Nitrite's Nice, but Forgo the Hot Dog

Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically only imported grapes make the 2010 Dirty Dozen list). Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin. Remember, wine is made from grapes, which testing shows can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides.

Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and raspberries.

Photo: Brandon Laufenberg / Istock

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Nitrites and nitrates are viewed as unhealthy parts of the diet, available in heavy doses in hot dogs, cured meats and bacon. Best to avoid them, goes the conventional wisdom (and with good reason: the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a drinking water quality standard for nitrates and nitrites because of the risk of "blue baby syndrome," a condition that starves the blood of infants of oxygen).

But nitrates and nitrites are available not only from cured meats, but fruits and vegetables, where they are packaged with healthy doses of other vitamins and anti-oxidants, according to the Los Angeles Times. (The highest doses can be found in spinach, lettuce, celery, cauliflower, grapes, strawberries and root vegetables.)

In the right package, nitrates and nitrites may improve heart health by helping to keep arteries wide and clear, according to some recent research.

In other words, the problem with cured meats and their brethren isn't the nitrate and nitrite, necessarily. It's all the fat, sodium and calories that come in the package.

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