Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Nitrates and Migraines -- Hidden Foes!!

For those of us who get migraines, we know -- we have to be vigilant to avoid those triggers that send us into blinding pain and agonizing nausea. My main trigger (aside from those impossible-to-control hormones) is the nitrates and nitrites found in cured meats -- ham, bacon, sausage, pepperoni, etc. I have faithfully avoided these foods ever since I figured out they were the major culprit of my migraines.

So when I came across "all natural" bacon, smoked the old-fashioned way with absolutely no added ingredients, I was psyched to say the least. All it contains is pork. That's it. What could be dangerous about that?

As it turns out, lots. Apparently, the process of smoking the pork can bring out the naturally-occuring nitrates/nitrites inherently existing in the meat. I unfortunately found this out too late, and suffered the consequences.

This also explains the migraine I got after eating smoked salmon, which again contained no additional nitrates/nitrites. I guess the smoking process in itself is just a migraine-inducing process for those of us who are sensitive to it.

What a crushing disappointment.

No comments:

Post a Comment