Who can refuse a bowl of steaming, oily bacon rice?
As a way of preserving meat for a long time in ancient times, bacon has become a memory of the times.
The blade rises and falls, the bacon is sliced into neat squares, piece by piece, oily poured on the cutting board, the same fat as amber, plus the slightly purple, rose-colored lean meat, the deliciousness of the bacon, is not the taste of hometown?
But this hometown flavor was told by the doctor not to eat more.
Does bacon really cause cancer?
Not only processed meat products such as bacon, sausage, duck, bacon, ham, sausage, etc., but also processed meat products have been officially defined as Class 1 carcinogens by WHO on 26 October 2015.
Why are these meat products on the carcinogenic list?
On the one hand, these meat products contain biological amines and amines nitrite.
Meat contains protein, and under the action of high temperature smoke, protein produces amines, which in turn produce biological amines. The production process of biological amines involves a series of biochemical reactions, representative compounds of biological amines, histamine and tyramine, with strong stability, difficult to remove in post-processing, and may also react with nitrites may generate strong carcinogens --- N-nitrosamines.
On the other hand, these meat products produce benzopyrene during processing.
In the process of smoking and baking, benzopyrene will produce benzopyrene, benzopyrene has a high activity, may cause cell carcinogenesis, causing genotoxicity, which is the carcinogenic effect of benzopyrene;
At the same time, it also has the ability to cause malformations and genetic mutations, and has been placed as a Class I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
In addition to these, it adversely affects the human endocrine system, central nervous system and blood circulation, and can also destroy the lymphocyte micronucleus rate, liver function and DNA repair ability.
Having said all that, is it true that processed meat cannot be eaten?
No, carcinogenicity ≠ toxicity.
In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies carcinogens as completely different from the toxicity in food, they are judged according to the degree of conclusiveness and carcinogenicity of carcinogenic evidence, and there is no necessary connection with the actual threat to humans.
Meat products belong to the highest category 1 carcinogens, which is obviously a substance that increases a person's risk of cancer, but is not directly related to carcinogenic ability.
It's like if you go to a place where you can reach it by car and by walk, but it doesn't mean the speed is the same.
Therefore, there is a risk of carcinogenicity when eaten such processed meat such as bacon, but as for how much to eat and how to eat it, it will cause cancer.
At present, medicine can not be inferred, after all, this involves nitroso compounds, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heme iron, saturated fat and other factors.
In addition, there may be excess nitrite residues in bacon, which has a certain correlation with the occurrence of cancer.
The addition of nitrates and nitrites is used to increase the flavor of bacon to inhibit the growth and reproduction of Clostridium botulinum, but if there is too much nitrite residue, it is not good for health.
Although the risk of carcinogenesis is not clear, the sodium content of bacon can really exceed the standard
Bacon requires a lot of salt during the production process, which can be seasoned and keep the gravy tender, so it can facilitate the preservation of meat quality.
Especially those bacon that has been air-dried for a long time, in order to better prevent corrosion and bacteriosis, often requires a lot of salt for processing, and the salt content can even reach 5 to 10%.
The amount of salt recommended by the World Health Organization is less than or equal to 6 grams per person per day, but eating a few bites of bacon may have a salt content beyond the range of a day's consumption.
Therefore, in short, eating excessive amounts of bacon does have the potential to cause cancer, but everything can be too much, and this truth is not only about eating bacon, but also for other foods.
Of course, "flavor" can be eaten, and how much and how to eat it is particularly important
For most people, eating bacon, bacon and other meat products once in a while carries far less risk than the pleasure of delicious food.
After all, in life, the desire of the mouth can be said to be the greatest happiness.
bibliography:
[1] Li Yanli. Study on quality change of bacon and sausage during storage[D].Southwest University, 2012.
[2] MA Guan-sheng, Zhou Qin, LI Yan-ping, etc. Analysis of salt consumption of Chinese residents[J].Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases in China,2008,16(4):331-333.