Eating pickles is not harmful if you know how and fully meet food hygiene requirements.

Do not eat newly pickled melons that are not hygienic, of unknown origin, and eaten in moderation will not be toxic to the body or cause cancer.

Ăn dưa muối sẽ không hại nếu đáp ứng đầy đủ những yêu cầu về vệ sinh thực phẩm

Pickled melon is a familiar and popular dish. (Source: DMX)

Pickled cucumbers and eggplants are a familiar dish that often appears on family dining tables thanks to their fresh taste and crunchy, juicy texture. While many people consider this a delicious, easy-to-preserve dish, others believe that pickled cucumbers are unhealthy and can cause cancer.

Does eating pickles cause cancer?

According to Aboluowang , this fear comes from the fact that pickles contain nitrite - a naturally occurring toxic substance. Nitrite is obtained by decomposing and reducing nitrate in a high temperature and anaerobic environment.

Normally, during the pickling process, a reaction will occur to convert nitrate (a residual substance in vegetables and tubers due to urea fertilizer or absorption from soil with high nitrate) into nitrite.

When pickles are pickled for a long time, nitrates will create more reduction reactions with bacteria, over time, the nitrite content in the pickles will gradually increase.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), when absorbing 0.5 grams of nitrite, the body will experience an acute poisoning reaction. In severe cases, a hemoglobin reaction will occur, accompanied by neurological disorders such as dizziness, headache, migraine, stroke, nausea, diarrhea, and general fatigue.

Nitrites can be harmful to the human body, is there a clear link between pickles and cancer?

In fact, the amount of nitrite we consume every day cannot reach a level that is harmful to our health, unless you eat a lot of pickles and over a long period of time. Although the nitrite content increases during the pickling process, it gradually decreases and disappears when the pickles are yellow and sour. After a month of pickling, the dish will reach a safer level.

In other words, as long as the pickles are hygienic and meet food safety requirements, they will not cause great harm to the body and are unlikely to cause cancer.

Three points to remember to minimize the harmful effects of pickles

Ensure the origin of pickles is clear and clean

You can try to pickle the cucumber yourself to ensure safety and cleanliness. If you cannot do it yourself, you should choose to buy from a reputable, quality place.

Do not eat newly pickled melons.

Some people do not like pickles that have been pickled for a long time. They take them out after a few days of pickling. For them, the pickles are not salty at this time, they are crunchier and tastier.

But in fact, newly pickled cucumbers contain a large amount of nitrite, which can easily cause toxicity to the body when eaten. In addition, the digestive tract has a special acidic environment, which can provide physiological conditions for nitrite to develop. Therefore, if you really like to eat pickled cucumbers, wait until the cucumbers are completely sour.

If you have chronic vascular and neurological diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, eat less pickles.

Hypertensive patients should follow a low-salt diet, meeting WHO standards of less than 5 grams. The amount of salt in pickles is quite high, and patients may have difficulty controlling their blood pressure if they eat pickles.

Who should not eat pickles for a long time?

People who have had a stroke

People who have had a stroke who consume a lot of salt not only increase their risk of having another stroke, but also increase their risk of gout and kidney stones. If a patient consumes more than 5g of salt per day, the risk of developing gout increases by 17%.

Elderly people with osteoporosis

Eating too much salt depletes the body of calcium, making the bones of the elderly more fragile and making osteoporosis more serious. Elderly people with osteoporosis should avoid eating too many pickles.

People with digestive diseases

Harmful elements in pickles easily adhere to the mucous membranes, weakening the digestive tract. In severe cases, people with digestive diseases who eat a lot of pickles can lead to the risk of stomach cancer.

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