science

I see, so oxygen is leached much faster and causes damage via hyperoxidation. Thank you for the writeup!

Yup. That’s basically it. The article creates an unrealistic gradation to compare against its definition of what’s healthy.

Processed meat is completely healthy, eating it every day for prolonged periods of time, not so much.

Hydrogen peroxide mouthwash? Totally safe! As a beverage? Not so much.

I did this calculation a while ago (didn't include hot dogs, because 🤮). But whey protein absolutely stomped every other protein source in terms of cost effectiveness. This really isn't surprising considering it is a dehydrated, shelf stable source of pretty much pure protein, which also (iirc) is a waste product of cheese making. So you are basically buying something they want to give away for free, which has no cost to keep it cool, no need to move product before it spoils, no additional weight of water or bone to transport. They just add some flavoring and sweetener and bam! You're jacked!

You can also just not eat meat very often to help keep costs down. For the 2 of us this week we have a single pack of 600g which is above average for us.

Sometimes get tinned mackerel which is much less total meat, but it's got a stronger flavour than chicken or pork so it can go further in a meal. I would look at catching crabs from the harbour but my partner refuses to eat them.

as convenience foods go, 2/$1 gas station hot dogs exceed 500kcal. nothing comes close.

Curing (removing moisture from food by means of salt) is a distinct process from smoking (adding smoke to food as well as removing moisture via heat). Curing with nitrite and nitrate based salts (sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite) is what’s been implicated in cancer.

Smoking meat is much more complicated from a chemistry perspective. Different types of wood, different temperatures, moisture content, salt content, and cooking durations can all affect the concentrations of carcinogenic compounds in the food. For example, softwoods (such as pine) tend to produce a lot of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a known class of carcinogens, but thankfully softwood is undesirable as a smoke wood anyway so is rarely used.

Smoking technique can also dramatically affect the result. Poor smoking technique allows the wood to smoulder at a lower temperature, producing a harsher smoke with more carcinogenic, toxic, and bitter compounds. Expert smoking technique uses a smaller, hotter fire which produces a much cleaner smoke that also results in better flavour.