It’s the start of grilling season with a smattering of summer-like weather in the north and warm temperatures already settling in in the south. We have all seen the headlines. And you’re probably wondering just what goes into making your favorite hotdog.
“How Bad Are Hot Dogs For You, And How Many Are Too Many?”
USA Today
“A hot dog shaves 36 minutes off life, study says. Nathan’s champion Joey Chestnut isn’t worried.”
Insidehook
“Are Hot Dogs the Single Worst Thing You Could Put in Your Body?”
The New York Daily News
“Yes, hot dogs are unhealthy, but an occasional frank won’t hurt, experts say”
One hot dog 150 calories bun 150 calories
| Calories 151 | |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 13 g | 20% |
| Saturated fat 4 g | 20% |
| Cholesterol 40 mg | 13% |
| Sodium 567 mg | 23% |
| Potassium 79 mg | 2% |
| Total Carbohydrate 2.2 g | 0% |
| Dietary fiber 0 g | 0% |
| Protein 5 g | 10% |
To start with, hot dogs are not a healthy food choice.
We are all solar-powered. You get the energy from what you eat, and what you eat gets all its power from the food it eats or the sun through the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide and water go in, and sugars come out as a product. Plants use sugar as the building blocks of organic molecules and use them for a variety of purposes. And we use those organic molecules for our purposes. Cellulose is made of long chains of sugar. Trees use the molecule to raise their leaves to the sky. We call it wood and have many uses for it. Plants store some of the sugar with their seeds to help them germinate in the next growing season. We harvest those and consume them for their nutrients. Think nuts, grains, and berries. Plants also use it to produce nectar to attract pollinators to help them reproduce and spread. They store vast amounts of sugar around seeds in the form of fruit to entice animals to spread those seeds further afield. Think apples.
When choosing healthy food for you and the environment, think of plants. Fruits, nuts, and vegetables are better for you and the world. We have reduced our meat intake. It is a bit of a transition, but once you start discovering recipes and creating alternative menus, it all becomes part of the fun of cooking.
What is in that hot dog?
When you eat a hot dog, just precisely what are you consuming?
Hot dogs are a cured meat product.
Hot dogs comprise meat, meat flavorings, binders, and other assorted flavor enhancements.
The meat comes from trimmings of larger cuts of pig, beef, pork, or chicken.
The meat for the hot dogs comes from trimmings of larger cuts of pig, beef, pork, or chicken.
Most of the meat is the same as you would find in ground beef or pork products. That is one way to put it. Another might be to say that hot dogs are made of emulsified meat trimmings. The definition of trimmings is vague, and I won’t list it here in detail because I do not intend to turn you away from eating an occasional hot dog. Suffice it to say, if the hot dog you purchase is made using animal organs, also called variety meats, it will say so on the label.
Hot dogs are highly processed cured meats containing high sugars, salt, and nitrate levels. The nitrates give the hotdog its pink color. The Nitrate also helps kill bacteria.
Hot dogs contain high amounts of saturated fats. Up to 80 percent of the calories in regular hot dogs come from fat. Hot dogs have very little nutritional value. Processed meats like hot dogs have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and colon cancer.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify the extent of damage eating a hot dog or 20 hot dogs will do to an individual. Genetic disposition to certain diseases such as diabetes and cancer and how many busses run you overall must be factored into the equation. For comparison, smoking a cigarette is much worse for you than eating a hot dog.
Science can clearly state: Eating unhealthy will have unhealthy outcomes. Eating more healthily will have better health consequences.
I have made a conscious decision to reduce my hot dog intake. They are a fast, easy, fat-filled, salty treat, so buying a pack and cooking them up for dinner is tempting. I still enjoy a hot dog a few times a year, primarily when I am taking in a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game.
If you want, you can invest some time and find hot dogs that are less unhealthy for you, but you won’t find one that is good for you. I choose to limit my intake; I’ll eat just a few but savor those days at the ballpark.
Top brands – I will have to do my taste test this summer and let you know my choice.
In the Running:
Nathans All Beef Franks.
Hebrew National All Beef Franks
Oscar Meyer Hot dog
Applegate Farms Uncured Beef Hot Dog
Sabrett Frankfurters, Beef
Life is a process, and there is always more to the story. While hot dogs are unhealthy food products, they are made from portions of the animal that might otherwise be termed waste. So, it does help make use of as much of the animal as possible. Considering that over half the animal is waste by-products unusable for human consumption.
Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to receive the latest post right to your mailbox. Do you have a favorite hot dog brand? if so, share it with me in the comments below.
Also, look for my article on creating a biodiverse habitat in your lawn. The project is titled Listening for the Sounds of Summer, with a blog and book of the same title. The articles will start on May 1st. If you have ideas for topics or you would like me to explore and explain something more, please leave a comment.
Take care, and stay curious.
T.L. Johnson 
Leave a comment