Will Sausage KILL YOU ???

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Recent studies have shown that processed meats, such as sausage, could potentially contribute to cancer. Although it may not kill you tomorrow, a daily dose of the cured meat increases the risk of a number of cancers. The culprits include hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers (the ones that are processed), salami, ham, bacon and pastrami.

Why Sausage Could Lead to Cancer

Much of the processed meat is cured using preservation methods that have been in practice for years. Such methods include smoking, salting, and placing additives into the meat. As little as one sausage a day could lead you to an early demise, research shows. Experts are recommending that people should try to eliminate processed meats completely out of their diets, but if it is difficult, try to at least lower the amount consumed.

What Kinds of Cancer Could Sausage Cause?

The negative effects that these meats can have on our health include cancer in the bowels, stomach, breast, colon, pancreas and prostate. Red meat too has shown signs of being linked to such cancerous growths and should also be consumed much less (pork, beef and lamb). In the United Kingdom, there are about 100 new cases of bowel cancer reported every day.
So how does processed meat cause so much harm? Well, the substances that are used to preserve the meats have N-nitroso compounds (a product of nitrates); this increases the chances of consumers getting cancer. So if you are looking to keep red meat in your diet, you should try to stick with fresh meat. It is recommended that people consume less than 17.6 oz of red meat each week (since it is a valuable nutrient we need and can’t be eliminated) and to cross out processed meat out of our diets completely.

• Beef, when in its natural form, can be very healthy to consume. The cow has a non-pollutant diet consisting of lots and lots of grass. However, with beef that is non-organic, you will sometimes find traces of harmful products, including mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals. Even pesticides can be found in cow meat.

• Hot dogs are known to have nitrites contained in them to help for preservation, so it too has been linked to cancerous growth. It was even said to cause leukemia in children.

• Just 50g of processed meat being eaten each day can cause your risk of getting bowel cancer to go up by a fifth! This is about one sausage or three rashers of bacon per day. Not much at all.

• You may have found comfort in smoked or cured ham, but this is definitely a no-no and can lead to cancer. It is known to have nitrosamines, a class of chemical compounds produced at high temperatures (like in the stomach or stove).