Hello, are Sodium Nitrates bad? I find them in lunch meat etc.. I thought I read a small thing about Nitrates in the Atkins book. If they are bad is it really that big of deal? Will it slow down the weight loss or anything? There is stuff that I like to eat low-carbing that have these nitrates just curious to as how they effect the diet?

Thank you so much for everybodys help here, you are all wonderful I'm a beginner and have always got a few responses to every question I have asked on these boards and I'm so happy to have found this site and all the support of people on here.

Take Care,
Corey