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!

DS1 (almost 12) watched this the other week and gave me a long lecture about ham, similar to previous rants about McDonalds and GMO food.

I said to him, 'So, you'll not be wanting a DEATH HAM sandwich for lunch then?' to which eh replied 'Oh I still want it! Bring on the DEATH HAM!'

We eat very healthily 95% of the time so I'm not about to worry too much about a slice of ham.

It's fine OP - as long as it's naice ham

Ohh I was going to watch that later, not going to now!

Well it didn't last long. We had pork chops yesterday.

All our meat is bought in the market. Not because it's naice but because I can't understand how 4 chicken breasts cost a fiver and our nearest supermarket never has a bloody thing in it!

I've learned a lot from this thread though!

Pork chops are fine.

Chicken breasts kind of should be expensive - they're the best bit of the chicken - only prime muscle. IYSWIM. Chicken drumsticks and thighs are much cheaper.

Yes if you like getting arthritis and or gout rogue 2 world religions can't be totally wrong.

True. But it's much better than ham.

I get the impression that the expert nutritionists recommend small amounts of lean, organic red meat occasionally, oily fish maybe once a week, chicken breast maybe once a week. Small amounts of dairy, especially live, natural unsweetened yoghurt; not a completely vegetarian diet.

I'm not so sure ; I follow my blood type which suggests that A types have some fish, light meat occasionally. Mostly veg and fruit. O types are the meat eaters , the paleo or Atkins diet suits them but it says no one should eat pork or pork products.

2 world religions can't be totally wrong. Yes. Yes they can. Do you base all your health decisions on several thousand year old wisdom?

at any religions being factually correct!

Good to see some clear explanations of how to interpret the stats figures. The media are terrible at explaining them properly because mostly they're far from scary and wouldn't make a good story.

I was under the impression that the religions that disapprove of pork was more because when these rules were made (I don't know how to word properly!) pork was a very difficult thing to store. So people would have been made ill by pork food poisoning a lot easier than nowadays as there was no way to store safely.

World religions usually advocate self-discipline and avoidance of gluttony which is good for everyone. Many advocate fasting, which is now recognised as being beneficial to most people

Pig meat is one of the worst meats for having parasites which are transmittable to humans if not cooked properly. Doesn't stop me eating it though.

Hindus and Buddhists are mostly vegetarian, which will presumably greatly cut the risk of food poisoning, particularly in hot countries such as India and Nepal where they originated.

Is there a correlation between blood types and specific diseases? If there isn't I can't see the help in following a blood type led diet. Eg if you have a genetic predisposition to arthritis you'd be advised to cut out red meat, cocoa, citrus fruits, coffee and some other things that I've forgotten.

But coffee is thought to have a slightly protective effect against dementia. Just to think of one example off the top of my head.

x-posted

Quorn ham is nice in sandwiches.

Arf at Religions being wise and healthy. No, they are mostly social constructs related to the days when they were founded, especially when they refuse to self-update. Do you eat cheese after eating a steak?
Cook your pork thouroughly and enjoy it, you will be fine.

I didn't know that ham was processed meat! ok if its from a packed and 'formed from' ham with stuff added, but roasted ham for the deli isn't processed is it?

Yes. It's cured pork. Instead of smoking the pork they use sodium nitrites to preserve it. These are regarded as carcinogenic. I read an article which claimed that a portion of cured meat carries the same risk re bowel cancer as smoking two cigarettes.

People who have a strong faith are less likely to have mental health problems than those who don't. Religions don't usually advocate binge drinking, overeating, having lazy or workaholic lifestyles etc etc

Eg, practising Buddhists undertake to lead a healthy life by meditating daily - there's a lot of research which has concluded that meditation is very beneficial.

Jesus went off to be on his own at the end of most days so he could have time to reflect and pray - he didn't party on down smoking and drinking.

Muslims fast.
Eg,

To avoid nitrites I cure my own bacon using salt, sugar, herbs and spices. Only takes a week in the fridge and tastes, to my mind, better than shop bought. A different cut could make ham, too (I use loin for back bacon, belly pork for streaky). There are instructions out there on Google if anyone's interested.

Rogue thank you. Every day is a school day as they say. Just looked here too: www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=254387924

I thought I was pretty savvy where food is concerned. Really appreciate the reply.

I dont think you've been 'stupid' OP, nothing wrong with educating yourself by watching documentaries. I also watched 'What the Health' last night, I thought it was excellent. The experts were all extremely well qualified and it was definitely not some 'scaremongering' nonsense as some have suggested. The effects that turning to a plant based diet had on the woman with several auto immune diseases and numerous health issues was amazing.

I'm a vegetarian but have decided to give up cheese, I've always known it to be unhealthy, but watching this doc has given me the push i needed. I cured life long asthma by giving up milk a few years ago.

Oh that's interesting Bone . My parents and their forebears used to sometimes eat salted fish, ie dried fish preserved in salt. I think they would occasionally have what they called 'salt pork' too. I wonder if that's the same as your homemade bacon?

I think a daily portion of this, that and the other is probably safe. But the cumulative effect on our gut flora and probably other physiological processes is often, in my amateur but interested opinion, is to gradually mess them up.

Eg coffee stimulates the adrenal glands - no surprise there - this causes blood sugar to spike. Repeated spikes and the subsequent falls in blood sugar are known to be harmful.

It's my understanding that some of the sugar substitutes such as glucose-fructose syrup and I think aspartame are metabolised in a different way from the fructose which naturally occurs in fruits and doesn't contain the fibre from the original plant which helps to slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream and is necessary for good gut health.

And so on and so on with gum, emulsifiers, foods containing sodium nitrites. I think that whereas in the past it was fine to focus on getting a good balance of protein, fat, carbs and fruit and veg (I do know that fruit and veg are a source of carbs) a lot of our food is now so different from its original form that it's really easy to unwittingly take in a lot of nasties with our protein, fat and carbs.

We tend to not eat enough fibre either as our carbs are so refined - white pasta anyone? 50/50 bread, brown bread; malted bread; they look healthier than white but mostly aren't wholemeal. Not to mention the emulsifiers or the enzymes added to speed up the action of the yeast, reducing the amount of beneficial goodies in the process. My impression is that a 'modern' ham sandwich isn't very healthy at all.

True rogue

The Blood Type diet is by Peter D'Adamo and in his encyclopaedia it has a full explanation and scientific studies based on Blood type. It works well for me (I'm 66 and apart from a couple of varicose veins, I've had since my 20s I'm healthy) and so is anyone else who does it. I don't follow blindly though I go by experience.

What you say about coffee is very interesting because I used to drink it every day (it's meant to be beneficial for A types) since stopping the daily fix I lost some weight but find it good if I have it occasionally. O types should avoid it , DH ignores my ideas, drinks far too much coffee and is borderline diabetic type, 2 also OW.

HotNatured Well said. [grin[