Grill Meat Lovers – watch out for cancer
January 22nd 2008 10:23
Article researched and compiled from The Cancer Project
Image extracted from myrecipes.com
We always encourage everyone to have a balance diet: plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and some meat (that is for the normal people). Although meat is devoid of fibre and other nutrients that have productive effect, such as animal protein, saturated fat, but watch out, there are carcinogenic compounds formed during the cooking process. These carcinogenic compounds may be to blame for part of the correlation between meat intake and increased cancer risk. Meat intake has been shown to be a risk factor for breast cancer, even when researchers controlled for confounding factors such as total fat and calorie intake. (Cancer Epidemol Biomakers Prev 1997)
Heterocyclic amines (HCA) are DNA-damaging compounds produced as meat cooks at high temperatures. The longer and hotter the meat cooks, the more of these compounds form. In some studies, grilled chicken formed higher concentrations of these cancer-causing substances than other types of cooked meat. (Cancer Res. 1995)
So should we start inverting all to sushi, just like the Japanese love to have? Not necessary.
All types of meat however, can contain some level of these carcinogens. Consumption of well-done meat (especially for the well-done through deep fry and grill) has been associated with increased risk of breast cancer and colon cancer.
In addition, grilling or broiling meat over a direct flame results in fat dropping on the hot fire, which produces flames containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that adheres to the surface of food. The more intense the heat, the more PAHs is present. These chemicals are believed to play a significant role in human cancers.
Personal Note:
So far I haven’t managed to find more differences between cooking via direct flame and steaming. But those who are normal and still healthy do need to reconsider less grilled meat (no more often meat based burgers) and look into the alternative of steam, which is pretty nice.
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