So I am sitting in my kitchen eating breakfast, sipping
coffee, reading a newspaper and watching the morning news (I like to call this
multi-tasking) when a news alert comes on “Up next -Is what you are eating for
breakfast killing you?” I stop eating my egg whites and turkey bacon and put
the fork down. I want to sip my coffee but not knowing exactly what the culprit
is, I have to wait for the commercials to finish before I possibly swallow the
next bullet. I sit there quietly with my hands folded like a woman on death row
waiting for the executioner to unlock her cell.
The term “up next” has a different meaning on news programs
because I had to sit through the weather and sports before they got to this
critical issue. Apparently, a Swedish
committee conducted a study that concludes the daily consumption of bacon or
sausage (or both if you are eating Denny’s grand slam breakfast) can increase
your chance of getting pancreatic cancer to 1.7 percent. Now let’s be clear here, the chance of your
contacting pancreatic cancer without ever touching bacon or sausage is 1.4
percent. Cancer of the pancreas is a rare form of the disease that usually doesn’t
present symptoms till it reaches stage 4, so it’s serious stuff. But, we are issuing “Breaking News” alerts,
and scaring people with a study that revealed just a .3% increase in the risk of cancer. That is .3 percent; the
decimal is not in the wrong place. It is not a typo. This is the result of a
study that some government paid for – and it’s making news! And worse, it made
my eggs get cold!
This I had to research! What this Swedish group found as the
source of evil in our breakfast meats was the dreaded nitrates. This is not
news. We have been told for years that processed meats preserved with nitrates
are not a good thing. Having a ham sandwich for lunch? You’re doomed. Eating a
hot dog? It’s over……. Or is it?
If I had a time- travel vessel, I would pack up this group
of Swedish scientist and take them with me back to my childhood. (They should
eat a good breakfast because it’s a long trip.) What they would see is my
sister, brothers and I gathered around our Italian mother making meatballs with
a combination of ground beef, pork and veal. She would soak white bread in
milk, add the seasonings and mix it all together with her bare hands. We would
all get to roll the meat into balls while gathering up the left over chunks and
eating them – raw. I guess the massive amount of salt we would shake on them is
what saved us. (Before nitrates, salt was the preferred preservative. Now, it’s
just something we are not supposed to have.)
Our daily youthful activities would have caused this Swedish
study committee to wake up at night in a complete sweat. If they thought a .3%
increase was newsworthy, there wouldn’t be enough airtime to post the warnings
that would come from their findings. Now
today, I strive to eat what I consider
healthy. I would never advocate eating
raw meat or playfully inhaling chemical sprays. And before I hear a lecture, my kids wore helmets while riding their bikes (at least within sight of me). But my point is, that over 50
years later, my sister, brothers and I are thankfully all still here, in spite
of not having dangerous breakfast warnings coming at us from our black and
white TV.
Hi! I really enjoyed your post, D
ReplyDeleteHi Dionne, thank you so much. You send these things out into the void and wonder who is reading it so I am most appreciative of your comment.
ReplyDeleteLove it!!! I drank water from... Gasp... a garden hose!!!
ReplyDeleteA garden hose? That was a given!! We used the garden hose to rinse the mosquito spray out of our mouths!! LOL
ReplyDeleteI have been in your country and have seen your big English breakfasts! I'm a rye toast and coffee kind of girl, myself!
ReplyDeleteNo I did not try it. I am not much of a morning eater. Told you, toast and coffee. And I also stay away from those all you can eat buffets!! Don't like everyone touching my food!
ReplyDelete