I’ve come across several programs that suggest a convenient way to get that extra little spike of protein is to add a slice or two of lunch meat to your meal. I’ve seen some texts suggest that ham is not the best source because it’s loaded with sodium.This certainly seemed logical enough to me. Those exercising regularly definitely need additional protein to support muscular recovery. Ham is cured with salt, and thus contains a large quantity of sodium.
However, we need to be more careful how we define the term lunch meat. Most of the deli meats sold in grocery stores has been heavily processed before it’s shaped into a cylinder, shrink wrapped, and sent to the local deli. The meats are often chopped up and then compressed back together again. This process leaves some of them much fattier than they look.
Of course the meat itself typically comes from industrial meat production facilities, which means it comes from animals fed unnatural diets of corn, soy, and whey. This diet makes the animals so sick they need antibiotics to survive. Plus they are typically given hormones to increase their growth rate.
This means the fat in this kind of meat is out of balance, and is less healthy than the fat contained in free range animals.
Aside from the fat balance issue, there is another problem with using deli meat for protein supplementation. That is that most of the meats are soaked in salt solution. In many cases meats such as turkey or roast beef contain just as much sodium as ham. This amount can be quite considerable in fact. It’s not uncommon for lunch meat to have 500mg or more of sodium in a large slice. That’s about one fifth the RDA for sodium.
So my suggestion is if you need additional protein take a whey protein supplement. If you want to add some meat to your diet, try to get free range meats and cook them yourself. For example, slice your own turkey and save it in sandwich bags or freeze it. This way you can get the meat without the added sodium and preservatives.
