How bad is Turkey for you? (The Doctors)

[tyr_13]

So my mother and her husband love to watch the tv show, The Doctors were some MDs sit and take questions and talk about health issues.

My mother tells me yesterday that, according to the doctors on the show, sliced turkey deli meat is the most artery clogging and hardening food there is. Now when she said, 'deli meat', I responded, "Well yeah, salami and stuff are full of sodium, fat," but I was cut off with 'sliced turkey'.

I really haven't been able to find out why. All my mother could remember was 'nitrates', which I assume means the preserving ones. Why sliced turkey?

Is this just some tv doctor speculating about some study on nitrates and picking turkey off the top of his head?

 

[GrouchoMarxist]

Is this just some tv doctor speculating about some study on nitrates and picking turkey off the top of his head?

Sounds like my kind of show.

 

[JWideman]

Processed meats all contain sodium nitrates, including sliced turkey. However, there's nothing conclusive yet. There is a general caution against consumption by very young children or pregnant women, but not because someone died from eating luncheon meat. To be sure, you eat a lot of it and you'll be getting too much salt.

 

[madmonk76]

So my mother and her husband love to watch the tv show, The Doctors were some MDs sit and take questions and talk about health issues.

My mother tells me yesterday that, according to the doctors on the show, sliced turkey deli meat is the most artery clogging and hardening food there is. Now when she said, 'deli meat', I responded, "Well yeah, salami and stuff are full of sodium, fat," but I was cut off with 'sliced turkey'.

I really haven't been able to find out why. All my mother could remember was 'nitrates', which I assume means the preserving ones. Why sliced turkey?

Is this just some tv doctor speculating about some study on nitrates and picking turkey off the top of his head?

I actually watched that segment on t.v. yesterday, and they didn't specify sliced turkey. They were talking about all cured deli meats, and the fact that they're really high in sodium. They said things to the effect of, cooking a roast(turkey, ham, whatever) on the weekend to slice up and use for sandwiches during the week is better for you than eating lunchmeat every day. They said that there shouldn't be a problem if you only eat the ocassional sandwich, though.

 

[John Jones]

I'm looking for someone who will deep-fry a turkey for me.

From what I understand, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing!


What say ye?

 

[Avatar49]

If you have homeowners insurance what the heck take a chance and fry your own turkey.

 

[madmonk76]

I'm looking for someone who will deep-fry a turkey for me.

From what I understand, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing!


What say ye?

If you have a driveway, you're golden.
It's really nice deep fried, and much quicker as well.

 

[Emet]

I'm looking for someone who will deep-fry a turkey for me.

From what I understand, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing!


What say ye?

There have been fires reported in the past, but I would guess those folks were winging it without thinking it through.

Doesn't look too complicated (of course, I don't cook ):

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/index....troller=article&category_id=223&article=19903

 

[bokonon]

I'm looking for someone who will deep-fry a turkey for me.

From what I understand, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing!

What say ye?

Yes, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing.

The main thing to remember is to make sure you put the turkey in the cold cooking vessel, add the oil, remove the turkey, heat the oil, re-dunk the turkey. The big fire hazard arises when people fill a pot with oil, thinking it will also hold a turkey, and only discover when the turkey is going in and the hot oil is overflowing and exploding on the heating element that they've miscalculated.

Also, I second doing it on the driveway instead of inside.

ETA: I see Emet's link recommends a "dry run" with water instead of oil, to determine the proper level. Seems like a better idea...

 

[rwguinn]

Yes, you risk burning your house down if you don't know what you're doing.

The main thing to remember is to make sure you put the turkey in the cold cooking vessel, add the oil, remove the turkey, heat the oil, re-dunk the turkey. The big fire hazard arises when people fill a pot with oil, thinking it will also hold a turkey, and only discover when the turkey is going in and the hot oil is overflowing and exploding on the heating element that they've miscalculated.

Also, I second doing it on the driveway instead of inside.

ETA: I see Emet's link recommends a "dry run" with water instead of oil, to determine the proper level. Seems like a better idea...

Damn. just saw your edit after I typed all the below...

Just make sure the turkey is as close to dry as possible. It must also be thawed...


Better yet.
Put turkey in pot.
Fill with water.
Remove turkey. Mark water level. Empty pot, dry it AND THE TURKEY!
fill pot to mark with oil. Put step ladder over pot/cooker. Rig a pulley to lower turkey into pot (See Alton Brown's method on thefoodchannel.com)
when oil is at proper tem, lower turkey slowly into oil....
Meantime, Wild turkey (non-alcoholic, please) is best, free range better, butterball, not so much. loaded with salt (see label)

 

[Halfcentaur]

Indeed, as others have alluded, "a frozen turkey will asplode ur face n ur hands. "
Thaw that mutha.

 

[majamin]

Health Canada Report on Nitrites and Nitrates

I really haven't been able to find out why. All my mother could remember was 'nitrates', which I assume means the preserving ones. Why sliced turkey?

Is this just some tv doctor speculating about some study on nitrates and picking turkey off the top of his head?

The following link contains a lot of information, but it is a very good resource outlining the exposure and health effects of nitrate and nitrite. (The citations consist of a blend of North American and International research).

Health Canada Report on Nitrate/Nitrite - Health

Here's my quick summary of the report (carcinogenicity only). The effects of nitrite and nitrate are not decisive, but point to a need for controlling their presence in food (something the FDA and Health Canada have known for a long time).

• Nitrites can react with nitrosatable compounds to form N-nitroso compounds
• Some N-nitroso compounds are potent carcinogens in animal species
• Epidemiological evidence linking intake of nitrite and nitrate with gastric cancer in humans has been equivocal
• Some evidence for an association between the ingestion of nitrate and the incidence of stomach cancer has been obtained in descriptive epidemiological studies
• Individual exposure to nitrate has not been estimated in any of the descriptive epidemiological studies conducted to date, nor have confounding factors have been adequately taken into account [flag]
• In a Canadian case-control study on diet and stomach cancer, nitrates from food were associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 0.66, p = 0.00002), whereas nitrites from food were associated with an increased risk (OR = 1.7, p = 0.0006).
• In a case-control study of gastric cancer precursor lesions conducted in a high-risk black population in southern Louisiana, higher gastric juice nitrate concentrations were associated with more severe lesions in one population, whereas the reverse trend was observed in a second population.
• There has been no evidence from chronic animal studies conducted to date that nitrate is carcinogenic.
• Several studies in rats fed sodium nitrite in the diet or via drinking water have found an increased incidence of tumours,50,51 whereas others have failed to show a positive link between nitrite intake and tumour incidence.
• In contrast, in two studies in which sodium nitrite was administered to F344 rats, a significant protective effect was observed; there was a significant decrease in tumour incidence in the high-dose females given nitrite compared with controls, and a reduction in the incidence of mononuclear cell leukaemias in the experimental groups was observed in both studies.

[flag] = this report was produced ca. 1990, so this statement may no longer be accurate

 

[tyr_13]

Thanks all. That does clear it up. I'm guessing my mother 'keened' the story into turkey because I go through about one double package a month.

 

[Vic Vega]

There are a lot of things in life worth worrying about. Eating too much deli turkey probably isn't one of them.


Enjoy your turkey, tyr_13. Life's too short to go without good sandwiches.

 

[rwguinn]

There are a lot of things in life worth worrying about. Eating too much deli turkey probably isn't one of them.


Enjoy your turkey, tyr_13. Life's too short to go without good sandwiches.

This^^
"Fuzzy Pink Niven's Law: Never waste calories. Potato chips, candy, whipped cream, or a hot fudge sundae may involve you, your dietician, your wardrobe, and other factors. But FP's Law implies: Don't eat soggy potato chips, or cheap candy, or fake whipped cream, or an inferior hot fudge sundae." Larry Niven