Do you have questions about nutrition? Send them to us at comer@lavanguardia.es, our nutritionist Aitor Sánchez will answer all your questions.
Is it true that consuming smoked salmon can cause cancer? I read it a few days ago in the press. If so, does it affect all types of smoked salmon? I have also seen that it may contain harmful substances, what does that mean? Thank you (Martín López, reader)
Hello Martin.
Indeed, the smoking process is one of the food processes that is related to being harmful to health and is a risk factor for cancer.
Of course, when we talk about these issues it is important to put the risk into perspective and keep in mind that we are talking about probabilities, and, therefore, the most important variables will be the quantity and frequency with which we consume these foods.
Exactly in the same way that we know that sausage is a risk factor for cancer, but that does not mean that simply by taking it it will appear no matter what. What is done in public health recommendations is to avoid and reduce the amount of consumption, and also, if possible, recommend cooking methods that are less harmful. For example, accompany these meals with fruits and vegetables.
When a smoking process is carried out, many of the compounds that could trigger a carcinogenic process are incorporated into the food, among them we have polycyclic hydrocarbons, or biogenic amines. Which especially tend to occur in cases of meat and fish that are smoked or prepared on the grill or on barbecues.
As you ask, all types of smoked salmon would be affected, although not necessarily, in the same way, given that not all of them incorporate the same amount of these toxic substances, depending on the temperatures to which the food has been exposed or the type of wood.
The best recommendation we could give is that although it is not very dangerous to eat smoked fish, it should not be the predominant way of consuming it, but rather something occasional. And although smoking provides very interesting flavors and aromas from a culinary point of view, if we value it strictly from a health perspective, it is not a processing that provides anything beneficial beyond extending the useful life of the food and its conservation properties.
Good morning, Aitor. Is cava fattening like other alcohols like beer or is it lighter? Thank you (Marta Solano, reader)
Hello, Marta.
Before answering, simply remember that the fact that a food causes us to gain or lose weight depends on many factors and that, therefore, it would not be very accurate to refer to an alcoholic beverage as one that simply makes us gain weight. In fact, in terms of health, we usually advise against alcoholic beverages, rather because of their relationship with cardiovascular diseases or the facilitation of the appearance of different types of cancer, rather than because of their relationship with overweight and obesity.
If we refer strictly to the caloric content of alcoholic beverages, we would have to consider cava in a very similar way to wine, in fact, it is ultimately a type of wine. Its alcohol content is between 10 and 12°. Of all the components of alcoholic beverages, the one that contributes the most energy is ethanol; this will be the most important variable when determining how many calories the product has.
For this reason, spirits are much higher in calories than wines, and these in turn are higher in calories than beer.
However, we must also take into account what the use is and what our consumption behavior is with these drinks. Beer is very normalized and people can drink several beers in the same intake, making the amount we are drinking much more unnoticed. On the other hand, when we talk about distillates and vats, people usually make acute consumption at very specific times. Which is very harmful, but more eventual.
In the case of cava, it is usually closely related to special events, celebrations and some very particular occasion.
The final conclusion is that in terms of health we should consider cava like any other wine and, therefore, its consumption will never be positive for health. Of course, gastronomically and culturally it has its space, and for that reason if we want to enjoy a couple of glasses of cava during this Christmas it is something that can be done completely naturally. But always thinking that they do not provide us with health benefits, like many other foods that are not healthy at this time.
