By Dr. Mercola
Nitrate-rich plant foods are a valuable part of your diet as they help promote heart health. Meanwhile, the nitrates in cured and processed meats such as bacon and hotdogs are known to be carcinogenic. So, what’s the deal? Why are plant-based nitrates healthy and animal-based nitrates harmful? The answer to that question has to do with biochemistry — how the nitrates are processed in your body based on cofactors found in their source.
Plant- Versus Animal-Based Nitrates
In a recent Nutrition Action article on this topic, Gunter Kuhnle, professor of food and nutritional sciences at the University of Reading, U.K., explains the core differences between plant- and animal-based nitrates:1
“When you eat nitrates, they are converted to nitrites by bacteria in your mouth. Once the nitrites reach the stomach’s acid, they can turn into either nitric oxide [NO] or N-nitroso compounds. N-nitroso compounds like nitrosamines are carcinogenic. What makes processed meats so ideal for forming N-nitroso compounds is that they have a combination of nitrite and proteins from the meat. And the meat’s heme seems to help convert them into N-nitroso compounds.”
Nitrates are also more prone to converting into carcinogenic nitrosamines when heated. According to a review of more than 7,000 clinical studies, the World Cancer Research Fund concluded there’s no safe lower limit for processed meats2 and that they should be avoided altogether to minimize your cancer risk.
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Plants, on the other hand, contain antioxidants (such as vitamin C and polyphenols) that impede the formation of harmful nitrosamines. The presence of these compounds help to ensure that the…