased risk of mortality, and one daily serving of processed red meat (one hot dog or two slices of bacon) was associated with a 20 percent increased risk."

If I were offering my child something that increased his risk of mortality by 20%, I'd feel awful.

My guess is most vegetarian or vegan parents do not offer meat at home, but I don't really know! I know so few vegetarians and vegans.

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Burning Down

No, I don't think it is mean of parents to serve red meat to kids for meals; however, I think that since nutrients found in red meat (iron, B12, protein) can be found in other food products, so cutting down on red meat/process meats is very possible for non-vegetarian families. Also, it may be easier on the budget since most cuts of red meat are more expensive, on average, than poultry or pork products.

My mom always followed the Jewish custom of not eating pork or consuming pork products so there was none of that in my house. I don't have a taste for pork at all (I have since tried it). She mostly served poultry and fish as the meat options, and occasionally red meat (like for a Sunday dinner or if we had guests over). Both my parents are also kind of picky eaters so I'm thinking that they may have only had a real liking for poultry and fish instead of other meats, and that's why we had it a lot, haha!

Regarding your last point - I also assume that meat is not offered in vegetarian households. It depends on the family though, and I do think that some veg parents are open to their children trying meat. Maybe not in the home, but somewhere else (like a friend's house, for example). One of my neighbours is actually a vegetarian, but her husband is not and neither are her young children (yet - they can determine their own diets as they get older).

duga

While I'll agree Monsanto and the big Ag companies are doing some pretty shady things, I get really agitated when people freak out of about GMO's. There's absolutely nothing harmful to humans about them. Ecologically, there are potential issues. But as far as eating them...stop worrying.

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

katsy

This is a sincere question(I'm not being snarky): Then why are foreign countries banning GMOs? The European Union doesn't want it. The US says it is safe.

Some concerns I have of GMOs:The allergens it introduces.The changes to the nutritional value of plants, in an adverse way.

I understand the benefits. But have the benefits been weighed against the probable negative outcomes? I haven't been able to find any studies on such. Everything that I am able to find conveys that gmo foods are safe, as safe as any food can be. However, there is always that but-- but, we do not know about long term effects.

I have read studies where people feel better, and symptoms of skin disorders in particular, start clear when the person removes gmo's from their diet. I'm not so blind to think that other factors may also be involved.

All of that aside, I just want the foods labeled, and a better regulation system.

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Split the Lark-- and you'll find the Music - Emily Dickinson

hip hop bunny hop

****ing liberal logic: Saudi's don't let women drive, but here in the USA the Government says it's safe. Why aren't we like them?

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Have mercy on the poor.

anticipation

Wow, eating the flesh of dead animals is bad for you? Who would've guessed...