Aibu to have serious ham guilt?

[mrsMmrsIMrsSSI]

So I stupidly watched 'what the health' on Netflix the other night. I kid you not I have stayed awake for the second night in a row thinking about all the ham my DS1 has eaten.
It says that one portion of processed meat a day raises your chance of developing a cancer by 51%.
Although he eats well, he is partial to a ham and salad sandwich and has that maybe 4 days a week (not yet at school, morning at nursery etc)
He had a humous and cucumber sandwich yesterday but was quizzing where the ham was.
Honestly, I can't stop thinking about it. I always thought I was doing the best by my children diet wise and now I feel like I fucked them before I even started. I feel like I want to be vegan but how on earth do I make that lifestyle change?!
I knew hot dogs were bad and obviously avoid things like that but canned tuna also falls into this catergory. So the quick midweek go to of tuna pasta salad is also now on the banned list?
We were meant to be having stewed chicken for dinner!
What do I do!

What Benjamin said, ham is processed meat whether it's posh waitrose stuff or your cheapest rubbery asda shit.

I like posh ham, but it's still processed shit that marginally, might increase my risk of certain cancers. It's the curing process that makes it ham and not pork!

"And here I thought you were going to worry about how pigs are one of the most intelligent animals on earth and are well aware of what's happening to them and their offspring.

What you're feeding your child is bad for him. There's plenty of meat that isn't processed meat if you want to carry on with that. Being vegan isn't healthy either, though I think he'd be pretty horrified if you really explained to him what you're putting in his body.

Think ethical, sustainable and as far from processed as possible. Lots of fruit and veg."

All of this.

Seriously OP, I'm not vegetarian either, but at least I am aware that eating animals should be minimised (even regardless of health impact on us.)

we have a very large and vicious feral and wild pig population here.who breed at an alarming speed,attack smaller animals and children and destroy anything in their paths.and thats not counting the wild boars.

so iwasjust you are welcome to come get them.
personally i am digging a pit to roast the next one.

I would have thought the answer was really fairly easy. Stop buying processed crap, get thee to a decent butcher and buy properly cooked ham. Or buy a gammon joint and boil it for ham. Hardly rocket science.

Just stop buying (and eating) processed meats. Buy local, farm-reared meat from a decent butcher where it's more expensive but traceable back to source and isn't filled with all sorts of additives and shite.

One of my Dad's best mates is a butcher and is a genuine meat and two veg type who wouldn't contemplate a meal without meat. Healthiest bloke I know; he's 72 this year and still runs marathons and does weird triathlons just for a laugh. He says it's not the meat, it's the way the meat's treated.

My daughter, had in her lunchbox today,
Cheese wrap
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Pepper
Grapes
Watermelon
Popcorn

Ds had
Tuna wrap
Pepperami
Crisps

And that's all he eats. Sometimes he will accept a tuna pasta bake, or some sausage pasta. Occasionally a burger.

Life is a bloody battle enough without having to worry about all this too

We are all either too thin/too fat/drink too much/smoke/live in cities with pollution etc etc etc.

I hate to break it to you, but none of us are getting off this planet alive. Somethings gunna get us.

Hmmm didn't think about the preservation side of it - sorry. I meant the difference between the ham on the bone and the stuff thats chopped into pieces and reconstituted as 'plastic' sheets. I considered only the latter to be processed...Surely the real ham is better if you are going to continue to eat it? (I don't eat meat but my DS does so am interested).

ham is salted pork
sometimes smoked
quality ham is fine
too much salt is the only issue and i have seen low sodium naturally cured ham

let your children eat
all things in moderation
too much of anything is bad for you
example-mercury and other pollutants in fish and shell fish.

www.babycentre.co.uk/x557950/is-it-safe-to-eat-tuna-during-pregnancy

these numbers are alot higher than us and canadian daily allowances.

When did we become so terrified of our food? I've eaten a variety of foods since I was a child, including many things that are supposed to be just terrible (which includes nearly everything these days). I'm 73 years old and healthy as the proverbial horse. Quit living in constant fear - you'll end up dying of stress LOL!

thank you emmi
i am past 60 myself and other than a bit of arthritus i am healthy, and eat and have eatten what ever i want/can afford my whole life.
along with a few g&t's,vodka martinis and wine.along the way

its the worry that kills ya

Look at the ingredients on most ham packages, it is disgusting. At least look for the most natural ones or ho to the butcher.

go not ho

If you really want to educate yourself about what's in your food, and how that food is made, I'd watch a documentary called 'Food. Inc'

You can easily find it on youtube.

It's regarding food in the US, but we have very similar practices here in many cases.

Most meat is from factory farms. If the cruelty doesn't bother you, the stuff they give to the animals (and therefore you end up eating) should.

(I'm not vegan or vegetarian btw. I just have been educated recently on how most of our food is processed. Was unpleasant but I'm glad I know now and can change my diet.)

Being vegan isn't healthy either

That's false

We would all be better of if we stopped eating this processed meat
Ethically
Environmentally
Health wise

TheSockGoblin Our farming practices are really not that similar to the US. It's why we, as part of the EU, have pretty tough trade agreements with the US, not letting in its hormone-fed beef or chlorine-washed chicken.

I could go on but it's derailing a bit.

OP try to take some heart from the great explanations from maidofstars et alia and maybe just cut down to 2 or 3 ham sandwiches a week.

And no, posh Waitrose/butcher ham is no different from plastic slimy ham, cancer risk wise.

Stop, being vegan is fine for adults but not for small children who generally have limited diets.

Emmi, since we knew what the effects if eating that food are. It's called science. LMGTFY?

Give him Quorn ham-style deli slices. No pigs have to die, your son eats healthier, it's a win all round.

Being vegan is easy nowadays.
Join one of the many vegan transition groups on Facebook or look on Instagram for food ideas #vegan.
What The Health is an amazing film.
I'll bet if you told your son what ham actually is, he wouldn't want it on his sandwich.

It's easy. Don't by cheap reformed from shitty meat. Buy proper meat. Reformed from shite in a a packet is processed.

What does LMGTFY mean? An inquiring mind hopes she has not just been insulted!!

Let me Google that for you... Ironically :o

Sorry but it's not just ham that's bad for you, it's normal pork too, not everyone will get cancer from it but dh gets the worst gout you can imagine from it. He had sucking pig in a restaurant once ( I know just the thought is bad enough for me too) but literally the next day he was struck down by terrible leg pains . I thought he was going to end up in a wheelchair, I suggested gently that it was an effect of the pork. He gave it up and is now running about.

Whenever he has some (when I'm not around ) it hits again. He has finally learned , it has taken a while .

Pork (and of course pork products) are the most acid forming meat you can eat. It causes arthritis too.

Thanks, Stealth - I had just Googled this, and learned something new! The last two letters of the acronym made me wonder if I'd been told something, as my granddaughter would say, "inappropadit"....

There's a lot of weird snobbery and misunderstanding on this thread about what 'processed' meat is...

Chill out OP. A few ham sandwiches and tins of tuna aren't going to kill you.