The Big Nitrate Question: Are They Healthy Or Not?

You hear a lot of negative commentary about the nitrates found in some cured meats (such as ham).

On the other hand, you also hear about the benefits of nitrates found in vegetables such as beets.

So which is it? Are nitrates healthy or not? And is there a difference between the nitrates found in ham vs the nitrates found in beets?

Let’s address that second question first. The short answer is: the nitrate molecule itself is identical whether in ham or beets. The chemistry is the same. Sodium nitrate (NaNO₃) and potassium nitrate (KNO₃) are the same whether they come from celery powder, beet juice, or a curing salt packet. Your body can’t tell the difference.

The difference is entirely about context: what else comes along with it and what happens to it in your body.

Nitrates themselves are relatively harmless. The concern is when nitrates convert to nitrites, and then nitrites react with amines (abundant in protein-rich meat) under high heat to form nitrosamines. Those are the compounds linked to increased cancer risk. So the problematic chain is: nitrate → nitrite → nitrosamine.

Why beets get a pass

Beets come loaded with vitamin C and polyphenols, which act as antioxidants that block nitrosamine formation.

You’re not frying a beet at high temperature next to a bunch of amino acids

The nitrites that form from beet-derived nitrates tend to convert to nitric oxide instead, which is actually beneficial — it dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure (which ties into that multivitamin/blood pressure article you shared earlier, interestingly)

Why cured meats are a concern:

Meat is rich in amines, providing the raw material for nitrosamine formation. Cooking at high temperatures (e.g., grilling, frying bacon) accelerates the formation of nitrosamines, and processed meats often lack the protective antioxidants that would block that reaction.

How about uncured meats? Ironically, deli meats labeled “no added nitrates” often use celery powder or celery juice as the nitrate source, which is chemically the same thing. It’s mostly a labeling game. Again, the nitrates in themselves are not the issue.

So it’s not that one nitrate is healthy and the other is unhealthy. It is that nitrates in a vegetable matrix with antioxidants and no high-heat protein cooking tend to produce beneficial nitric oxide, while nitrates in a meat matrix cooked at high temperatures tend to produce potentially harmful nitrosamines.

Same input, different environment, different outcome.

Photo by Allan Francis on Unsplash