Nitrosamines, hetrocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are three known carcinogens that you and your family may be consuming daily in certain meat products.
Meats that have been preserved by the use of smoking, curing, salting or adding chemical preservatives are harmful to our health and are linked to several disease states of the body including cancer.
Dr Joseph Mercola explains. “…at the very least, it’s known that eating processed meats exposes you to at least three cancer-causing substances namely nitrates and nitrites (leading to nitrosamines), heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.”
The dangerous additives called sodium nitrate or nitrate are used to preserve, colour and flavour meat. When this meat is consumed, these nitrate compounds are converted to nitrosamines in the stomach. Among side effects such as headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness, nitrosamines are also a known cause of the following:
- Esophagus Cancer
- Gliomas
- Larynx Cancer
- Liver Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Mouth Cancer
- Stomach Cancer
Many meats including bacon, ham, corned beef, Frankfurters, salami, some sausages and hamburgers contain sodium nitrate or nitrates and should be completely eliminated from the diet. On top of containing nitrates, the process of smoking meat causes the formation of cancer causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which enter the meat and then us!