Short excerpt of a June 2011 interview (Jeffrey Bland, PhD interviewing Nathan Bryan, PhD) discussing dietary nitrates and nitrites. Bryan explains that although historically labeled contaminants or carcinogens, these anions are produced endogenously and can play beneficial roles; toxicity depends on dose/context. He outlines a paradigm shift toward using dietary nitrate/nitrite to fuel endogenous nitric oxide pathways and create a bioactive reservoir to treat nitric-oxide insufficiency.
Chapters
Have you had people raising their eyebrows at all when you talk about the beneficial effects of nitrates and nitrites in the diet?
We have. We've got a broad spectrum of response, sometimes a visceral reaction from people who have, you know, who grew up in the 60s and 70s who were taught that these were human carcinogens, they were unwanted contaminants in our food and water supply. But, you know, that was long before it was ever discovered that these anions are actually produced within our body. So they're not contaminant foreign food additives. They're actually naturally occurring molecules that are produced within our body. So the notion that they're toxic, you know, nothing is without toxicity. Obviously, there's a context for health benefit and toxicity and has to do with concentrations or total exposure. We've gotten mostly positive response because I think this completely changes the paradigm on how we think about nitrogen oxides in our food supply, on how we think about modulation of endogenous nitric oxide production, and really then begin to put together a program or strategy to treat people who may be nitric oxide insufficient. I think it's a combination of fueling that endogenous pathway and creating a reservoir through dietary interventions of bioactive pool of nitric oxide.
