Rose Canadian Bacon
 

Hi again everyone,

I have another product question.

I read somewhere a while back that canadian bacon is a great source of protein that is low fat. Soooooo, I've been eating it everyday. A few days ago, somewhere on the boards, someone mentioned that nitrates are bad for you. Welp. I looked at the nutritional label again on my Rose Canadian Bacon and... yep, there they are! *drat*

So, I'm hear to ask opinions/help again.

Here is the nutritional info:

Serving Size is 2 oz (4 slices)

60 Calories
1.5 Total fat
.5 Saturated fat
20 grams cholesterol
700 mg sodium (sigh)
2 grams carbohydrate
2 grams sugar
10 grams protein

Ingredients: fully cooked sliced canadian bacon water added, cured with water, sugar, salt, contains 2%or less of: sodium lactate, sodium phosphate, flavoring, sodium diacetate, sodium nitrate,

I buy this at Sam's Club because I use it so much and it's the least expensive brand I've found. But, my health is important as I learn about this stuff, I'm trying not to consider cost first. I get to come first (well, most of the time, anyway!).

So, is this good, bad, or evil for me?

Thanks so much!

Canadian bacon is much lower in fat than bacon, but it isn't the leanest meat. About 25% of the calories are still coming from fat. That actually isn't bad, but it is also a cured meat. Unprocessed proteins (without added salt and other sodium compounds, especially) are probably better everyday choices.

From what I've read, there's still some disagreement and even controversy over whether nitrites and nitrates (or sodium in any form, for that matter) are bad for everyone, bad only for people at risk of heart disease, bad only for people with certain disorders like heart disease or high blood pressure, bad only for those allergic or sensitive to them, or bad for anyone at all.

I think a good rule of thumb, is to avoid or at least limit eat processed/cured meats. Avoiding them alltogether might be the "safest" bet, buy I don't. There's no "good" reason other than I really like the taste of jerky, bacon and canadian bacon so instead of avoiding them, I eat them occasionally, but are not part of my daily or generally even weekly diet.

But you've got to work with both your comfort level and your taste buds.

I don't think that "healthy" can be reduced to any one "rule." Rather the status of your health is generally the result of the cumulative effects of all your choice. Any one choice probably has much less of an impact than all of your choices put together. But in general extremes are probably best avoided, or as the trite phrase goes "everything in moderation."