Is processed meat a good choice?
What is the processed meat?
Processed meat is the meat that undergoes a transformation process in which other products are added to provide it with additional features to the raw meat.
Processed meat tends to increase meat aspects such as its taste, its smell, its appearance, its texture, its conservation, etc.
Do people eat too much processed meat nowadays?
Yes, indeed. Processed meat consumption is now huge. Especially with regard to Frankfurts, sausage, ham, and all kinds of cold meat in general.
What is the increase in consumption of such meat due to?
On the one hand, people today have little time to devote to cooking tasks. Roasting some sausages is a quick and easy way to prepare a meal at the end of the day when a person is tired and does not feel like cooking at all.
To the question “what do you eat at night?” The answer “eat something easy” is quite common in some homes. This response means “open the fridge and grab what you can” and, of course, the easiest way is to dip into the ham or salami.
Moreover, we must not forget that there is an increasingly imperative need of diets to lose weight based on protein consumption.
Diets such as Atkins’ or Dukan’s make use of processed meat in most of its menus. People think “If I lose weight and I have fun eating sausages or cold cuts, how I can stop eating something so appetizing”
Is this thinking nutritionally correct?
No at all, sausages, salami, frankfurter type sausages., etc have a very appetizing taste (The meat industry is in charge of adding the necessary additives to make them palatable)
However, from a nutritional standpoint, this type of meat preparations is harmful. It contains high quantities of cholesterol, salt and many additives, some of which, such as nitrates, has shown to be responsible for the development of cancerous tumors.
Therefore, these foods should be eaten only very occasionally. A common use of such damages health.
So… is it not good to give our children a sandwich of sausage or other processed meat?
The practice of putting in the school bag a pepperoni sandwich, ham, mortadella or any type of sausage or processed meat is not recommended. The health of our children, very sensitive to these products, is the one that is most affected.
There are alternatives to this type of food healthier, cheaper and easier to prepare.
More information on nutrition.
