Is smoked meat bad for you?. It is, according to studies done on it. Smoking meat through the burning of wood, charcoal, or gas exposes it to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These PAHs have cancer-causing properties that raise the risks of getting cancer if consumed too often. In addition to this fact, the reaction of PAHs and nitrogen, which is very common, has even more carcinogenic properties. Although most studies on the topic are not absolute, they have ample convincing results and outcomes. So, it is best to avoid the daily consumption of smoked foods if possible. The phrase "better safe than sorry" is very apt in this situation. How true is this?. Now I know some people bbq daily. With our busy schedules, It's the easy way out. Is it healthy?
It has been a controversy since the 1970s. I think you should and eat what makes you happy. Nitrites are bad too, but would would the world belike without bacon?
Everything we eat drink or do according to science is bad for us. The key is Moderation...eating smoked anything daily would be bad. Eating on special occasions or once in awhile should not be a problem. I could go on rant here ..but hey I am in a good mood..why mess it up
No doubt about it Don. We shd eat what makes us happy. However, we should then be able to face the consequences, if there are any. For example, I love canned sardines, it's good for my bones, but the BPA has raised concerns n so I decided to go slow on it. In fact, I now buy the frozen ones and steam them. As for bacon, oh yes, bacon and eggs, weekend big breakfast. This for most people is limited to "big breakfast time ", once a week. I suppose this must be an every day event for some. It does depend on ones lifestyle too. Yes Gloria, the key is moderation.
I do remember when things that were bad for us turned out to be good for us, and vice-versa. Once milk was fed to ulcer and GERD patients, then it was found to make those conditions worse, then we were put on low-fat diets, which led to increases in diabetes, heart disease, and renal issues (consequence of diabetes). High carbohydrate diets were then "fed" to us only to find they, too, were bad for us. Coffee was said to be bad for us, but when they actually studied the issue, it turned out to be beneficial. Now BPA can be an issue, but it has been removed form most food containers now. I have very big concerns about herbicides and pesticides, which would make many fruits and veggies purchased in the store a hazard. Don't worry...be happy!
Every part of the civilized and uncivilized world has eaten smoked meat for thousands of years. I would venture to believe that even every ship that explored “the 7 seas” had smoked meat aboard and what did the men suffer from? Scurvy for the most part. As a matter of interest, the best smoked meat I think I have ever had was “Eskimo candy” or rather smoked salmon when I was working in Ekuk, Alaska. The natives have been smoking fish for Lord knows how long. I think on this subject I’m going to don my caveman fur or swashbuckling pantaloons and feathered hat and suffer through another helping of smoked country ribs.
A big problem with all the diet advice is it is always out of context with lifestyle. "Look at how healthy those peoples are! They walk miles a day, they have low-stress lives, and they eat cat turds; therefore, it's OK if you sit on your butt all day as long as you eat cat turds!" I had not heard of BPA in sardine cans, but I guess I should not be surprised. I like sardines (and kipper snacks), but don't eat enough to worry about it. And if they're packed in oil, I wonder how much BPA actually leeches into the food...veggie oils are low acid. And there's no real safe alternative other than glass, with its attendant costs. Nothing is free. Costs cannot be eliminated, they can only be shifted. As we all know, there are compromises to a cheap, abundant food supply...financial and environmental. Of course, none of what I said has anything to do with perfect safety, does it? ps: You're exposed to BPA every time you handle a thermal-printer cash register receipt.
I think there are sardines in glass that are imported from Europe, but I think they are packed in olive oil. I think Norwegians pack in cans, but I would be surprised if they have BPA, but I don't know.
Ah, another great reason to use civet poop coffee beans! I’ve had to shift my eating habits because of how I feel. If I eat something slathered in grease anymore, my body talks to me and so it goes with anything else. As it is, it’s a paradox. If I eat something that supposedly shortens my lifespan and I died tomorrow, how can anyone really know that I wouldn’t have died anyway no matter what I ate? “Oh poor Bobby, if he had just eaten tofu instead of smoked pork shoulder he’d still be alive today”. I’m 71 years old and last week I lifted, mixed and poured 14, 80# bags of concrete and rebuilt 30’ of fence so I must be doing something right.
If you're not allergic to it, it may not be harmful to you, while still being harmful to family, friends and so forth (whoever is allergic to it).
I did a little quick reading (so now I'm an Internet Expert!) and found that there are really no safe alternatives. I forget the details, but other can lining materials each present their own respective health problems. While no one wants to needlessly expose themselves to these bad agents, it seems that the folks most at risk are those who drinks quantities of sodas. There's the issue with the acid eating away the lining, and there's the issue with quantity. Soda drinkers might consume more cans of the stuff in a day than you and I would consume cans of all other goods in a month. Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics sells canned fish and has dedicated a webpage to this subject. In part they say: There's a Washington Post article on manufacturers trying to find ways to eliminate even trace BPA in their products. The head of Vital Choices was interviewed:
I think Don's talking about the meats we might smoke ourselves versus the store-bought stuff. I was storing an offset smoker for a while that belonged to my church (used for very popular fundraisers), and smoked lots of different meats (and poultry.) It was all very good, especially the pork ribs...they were great! When my church found other storage accommodations and I lost the use of the offset smoker, I bought a small bullet smoker for my own use (closeout at Lowes), and made a ton of internet-recommended modifications to it. I never could get the thing to dial in a temp very well in spite of all the work & improvements I made. It cooks as you would expect a $50 smoker to cook. (I'd be lying if I told you I learned my lesson regarding buying cheap.) So I told you that story to tell you this story... Smoking is one way of preserving meats and fish. Some sites claim that this method dates to "prehistory." Salting it is another preservation technique. I found references to salting meats as a preservation method to 200BC. I imagine it goes back even further. Smoking AND salting is modern man's way of hastening his own demise, albeit in a very tasty way. Actually, most of the studies concluding that this stuff increases cancer were done in places where these foods are eaten on a high-volume routine basis, and eating the good stuff (fruits and veggies) that helps your digestive tract is almost non-existent. Moderation & balance.