Is eating smoked meat harmful?

Smoked meat is a favorite of many, however consuming a lot of these foods can have a number of negative effects on your overall health. Even so, smoked meat will still be a nutritious food if we know how to eat them in moderation.

Today, there are many different types of smoked meats and the final product from each manufacturer may not be the same. Smoked meat is usually made with pork, sometimes turkey. To make this type of meat will need to go through a process, in which the meat is soaked in a solution of salt, nitrate or sugar, and then smoked.
Curing and smoking are the main methods of preserving meat, furthermore, they also contribute to the characteristic flavor of smoked meats and help them retain their inherent bright red color.
Adding salt and nitrate during meat processing can prevent bacteria from growing, thereby helping to keep the shelf life of smoked meat much longer than fresh pork.

Is it good to eat bacon? In fact, the fat in smoked meat is about 50% monounsaturated and a large part of that is oleic acid. This type of fatty acid is found in abundance in olive oil and has been shown to be good for the heart.
The remaining fat in smoked meat will be 40% saturated fat and 10% polyunsaturated fat, respectively, with significant amounts of cholesterol.
In the past, dietary cholesterol was considered a top concern, but today many scientists recognize that it has only a small effect on your blood cholesterol levels. In contrast, the health effects of saturated fats are controversial. Many health professionals believe that a high intake of saturated fat is the main cause of heart disease.
Although eating a lot of saturated fat can increase certain risk factors for heart disease, some studies have not found any consistent link between heart disease and saturated fat intake. peace.
In fact, the health effects of saturated fat depend on many different factors, such as the type of saturated fat, a person's overall lifestyle and diet. Therefore, you should not worry too much about the high fat content of smoked meat, moreover the servings of regular smoked meat are also relatively small.

Meat is a very nutritious food and smoked meat is no exception. A 100-gram serving of cooked bacon contains:
High-quality animal protein: 37 grams B vitamins, including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12 89% of the RDA for Selenium 53% RDA for phosphorus A large amount of minerals such as magnesium, iron, zinc and potassium

During processing, smoked meats have been added salt, so they are often quite high in salt. Health care experts say that consuming foods high in salt can increase the risk of stomach cancer and increase blood pressure in people who are sensitive to salt.
Although high blood pressure can be harmful to health in the long run, recent studies have not found a consistent link between salt intake and the risk of dying from heart disease. However, if you have high blood pressure and suspect you are sensitive to salt, consider limiting your intake of salty foods, including smoked or cured meats.

Smoked meats and other processed meats contain additives such as nitrites and nitrates. These additives when cooked at high temperatures can cause them to form nitrosamine compounds, which are known carcinogens.
However, in the curing process of smoked meat, manufacturers add some antioxidants such as erythorbic acid and vitamin C. This effectively reduces the nitrosamine content in smoked meats.

Smoked meats now contain much less nitrosamines than in the past, but scientists are concerned that consuming a lot of these meats could significantly increase the risk of certain cancers.

When cooking meat, it's important to find a balance. Either overcooking or undercooked can be unhealthy and cause a number of concerns.
If you use too much heat and burn the meat, it will form harmful compounds like heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which have been linked to cancer. On the other hand, some meats may also contain pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Therefore, in the process of cooking smoked meat, it is necessary to cook with the most balanced temperature possible.
With the above sharing, you must have answered the question, is eating bacon good? Please refer to the website of Vinmec International General Hospital for more knowledge about health care for each age group.

Reference source: healthline.com