I’ll Order a Pound of Turkey Featuring Sodium, Preservatives, Bone, and a Trip to the Doctor
Some Americans try to be healthy, some don’t care, however our food is rarely what it appears to be. A great example of this is sodium in processed foods. We’ll hide the saltshaker from the table but eat a canned soup which is already full of sodium. Sodium hides in most of our processed foods, but one of the worst and most unknown culprits is deli meat.
Deli meat is what I consider and nutritional disaster food. Many healthy gym goers will be happy eating their turkey sandwich because it has lean protein, some cheese for bones, and veggies and wheat bread. Very rarely does one think of how much crap is processed into the meat.
Each slice of deli meat contains about 480 mg or 20% (of daily recommended sodium intake) or more of sodium per slice. Most people don’t have one slice of meat on their sandwich, they have 2-4 depending on the size of the sandwich. Then once one includes other condiments and the bread that sandwich is well over 1200 mg of sodium you’re going to be consuming, that is more than half of the sodium you should consume in a day.
Wait, I’m not done. Once one buys or makes his or her sandwich he or she is probably going to eat some chips or pretzels with that sandwich, maybe a dessert as well? After that, the person is probably consuming about 75% of their recommended sodium intake. If that person has more than 2 pieces of deli meat then he or she is probably over the 2400mg max recommend by the FDA. Whoops, there are still two more meals and snacks in the day and lunch took up about 100% of the sodium one is suppose to consume.
Other facts about deli meat:
-Contain preservatives: how else does the meat stay sitting on the shelf and be in transport for so long? Sodium nitrates help keep the meat from going bad in storage and producing funky odors. It may also be pumped full of up to 10% water as well as sodium, gelatin, even MSG.
-Possibility of bone and cartilage being include into your deli meat. Deli meat is processed and therefore like hotdogs can have other substances slipped into it.
-One must also consider the quality of the animal it was butchered from. Most factory farmed animals are fed food they can’t quite process and digest as well as live in unsanitary spaces. These animals therefore are usually given antibiotics to combat these illnesses. This antibiotics make it into the meat you’re eating.
-Factory farmed animals are also raised to be slaughtered as fast as possible and therefore are often given hormones to become larger faster. These hormones could make it in your meat.
-The quality of factory farmed meat is also not the same as free range organic meat. The levels of omega 3 fats and other contents are not as healthy as naturally raised animals.
I urge you to double check what you’re eating. Read the labels, ask the worker at the deli for the nutrition facts, and don’t be afraid of asking; everyone is on a diet today anyway, they’ll understand.
If in doubt do more research on your own. The Internet is everyone’s best friend for research today.
I also urge everyone to see a dietitian at some point and many colleges have this as a free service. I understand this is expensive if it isn’t offered and therefore you can do a little of your own research online or at the library. Also be careful of any research or information you receive from a dietitian or research, it can often be inaccurate. I therefore urge you to discuss it with a parent or friends, even your doctor at your next check up. Many dietitians will tell you if you eat a balanced diet you don’t need a multivitamin, I disagree with this especially if you’re an athlete, but that’s another post.
Other options: consider eating tuna, hummus, peanut butter. One can also ask if there are organic meats or ones that are low sodium.
Best of luck,
Check out this article as well:
5 things your lunch meat doesn’t want you to know
http://www.askfitnesscoach.com/5-things-your-lunch-meat-doesnt-want-you-to-know/
(I got some of my research from that)
Stay Strong,
T-rev
I found this pic funny, because is Subway really as healthy as we think it is?
Pic from http://www.ourordinarylife.com/2010/02/get-fit-stay-healthy/
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