Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 6/18/09

Nitrite and nitrate intake can help reduce blood pressure for people following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, the American Meat Institute reported, citing a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Michigan State and University of Texas researchers quantified levels of nitrites and nitrates in high-nitrate or low-nitrate vegetable and fruit choices on the DASH diet. They found that nitrate concentrations in these patterns — deemed healthy and even therapeutic — ranged as much as 550 percent higher than the World Health Organization's acceptable daily intake for the average adult.

Nearly 93 percent of human dietary nitrate intake is derived from vegetables and saliva. Nitrate in vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and beets is converted to nitrite in the mouth. Meat processors use nitrite as a curing ingredient in meat to stabilize color and flavor and prevent rancidity. However, cured meats account for less than 5 percent of total human nitrite intake, other studies have demonstrated.

"These data call into question the rationale for recommendations to limit nitrate and nitrite consumption from plant foods; a comprehensive re-evaluation of the health effects of food sources of nitrates and nitrites is appropriate," the scientists wrote in the study, which was funded by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Michigan State University and the American Heart Association.

"The DASH diet forms the basis for public dietary health recommendations in the United States and is widely recommended by private health agencies, such as the American Heart Association. Taken together, the data considered here support the conclusions of the European Food Safety Authority that benefits of vegetable and fruit consumption outweigh any perceived risk of developing cancer from the consumption of nitrate and nitrite in these foods," the researchers wrote. "The strength of the evidence linking the consumption of nitrate- and nitrite-containing plant foods to beneficial health effects supports the consideration of these compounds as nutrients."

To view this study, click here. 

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.