Why sausage is unhealthy

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Firing up the grill this summer? While there are plenty of grilling recipes you can make during the warmer months, there are always a few tried-and-true foods to throw on the grill that everyone loves: burgers , hot dogs, and sausages.

While having these foods once in a blue moon won't make a difference for your health, if you're eating processed meats regularly, you could be experiencing some not-so-great side effects down the line. This is why it's important to know what happens to your body when you eat sausage on a regular basis.

We turned to the latest research on processed meats and what you should know when you consume them. So before you get that grill going this summer, be sure to read up on what happens to your body when you eat sausage. The things that are causing all the fuss are chemicals called nitrites and nitrates, which once in the body can be converted into cancer-causing compounds.

These, according to a spokesman for Cancer Research UK , occur naturally in red meat, but are also often added during meat-processing as a preservative. All red meat also contains a red pigment called haems, which, once in the gut, can be broken down to form N-nitroso compounds, or NOCs, many of which are known to cause cancer.

Additionally, haems may irritate or damage the cells lining the bowel, which can lead to them dividing more rapidly — exactly the kind of action that is more likely to increase the risk of developing cancer. The combination of the two, as well as sausages' relatively high fat and salt content, which have also been linked to increased risks of developing cancer, has led to the advice to cut down on both processed and red meat.

As Cancer Research observes: "It's not about low-quality or low-grade meat in this instance, it's about the meat itself, and what's been added — we know too much salt has been linked to an increased risk in stomach cancer for example.

There are many things you can do to limit your risk of cancer, but sadly, buying expensive sausages isn't one of them. Cut down your consumption instead. In addition, the guidelines are informed by the WHO findings see above 3. As always, it depends. The confusion stems from the fact that not all sausages are processed meat. Meat is considered processed when it:.

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