A new study on this food product very popular with the French makes the link between its consumption and the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Practical, quick and good on the palate, sliced white ham is one of the most consumed and appreciated products by the French. However, it is advisable to not to abuse it, or rather to choose it better. Indeed, most brands of cooked ham contain what are called nitrites, which are food additives responsible for make the ham pinker and preserve it better. They are also very dangerous for our health: in addition to being able to cause colorectal cancer according to ANSES, the National Food Safety Agency, exposure to nitrates could alsoi trigger type 2 diabetes.
This is indeed the discovery made by researchers from several French institutes, including Inserm. To achieve these results, they analyzed the eating habits and health data of more than 100,000 French adults participating in the NutriNet cohort. Those who consume a lot see this their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 27% compared to those who are less exposed to it. So why are nitrites so harmful to our body?
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Nitrites disrupt our metabolism, why it is urgent to avoid them
According to Mathilde Touvier, research director at Inserm who coordinated this study, “it has already been shown that the breakdown of nitrites into other compounds in the body can disrupt metabolism”. To limit the risks of nitrite consumption on our bodies, it is therefore important to take care to look at the back of the labels in order to check that the ham – as well as 15,000 other packaged products concerned by this method of preservation – does not contain any this additive. The national health nutrition plan also recommends not to consume more than 150 g of charcuterie per weekthe equivalent of four slices of white ham.