Machine generated contents note: Introduction 1 --1 The History of Nitrates in Medicine 3 --2 Nitrate, the Nitrogen Cycle and the Fertility of Nature 9 -- 21. The Nitrogen Cycle 10 -- 22. The Increasing Fertility of Nature 12 --3 The Metabolism of Nitrate 16 -- 31. The Basic Features 16 -- 32. The Two Sources of Nitrate: Dietary Intake and Endogenous -- Synthesis 17 -- 33. The Metabolic Conversions of Nitrate in the Body and its -- Fate 21 -- 34. Nitrate Secretion with Saliva and its Transformation to -- Nitrite in the Mouth 23 -- 35. Nitrate and Nitrite in the Stomach 26 -- 36. Nitrate Metabolism: a Summary 27 --4 Nitrate in Body Fluids 29 -- 41. Healthy Humans 30 -- 42. Pathological Conditions 32 -- 43. Conclusions 34 -- 5 The Case Against Nitrate: a Critical Examination 35 -- 51. The Risk of Methaemoglobinaemia in Infants 35 -- 511. Methaemoglobinaemia: definition 36 -- 512. Infant methaemoglobinaemia: causes and issues 37 -- 513. Methaemoglobinaemia induced by carrot soup 38 -- 514. Spinach-induced methaemoglobinaemia 41 -- 515. Methaemoglobinaemia caused by enteritis 41 -- 516. Methaemoglobinaemia associated with the use of -- well water 44 -- 517. Conclusion 52 -- 52. The Risk of Cancer 54 -- 521. Background 54 -- 522. The formation of N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) 55 -- 523. Evidence from animal experiments and -- epidemiological studies 58 -- 524. Comments and conclusions 60 -- 53. Other Grievances 63 -- 531. Increased health risk for mother, fetus and child -- from nitrate 63 -- 532. Risk of genotoxicity 64 -- 533. Increased risk for congenital malformation 65 -- 534. Tendency towards increased size of the thyroid -- gland 65 -- 535. Early onset of hypertension 66 -- 536. Enhanced incidence of childhood diabetes 66 -- 537. Other claims 67 -- 54. Conclusions 68 --6 Nitrate Regulations: Presentation and Discussion 69 -- 61. Maximum Nitrate Levels in Drinking Water 69 -- 611. History of regulations 70 -- 612. A look at the early epidemiology as a basis for -- present regulations 74 -- 62. Maximum Nitrate Levels in Food 77 -- 63. The Acceptable Daily Intake and the Reference Dose for -- Nitrate in Man 79 -- 64. Concluding Comments 82 --7 The Beneficial Effects of Nitrate 84 -- 71. The Anti-infective Effects of Nitrate 84 -- 711. The effects in the mouth and gastrointestinal tract 84 -- 712. Anti-infective effects in other organs 87 -- 72. Nitrate, Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Diseases 88 -- 73. Dietary Nitrate and Gastric Cancer 90 -- 74. Other Beneficial Effects 92 -- 75. Conclusion 92 --8 Summary and Conclusions 93 --Appendices --Appendix 1 Conversion Factors and Tables 95 -- Conversion Factors for Nitrate Expressed in Various Units 95 --Appendix 2 Sources of Nitrate in Human Food 99 --Appendix 3 Nitrate Kinetics in Healthy Adults after Oral Doses of -- Nitrate 103 --Appendix 4 High Plasma Nitrate Levels in Various Diseases and -- Therapies 107 --Appendix 5 Human Epidemiological Studies Performed to Evaluate -- the Effects of Nitrate Exposure on Cancer Incidence -- and Mortality 111 --Appendix 6 Massive Intakes of Nitrite and Nitrate: Short-Term -- Effects on Health 119 -- Large Intakes of Nitrite (NO2-) 119 -- Massive Intakes of Nitrate (NO3-) 121.