For me, having a minor obsession with fine Italian cold cuts, finding out it's fermented meat made all the difference.

Celery is far worse for nitrites if they were really worried. Celery and carrots, which I grazed on back in the low fat days, are loaded with oxalate.

That's the substance with the biggest impact on my health right now. Cold cuts have NONE, with protein, thiamine, fat, and the ability to tempt my appetite no matter how low I am. So I don't care about the nitrites. They haven't proved their case. It's all about how they interpret beyond those ridiculous food memory questionnaires. It's China Study all over again.

It's not even viable epidemiology, much less proper nutrition advice. It's all to scare us away from meat!

Vegetarianism has always been a religious crusade, and now, in classic fundamentalist toxicology, they've doubled down to veganism and cheating. (If they are alive, they are cheating on veganism OR dying in denial.)

Once we have a grip on that ridiculous yet salient fact, much more about how I eat, and how I should, has become clear.

But everyone has to do what works for them. And making our food better, in any way, gives us real time feedback on how that's going.

I have had such dramatic improvement in my serious burnout from diet only once before, when I started carnivore. I get the same sense of relief from my body signals now.

Which is why I'm so excited and hopeful. And you don't need to follow my reasoning. I'm only saying I have some.