Don't eat foods with nitrites or nitrates like almost all ham and/or bacon.  I 
have found nitrite and nitrate free foods on occasion but I would think that 
preserved foods like ham and bacon (and hotdogs etc.) would be off the paleo 
menu.  Some hams are also injected with saline solutions.

Kathryn Rosenthal wrote:
> This is somewhat of a shock.  I always drink organic orange juice (with pulp) when I eat bacon or ham at breakfast.  
> 
> Kath 
> 
> Vitamin C Plus Fat Might Spur Cancer [HealthDay News] 
> 
>   1.. THURSDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) - When fat is present in the stomach, vitamin C transforms from a cancer-fighter to a possible contributor to malignancy, new research suggests. 
>   2.. 
>   3.. Researchers at Western Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland, analyzed the interaction between vitamin C and lipid (fat) in the upper stomach, which is particularly vulnerable to pre-cancerous changes and tumor growth. They focused on changes in nitrite chemistry. 
>   4.. 
>   5.. Nitrites are present in human saliva and preserved foods. During the digestive process, they can be converted to cancer-causing compounds called nitrosamines, which form in acidic conditions. However, vitamin C usually inhibits their formation by converting nitrites to nitric oxide. 
>   6.. 
>   7.. But the researchers found that when vitamin C and nitrites meet in environments with 10 percent fat, vitamin C multiplied the production of cancer-causing nitrosamines by eight to 140 times. 
>   8.. 
>   9.. Without high fat levels, vitamin C curbed the levels of two nitrosamines by a factor of between five and 1,000. And it completely eliminated the production of the other two, the researchers said. 
>   10.. 
>   11.. Fat remains in the stomach for some time after eating and also makes up the content of many cells lining the stomach, the study authors noted. 
>   12.. 
>   13.. Writing in the September issue of Gut, the team theorized that this interaction explains why vitamin C supplements have not had significant success in reducing cancer risk. 
>   14.. 
>   15.. [NOTE: For the full article, please follow the supplied link.] 
>   16.. 
>   17.. 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>   18..  ABSTRACT: Fat transforms ascorbic acid from inhibiting to promoting acid catalysed n-nitrosation [Gut; Subscribe] 
> 
>   Background: The major potential site of acid nitrosation is the proximal stomach, an anatomical site prone to a rising incidence of metaplasia and adenocarcinoma. Nitrite, a pre-carcinogen present in saliva, can be converted to nitrosating species and N-nitroso compounds by acidification at low gastric pH in the presence of thiocyanate. 
> 
>   Aims: To assess the effect of lipid and ascorbic acid on the nitrosative chemistry under conditions simulating the human proximal stomach. 
> 
>   Methods: The nitrosative chemistry was modelled in vitro by measuring the nitrosation of four secondary amines under conditions simulating the proximal stomach. The N-nitrosamines formed were measured by gas chromatography - ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry, while nitric oxide and oxygen levels were measured amperometrically. 
> 
>   Results: In absence of lipid, nitrosative stress was inhibited by ascorbic acid through conversion of nitrosating species to nitric oxide. Addition of ascorbic acid reduced the amount of N-nitrosodimethylamine formed by 5-fold, N-nitrosomorpholine by >1000-fold and totally prevented the formation of N-nitrosodiethylamine and N-nitrosopiperidine. In contrast, when 10% lipid was present, ascorbic acid increased the amount of N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine and N-nitrosopiperidine formed by approximately 8, 60 and 140-fold respectively compared to absence of ascorbic acid. 
> 
>   Conclusion: The presence of lipid converts ascorbic acid from inhibiting to promoting acid nitrosation. This may be explained by nitric oxide, formed by ascorbic acid in the aqueous phase, being able to regenerate nitrosating species by reacting with O2 in the lipid phase.
> 


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