Hello and welcome to the nutrition d'evil podcast. I'm your host

Monica Reinagel and today we're talking about processed meat. What exactly do we consider to be processed meats? What are the

concerns with them? How much is too much? You know virtually all of the healthy

eating guidelines, everything from the dietary guidelines for Americans,

to the recommendations put out by the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society,

and the American Heart Association.

They all include some sort of recommendation to limit your intake of processed

meat.

But there's a lot of confusion about what counts as processed meat.

I mean, ham, bacon, pepperoni, and hot dogs, those are generally included in that category.

But what about uncured bacon or hot dogs that have no nitrites added? What about the sliced turkey or roast beef from the deli counter? Are they processed?

And what exactly is it about processed meat that makes it a potential problem? Is it just about the nitrites?

Is it sodium, saturated fat, all of the above?

I think there's also some understandable confusion

about what exactly it means to limit your consumption. Is one serving a

week too much? One serving a month is any amount safe? Kathleen Zelman is a

registered dietician who, among other things, served for many years as the director of nutrition for the website WebMD.

She recently wrote a white paper for the North American Meat Institute addressing some of these questions and concerns about

processed meats.

And then she sat down with me later to discuss this further.

So first, what exactly is the correct

correct term for raw uncooked meat.

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