For those comparing nitrates in bacon to nitrates in vegetables, it's a dishonest comparison. Sodium NITRITE is added to bacon, and when it encounters your stomach acid (with proteins), it forms cancer-causing compounds known as nitrosamines. Over time, these can increase the risk of colon cancer, among other ailments.
That's why you want to buy "uncured" bacon, if at all.
In contrast, vegetables contain natural nitrosamine inhibitors like polyphenols and vitamin C. So even if vegetables contain "nitrates," the formation of nitrosamines is largely blocked. High-nitrate vegetables like beetroot actually feed the health-enhancing nitric oxide pathway that helps boost and protect cardiovascular health.
While meats with added sodium nitrite, for example, have NO natural inhibitors. No vitamin C. No polyphenols. No plant-based fibers.
The real takeaway from this is that if you insist on eating bacon or processed meats with added sodium nitrite (a common coloring chemical and preservative that inhibits bacteria), ALWAYS eat it with an apple, an orange, or vitamin C supplements, or some other natural vitamin C source such as strawberries, grapefruit, lemon juice, etc.
Otherwise, your bacon is just accelerating cancer in your gut.