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Parents always want to protect their children from danger, but sometimes they tend to sacrifice comfort for health.
Many people are so used to certain eating routines that they don’t even realize how their behavior can endanger not only themselves but also their children.
One of the most popular foods here is hot dogs, which hide a very serious health risk.
What studies revealed about hot dog consumption
Studies found that children who eat more than 12 hot dogs a month have a nine times higher risk of developing childhood leukemia .
And that’s not all. Another study found that children who consumed hot dogs once or more per week also had a higher risk of developing brain cancer.
The study examined the relationship between consumption of certain foods and the risk of leukemia in children from birth to age 10 in one of the counties of the Los Angeles metropolitan area between 1980 and 1987.
Its conclusion was that there is a strong association between childhood leukemia and children whose fathers ate 12 or more hot dogs per month even before conception. This demonstrates how parents’ eating habits during and even before conceiving children have a large impact on their health.
Researchers Sarusuza and Savitz studied the incidence of childhood leukemia in Denver, USA.
They revealed that children born to mothers who consumed hot dogs once or more per week during pregnancy had up to a twofold increased risk of developing brain tumors .
What causes the harmful effects of hot dogs?
It is assumed that the cause of the mentioned risks of possible health problems is the nitrate content in hot dogs.
Processed meat products often contain sodium (salt), nitrates, phosphates and other food additives.
“In addition, smoked meat also contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which contribute to an increased risk of heart failure” , explains Alicja Wol, DMSc.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, nitrates act as preservatives that prevent meat from spoiling and also give the meat a better color.
Nitrates and nitrites themselves do not cause cancer, but under certain conditions they can be converted in the body into other compounds such as nitrosamines and nitrosamides . These substances have already been associated with an increased risk of cancer.
Some meat manufacturers also add vitamin C, which also has preservative effects. However, it prevents the conversion of nitrates into nitrosamines in the body.
Therefore, if you or your children consume these meat products and they do not contain vitamin C, you can supplement it additionally in tablet form. At least partly you will thereby reduce the risk of cancer.
How to avoid foods containing nitrates
We would like to offer you a few tips on how to avoid foods containing nitrates:
1. Limit consumption of processed foods and meats such as hot dogs, salami, sausages and the like.
2. Check the ingredients on product labels to see if they contain nitrogenous compounds of sodium or potassium (nitrogenous salts). Besides meat, some other canned foods may also contain them.
3. Prefer organic foods, in which the use of the mentioned preservatives is not allowed.
4. Test your tap water. Water utilities monitor the levels of these compounds in the water and should publish the measured values. Call them and ask about it. Alternatively, have your water tested in a laboratory. If it contains high concentrations of nitrates, use water filters (distillation, reverse osmosis and ion exchange filters).
5. Eat a diet rich in antioxidants. The mentioned vitamin C and some other vitamins can reduce the conversion of nitrates and nitrites into nitrosamines.
