Processed meats are convenient and are easily one of our daily staples. While it may be hard to cut out all processed meats from your diet completely, it’s a good idea to lessen the amount in which you eat weekly, at least. Processed meats are considered carcinogens, and carcinogens are a substance that is capable of causing cancer in living tissue. That is something you want to avoid when you can. So now you may be wondering what makes a slice of meat fall under the category of a processed meat.

Any kind of meat that has been preserved by curing, salting, or smoking is now a processed meat. Meats that have also had added chemical preservatives are now under the category of processed, as well. A small list of processed meats includes ham, hot dogs, beef jerky, pepperoni, sausage, and any other deli meats, including turkey and roast beef. It is possible to have sandwiches without processed meats. Just use something other than lunch meat instead. You could use chicken fresh off the bone, same with turkey.