Table of contents:
- Why should the consumption of processed meat be limited?
- High in salt and sodium
- High in saturated fat
- Contains cancer-causing components
Processed meats such as sausages, nuggets, ham, and bacon not recommended for consumption by your child. According to health experts, processed meat has the potential to cause cancer later in life, especially in children. This is because if they are used to eating processed meat from a young age, children then get used to including processed meat in their diet, thereby increasing the risk of developing cancer as adults.
Meat usually has a short shelf life and quickly deteriorates in quality. Processed meat has been modified in such a way that the meat is durable. Some of the processing methods commonly used include fumigation, curing (use of salt mixed with nitrates to preserve meat), addition of salt and preservatives. Examples of processed meat that you are familiar with are sausages, nuggets, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky, ham, canned meat, and others.
Why should the consumption of processed meat be limited?
There are several reasons why processed meat should not be a regular menu for your child:
High in salt and sodium
Processed meats are usually high in salt and sodium. Salt is used to preserve meat, its water absorbent property makes salt reduce the water content in the meat, thereby minimizing the possibility of bacteria growing. As you know, high salt can increase the risk of hypertension. Salt in the body can trigger an increase in blood volume, forcing your heart to work harder and creating pressure in the arteries. High salt consumption has been linked to damage to the heart, aortic blood vessels, kidneys, and even bones.
Processed meat also usually has a sodium content that is 4 times greater than regular meat. Bacon for example, it contains, 435 mg of sodium per serving. Too much sodium consumption can cause the kidneys to work even harder. When the sodium level in the body is too high, the body will retain water, in order to dissolve excess sodium. This will cause fluid to collect around the body's cells and increase the volume of blood into the blood vessels, the increase in blood volume means the heart has to work harder and the pressure received by the blood vessels is also higher. If this situation is allowed, it can cause blood vessels to harden, increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes.
High in saturated fat
Red meat is naturally high in saturated fat. The limit for saturated fat consumption is 5-6% of your daily calorie needs. So if your calorie requirement per day is 2000 calories, then the maximum amount of saturated fat you can consume is 13 grams. At 75 grams of sausage there are 7 grams of saturated fat in it, this is almost half of your maximum daily saturated fat consumption limit. For children, calorie needs per day are certainly smaller, children aged 4-6 years, for example, need 1600 calories per day. This means that the maximum recommended fat consumption is around 9 grams per day.
The high levels of saturated fat that you consume can cause various health problems. In children can increase the risk of obesity and obesity later in life. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors that can cause degenerative diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
Contains cancer-causing components
In order to last long, processed meat products usually contain high preservatives. Nitrite and nitrate components found in processed meat will be converted into cancer-causing components when they enter the body. According to Cancer Research UK, nitrates and nitrites are naturally present in red meat, but are often added when making processed meat to be used as a preservative and colorant. In the body, nitrites and nitrates can be converted into nitrosamines and nitrosamides, these are components that can cause cancer.
In addition to preserving using chemicals, smoking is also a way of processing meat. Smoked beef or smoked meat is a type of processed meat that goes through the smoking process. When smoking, the meat can absorb a large amount of tar that is in the smoke. Tar is one of the components that can cause cancer.
A study conducted in Europe revealed that consumption of processed meat increases a person's risk of dying from cancer by up to 11%. Types of cancer commonly associated with processed meat consumption are colon cancer and colorectal cancer. According to WHO, consumption of processed meat by 50 grams per day (equivalent to one hot dog) increases the risk of colon cancer by 18%. Some components in red meat and processed meat can cause damage to the lining of the intestine by increasing the speed at which these cells divide. This cell division mechanism can increase the risk of developing cancer cells.
