Editing Nitrate (section)

== Dietary nitrate ==
A source of nitrate in the human diets arises from the consumption of leafy green foods, such as [[spinach]] and [[arugula]]. {{chem|NO|3|−}} can be present in [[beetroot]] juice. Drinking water represents also a primary nitrate intake source.<ref name="Hord2009"/>

Nitrate ingestion rapidly increases the [[Blood plasma|plasma]] nitrate concentration by a factor of 2 to 3, and this elevated nitrate concentration can be maintained for more than 2 weeks. Increased plasma nitrate enhances the production of [[nitric oxide]], NO. Nitric oxide is a physiological [[signaling molecule]] which intervenes in, among other things, regulation of muscle blood flow and mitochondrial respiration.<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Maughan RJ |title=Food, Nutrition and Sports Performance III|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-62792-4|location=New York|pages=63}}</ref>

=== Cured meats ===
''Nitrite'' ({{chem2|NO2-}}) consumption is primarily determined by the amount of [[processed meat]]s eaten, and the concentration of nitrates ({{chem2|NO3-}}) added to these meats ([[bacon]], [[sausage]]s…) for their curing. Although [[nitrite]]s are the nitrogen species chiefly used in [[Curing (food preservation)|meat curing]], nitrates are used as well and can be transformed into nitrite by microorganisms, or in the digestion process, starting by their dissolution in [[saliva]] and their contact with the [[microbiota]] of the mouth. Nitrites lead to the formation of [[Carcinogenesis|carcinogenic]] [[nitrosamine]]s.<ref name="pmid12421881">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bingham SA, Hughes R, Cross AJ | title = Effect of white versus red meat on endogenous N-nitrosation in the human colon and further evidence of a dose response | journal = The Journal of Nutrition | volume = 132 | issue = 11 Suppl | pages = 3522S–3525S | date = November 2002 | pmid = 12421881 | doi = 10.1093/jn/132.11.3522S | doi-access = free }}</ref> The production of nitrosamines may be inhibited by the use of the [[antioxidant]]s [[vitamin C]] and the [[alpha-tocopherol]] form of [[vitamin E]] during curing.<ref name="pmid22464105">{{cite journal | vauthors = Parthasarathy DK, Bryan NS | title = Sodium nitrite: the "cure" for nitric oxide insufficiency | journal = Meat Science | volume = 92 | issue = 3 | pages = 274–279 | date = November 2012 | pmid = 22464105 | doi = 10.1016/j.meatsci.2012.03.001 }}</ref>

Many meat processors claim their meats (e.g. bacon) is "uncured" – which is a marketing claim with no factual basis: there is no such thing as "uncured" bacon (as that would be, essentially, raw sliced pork belly).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tastingtable.com/1132614/is-there-a-difference-between-cured-and-uncured-bacon/ | title=Is There a Difference Between Cured and Uncured Bacon? | date=9 December 2022 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2023}} "Uncured" meat is in fact actually cured with nitrites with virtually ''no'' distinction in process – the only difference being the USDA labeling requirement between nitrite of vegetable origin (such as from celery) vs. "synthetic" sodium nitrite. An analogy would be purified "[[sea salt]]" vs. [[sodium chloride]] – both being exactly the same chemical with the only essential difference being the origin.

[[Antihypertensive drug|Anti-hypertensive]] diets, such as the [[DASH diet]], typically contain high levels of nitrates, which are first reduced to [[nitrite]] in the [[saliva]], as detected in [[saliva testing]], prior to forming [[nitric oxide]] (NO).<ref name="Hord2009">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hord NG, Tang Y, Bryan NS | title = Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits | journal = The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | volume = 90 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–10 | date = July 2009 | pmid = 19439460 | doi = 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27131 | doi-access = free }}</ref>