Hier een uitstekend artikel uit de Wise Traditions, het kwartaalblad van de WAPF, waarin de kwestie nitriet in vlees uitgebreid aan bod komt.
Wat interessante passages uit dit verhelderende artikel:
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Nitrites were used traditionally to preserve food safely, including cured meat and fish, as well as some cheeses. Although improved hygiene and availability of refrigeration diminishes the need for nitrite, it remains useful for its antioxidant properties, antimicrobial activity, flavor enhancement and color development.
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Vitamin C in the mix helps form the nitrosylheme pigment that gives cured meats their wonderful red color, and, as will be explained shortly, helps ensure nitrites convert to healthy nitric oxide and not carcinogenic nitrosamines.
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The MIT study involved direct feeding of nitrite to laboratory rats, and later studies did not support the headline-making conclusion that nitrite induces cancer. The USDA’s concern then shifted to the formation of nitrosamines from nitrite combining with the amines available in meat, with regulators weighing the possible risk of cancer against nitrite’s traditional and well-proven role protecting us from botulism and other forms of food poisoning.
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If the idea of nitrite still seems scary, consider this: Ascorbic acid is routinely added to cured meats along with the nitrite in order to promote beneficial nitric oxide formation from nitrite, and to inhibit nitrosation reactions in the stomach that can lead to carcinogenic nitrosamines. Bringing alpha tocopherol (Vitamin E) into the mix as well seems to further prevent occurrence of nitrosamine formation. Old-fashioned processing, involving leisurely time for curing and smoking, further enhances the conversion of nitrite to the beneficial nitric oxide molecule.
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Traditionally cured bacon, sausage and other meats cured with sodium nitrite might be just the ticket to increasing NO production in the body.
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Levels of nitrite naturally increase in the body to help boost oxygen when people live at high altitudes, and such people are often considered among the healthiest in the world. In short, nitrites are not a problem, provided our diets are rich enough in antioxidants to facilitate the conversion of nitrites to NO and to prevent nitrosation reactions that convert nitrites into carcinogenic nitrosamines.
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Then why do so many health experts condemn bacon and other cured meats because of their nitrite content? Well, why do fats and cholesterol still get a bum rap? The reason is bad studies and worse publicity, with the latest shoddy work out of Harvard a prime example. According to Dr. Bryan, the body of studies show only a “weak association” with evidence that is “inconclusive.” As he and his colleagues wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “This paradigm needs revisiting in the face of undisputed health benefits of nitrite- and nitrate-enriched diets.”
Mike