Lunch meats are among the "very worst" nutritional choices because they have a lot of salt, fat and dietary cholesterol and lack a healthy amount of essential nutrients such as fiber, according to "Nutripoints: A New Guide to Simple, Healthy Eating." Authors Dr. Roy E. Vartabedian and Kathy Matthews list thousands of foods in order of nutritional value, categorize most lunch meats as "not recommended" and rank several brands of bologna and salami as among the foods with the lowest scores.
Explanation
"Nutripoints" bases its rankings of foods' nutritional value on a complicated formula that awards points for large amounts of 18 "essential" elements and subtracts points for too much of eight "excessive" elements. The essential elements include protein, vitamins A and C, niacin, calcium, iron, folic acid, fiber and potassium. The excessive elements include fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and sugar. The USDA and the Cooper Clinic provided most of the data to the authors of "Nutripoints."
Comparisons
Turnip greens, with 79 points, have the most nutritional value of the approximately 3,500 foods ranked by "Nutripoints." Scallops kabob, with 16 points, rank first among the approximately 750 meats. Foods with fewer than 2 points aren't recommended. Ham sold by Oscar Mayer is the top lunch meat with 5.5 points. The other recommended lunch meats are honeyloaf and Louis Rich turkey breast with 3.5 points each. Several brands of bologna, turkey bologna, salami, turkey salami, ham salami, ham, turkey ham, corned beef, tongue, liverwurst and pastrami have negative scores.
Warning
The worst thing about lunch meats is that they're "very high" in cholesterol, according to "Nutripoints." The U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education Program urges people with undesirable blood cholesterol, which is 200 mg/dL and higher, to eat fewer than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol daily. "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" reports that one serving of bologna and turkey bologna has 52 and 37 mg of cholesterol, respectively, while turkey pastrami, turkey ham, corned beef, turkey salami and ham have 25 to 29 mg of cholesterol per serving.
Negative Features
The USDA recommends limiting fat and saturated fat to 30 and 10 percent of your calories, respectively. About 87 percent of bologna's calories are fat and about 36 percent are saturated fat, reports Ornish's book. Salami is 72 percent fat and 26 percent saturated fat. Corned beef is 75 percent fat and 39 percent saturated fat. Turkey bologna is 68 percent fat and 30 percent saturated fat. Ham and turkey ham are the healthiest choices. Ham is 41 percent fat, 13 percent saturated fat.
Positive Features
Lunch meats have a great deal of protein and thiamine, two of the 16 essential elements, according to "Nutripoints." The USDA recommends getting 18 percent of your calories from protein. About 61 percent of the calories in turkey pastrami are protein, while ham and turkey ham are 55 percent protein, turkey salami is 37 percent protein and tongue is 35 percent protein. However, the textbook "An Invitation to Health" reports that many foods are significant sources of protein and thiamine.
References
- "Nutripoints: A New Guide To Simple, Healthy Eating"; Dr. Roy E. Vartabedian and Kathy Matthews; 2008
- National Cholesterol Education Program: High Blood Cholesterol
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dean Ornish, M.D.; 1996
- USDA: Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- "An Invitation to Health"; Dianne Hales; 2010
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