MS linked to smoked foods
health and might lead to an auto-immune disease. New findings
presented at the 12th Meeting of the European Neurological Society
suggest that consuming smoked meat products as a child may increase
the risk of developing the auto-immune disease multiple sclerosis
in later life.
A diet of smoked hot dogs could be potentially harmful to the health and might lead to an auto-immune disease. New findings presented at the 12th Meeting of the European Neurological Society suggest that consuming smoked meat products as a child may increase the risk of developing the auto-immune disease multiple sclerosis in later life.
MS patients suffer a slow breakdown in myelin, an insulating fatty substance that surrounds the nerve cells. This destruction results in numbness, muscle weakness and co-ordination problems.
Researchers from the Darmstadt Clinic in Germany questioned 177 MS patients and 88 healthy individuals on their childhood diets, with particular regard to their consumption of smoked meat products, such as cold-smoked sausage, hot-smoked sausage and cold-smoked meats as well as animal fats such as butter. Analysis of the results suggested a clear link between the consumption of animal fats and hot-smoked sausage products, and the development of MS.
The researchers believe that these effects arise from the combination of the nitrates, which are used to prepare the meat, along with the phenols that are produced during the smoking process. Reactions between these two compounds can potentially produce nitrophenols, compounds that have been associated with autoimmune problems.
