I have to admit, I love bacon. The crispy-chewy texture, and the way it compliments almost everything...yum. So it has been hard for me not to eat it. I can't afford the nitrate free organic bacon--it is $7.99 for a mere 12 ounces...
Lately however I have run across several articles and posts (from people I trust) on Nitrates in bacon and why they may not be as evil as we have been led to believe. It started with this post by Amy Alkons, on her Advice Goddess Blog. She mentions Dr. Eades, so I had to see what he had to say about it...and in the comments on his Schmaltz and Soy post found this gem:
"Actually nitrites are a health food so you needn’t spend the time trying to get rid of it. 80 percent of the nitrates and nitrites in the diet come from vegetables sources – processed meats account for little.
Take a look at this review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from last year. I meant to blog on it (and I still may) but I never got around to it."
This interested me, so I went to Paleo Hacks to do some research--this is becoming a very good place to look for information since a lot of Paleo Bloggers and followers post there...
Paleo Hacks led me to Sandy Szwarc's blog Junkfoodscience with an excellently researched article here.
The result:
Bacon is edible. And delicious. Nitrates have a bad rap. Go Bacon!
Good news! Bacon makes everything better. Thanks for doing all this research, so I don't have to!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara. I read a lot on Paleo type eater's blogs about how they absolutely refuse to eat this meat or that. Many of us however could never afford to eat totally "pure" meats so have little choice in the matter.
ReplyDeleteObviously standards in meat production should be higher in general so that quality meat is the norm. But until then we have to accept that we can only eat that which is available.
Glad you'll be able to enjoy bacon again!
Bearfriend xx
This doesn't negate the fact that regular bacon is CAFO meat which has it's own whole host of issues - nitrates or not.
ReplyDeleteJudith--Glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was great series of articles--very interesting reading...
ReplyDeleteBearfriend--It would be nice if we could always eat "pure", but you are right--most people can't. Ideally everything should be pastured, but if it isn't available, or if it is cost prohibitive, at least we can enjoy our bacon with a little less fear of it killing us...:)
Emily--Absolutely true. Unfortunately. However, as Bearfriend mentions, an awful lot of people cannot afford or do not have the option of buying pastured organic pork. Myself included. They do have farm-raised pastured organic pork--for about $10.00 a pound here--(too expensive for my budget!) Sometimes I can buy regular organic for about half that--in which case I will occasionally do that. I don't eat a lot of bacon, but when I do, I want to be able to enjoy it. Food should not be about guilt. I do what I can to support local farms and organic and pastured meats especially, but sometimes you have to eat what you have to eat...