Pass the Mustard, or Just Pass on the Hot Dog?

Comment by Andrew W. Saul
Editor-In-Chief, Orthomolecular Medicine News Service
(OMNS July 2, 2010) More hot dogs are eaten at the 4th of July holiday than at any other time of the year. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, an all-too-real trade organization) says that "during the Independence Day weekend, 155 million will be gobbled up" and that Americans will consume more than seven billion hot dogs over the summer. "Every year," they proudly proclaim, "Americans eat an average of 60 hot dogs each." (1)
That looks to be a modest average of just over one hot dog per week per American. But there are at least 7 million vegetarians in the US, and another 20 million who would be inclined to avoid meat. (2)
This means that even if you do not eat any hot dogs at all, someone else is eating your share.
But a hot dog or two a week? Big deal!
Maybe it is. Children who eat one hot dog a week double their risk of a brain tumor; two per week triples the risk. Kids eating more than twelve hot dogs a month (three a week) have nearly ten times the risk of leukemia as children who eat none. (3)
And it is not just about kids. Of 190,000 adults studied for seven years, those eating the most processed meat such as deli meats and hot dogs had a 68 percent greater risk of pancreatic cancer than those who ate the least. (4) Pancreatic cancer is especially difficult to treat.
Think twice before you serve up your next tube steak. If your family is going to eat hot dogs, at least take your vitamins. Hot dog eating children taking supplemental vitamins were shown to have a reduced risk of cancer. (5) Vitamins C and E prevent the formation of nitrosamines. (6,7)
It is curious that, while busy theorizing many "potential" dangers of vitamins, the news media have largely ignored this clear-cut cancer-prevention benefit from supplementation.
May I also suggest that you have your kids chew their hot dogs extra thoroughly. In landfills, "Whole hot dogs have been found, some of them in strata suggesting an age upwards of several decades." (8)
Bon app�tit.

__________________
Doctors give drugs of which they know little,
into bodies, of which they know less,
for diseases of which they know nothing at all.
Voltaire

It's the preservatives. Every processed meat that you pick up contains sodium nitrite. I got my local supermarket to stock a natural all beef hot dog. Since then, it has become popular, according to them. I guess that means that other people feel the same as I do. Certainly, I would hope that pregnant women would not eat hot dogs due to the sodium nitrite. At least with this one they can.

It doesn't say grass fed beef or organic; but at least it does not contain that carcinogenic chemical. I don't know about their other products. It is the Bistro Naturals that I like. https://johnmorrell.com/products_hotdogs.aspx

__________________
- Jim

Even though it doesn't contain any nitrites, it is still processed and it's highly unlikely to contain any nutrition. It may taste good and fill the cavity but without nutrition it's a waste of time and leaves your body wanting.

__________________
Doctors give drugs of which they know little,
into bodies, of which they know less,
for diseases of which they know nothing at all.
Voltaire

Nitrate/nitrite seems to equate with lower blood pressure as does sodium nitrite.
Sodium Nitrite is an effective anti-microbial agent.

I'm not defending the hot dog.

I'm sure the way meat is separated from bone and the fact that everything that isn't bone is in the hot dog is both unnatural and unhealthy.

But I'm not convinced that traditional preserved meat is necessarily harmful.
There are Lincolnshire Sausages that are worth eating

I do not know what all is involved in making processed meat in a factory setting, but making it for yourself does not reduce the nutritional value in any meaningful way.

We have made Salami, Summer Sausage, and various processed meat products at home. It just involves grinding and mixing in other food ingredients, and putting them into a casing, natural or otherwise. There is no real mystery about it. Of course we do not have to use any preservatives as it is frozen immediately and will keep for several months this way.

Meat does not require a lot of processing other than grinding. The negative effect of grinding is that if there is any E-Coli or other pathogens in the meat, it will get spread into uninfected meat. If you are worried about pathogens, get meat that is not ground up. The pathogens are on the surface, so cooking will easily take care of the surface without cooking it into shoe leather.

Dan

I agree that home-made is A OK because it is not processed in any way.
Processed meat in a factory setting is cooking at a high temperature to a paste consistency and then forming it into whatever shape they want. It is this processing plus any additives like preservatives, msg, food coloring and sweeteners to make it taste and look good.
It is simply a waste of food dollars to spend on processed food since you are not getting any nutrition.

__________________
Doctors give drugs of which they know little,
into bodies, of which they know less,
for diseases of which they know nothing at all.
Voltaire

Chicken McNuggets come to mind for some reason. I have butchered Chickens, but have never run into the McNugget part of it.

Dan

I Never eat hot dogs though recently have been considering trying out the
Hebrew Nationals brand. I gave up Salami a while back. The only sausage
I like for cook-outs is Bratwurst and will probably have One today/July 4th.
I may have 3 to 4 Bratwurst a year.
Has anyone ever tried the Hebrew National brand?

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May you always have..Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends that Care!

Here's something that may help the future of hot dogs.

__________________
- Jim