No nutritionist recommends luncheon meats as a healthy food, and, although I am not a nutritionist, neither do I. The nutritionists' recommendation to give up luncheon meat in favor of other heart-healthy, low-sodium, or low-fat foods, however, may not be appropriate for everyone.
As shocking as it may seem, a large proportion of Americans get the majority of their antioxidants from the preservatives in bologna, pressed ham, pastrami, mustard, mayonnaise, salad dressing (in the United States, usually Miracle Whip), and the white bread on which these meats and condiments are placed. If you eliminate BHA, BHT, and other preservatives from your "bad" diet, your health may actually suffer unless you start eating foods containing antioxidants.
Smokers, in particular, tend not to like fruits and vegetables. So, if you are giving up luncheon meats for your health and you cannot be persuaded to eat your greens, eat almonds, sunflower seeds, wild berry jellies (the real thing, preferably blueberries, lingonberries, or strawberries, not some imitation), pecans, walnuts, dried fruit (raisins, apricots, or dates are best), chile peppers, wasabi, horseradish, or fresh salsa or pico de gallo, on tortilla chips, if you must.
Or if you are not giving up luncheon meat, try eating some of the same foods. If you live on luncheon meat-and tens of millions of Americans do-don't give it up without replacing it with other healthy foods, even if they are not green vegetables.
There is a small statistical correlation between consumption of luncheon meats and various kinds of cancer, but luncheon meats by themselves, eaten in servings of up to 3-1/2 oz (100 g) four or five times a week, are, despite what you may have heard, not especially hazardous to your health, particularly if you do not smoke.
A bigger health problem with luncheon meat is food poisoning from spoilage. Bacterial contamination is more common in pastrami than in ham, and more common in ham than in bologna. This is because bologna is a fermented food. The bacteria that ferment bologna kill most pathogens. It is extremely rare for vacuum- packed sliced meats to host any bacterial growth until about 21 days before their "use by" date. Unsliced meats are typically bacteria-free until about ten days before their "use by" date. Once you open the package, eat the meat within a day or two or throw it out. Buy small quantities.
What is the most healthful way to eat luncheon meat? Start with the bread. Soft white bread is satisfying if you are going to eat your sandwich right away, but white bread in a sandwich stored in your lunch box tends to get mushy. Try a making sandwiches with bread that is almost too hard to eat straight from the package, such as a hard roll or a hard whole wheat, or maybe a multi-grain bread with seeds. The bread will soften as it sits in your lunchbox, you will enjoy your sandwich more, and you get extra antioxidants, vitamins, and fibers.
White bread quickly becomes sugar when it is digested, but white bread and a pickle does not. Just adding a pickle, the sourer the better, to your sandwich or to your lunch slows down the rate your body absorbs the sugars from white bread. As a result, your body makes less insulin, and stores less fat. Oddly enough, this effect is even greater when the meat or sandwich is high-fat rather than fat-free-but eat one slice rather than two or three.
Condiments also make a difference. It is always best to apply condiments to your sandwich just before it is eaten so the bread does not become soggy, but most kinds of bread except soft white hold up reasonably well for several hours. Ketchup, as you can read, is calming, and is also a good source of beta-carotene, lycopene, and lutein. Horseradish is a terrific source of a specific class of cancer-fighting chemicals called isothiocyanates; wasabi mayonnaise is a tangy dressing that supplies isothiocyanates that are especially healthful for smokers.
Tahini goes well with pita bread, and supplies sesamin, a chemical that turns "bad" cholesterol into a harmless form and lowers blood pressure. If you regularly eat greasy foods and sweets, sesamin shifts a fat-and-sugar biochemical pathway that turns inflammatory hormones into pain-relief hormones.
Click here to read about other healthy food choices at Healthy Goody
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