It is true, cooking muscle meats like beef, pork, fish, and fowl at high temperatures creates chemicals in the meats that are not present when the meat is raw.1 Some of these chemicals called, heterocyclic amines or HCA, are carcinogens which are substances that may cause cancer.2 This may be particularly true with postmenopausal breast cancer.3
What’s worse is it isn’t just barbequing that creates these high temperatures. Any time you cook muscle meats by boiling, grilling, barbequing or frying, you increase the amount of HCA in your diet. (This doesn’t happen with protein foods like eggs and milk.)
Cooked beef seems to be the type of meat most likely to form HCA. According to Kansas State University, hamburger patties may be the greatest source of HCAs in the human diet.1 (One more reason to avoid fast food and kid’s meals.)
So does this mean the end to the summer barbeque season?
1. First of all cook and bake meat at lower temperatures. Meat cooked longer, at lower temperatures is juicier and better tasting anyway. Be sure though that the inside of the meat reaches an internal temperature that kills bacteria like salmonella. (180 degrees for chicken, 160-170 degrees for beef.) Also use plenty of onions and garlic when you eat meat. These guys have lots of compounds that kill bad bacteria!
2. When you do barbeque, cut off the charred, burnt part of the meat. That is a carcinogenic haven that can wreak havoc in your body.
3. Add spices! Spices can cut the risk of cancer-causing compounds by 40 percent. Try adding either Rosemary – the strongest protector against HCAs, Turmeric, or Fingerroot to meats before cooking.
4. Get extra protection from carcinogens by adding a colorful variety of cancer-fighting fruits and veggies to your diet. Eat at least one fruit or veggie from each color of the rainbow each day.
Why? Different colors of plants have different plant compounds. Some colors are loaded with antioxidants, some contain chemicals that kill cancer cells, some shrink them, some can cut off the blood supplies to cancer cells, and some protect and repair damage to your healthy cells, tissues and organs. Plus you feel better when you eat them!
Try to eat at least one fruit or vegetable from each of the colors of the rainbow each day, for example; purple grapes, blueberries, dark green broccoli, and light green spinach, lemon, light orange oranges and dark orange squash, watermelon, and add a potato. (Yes, eat more than 5! Five will help keep you alive, but you are far better off with the divine nine!)
References
I had no idea that cooking things to hot, or burning them, could increase your risk of disease. I always figured the hotter it is the safer it is. I'm glad I learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteJason Gubler
This is very interesting! From now on I will be cooking meats at a lower temp, cutting off any charred portions, also adding spices, onion, garlic and many vegetables to my meal. Great article.
ReplyDeleteThis is something I didn't know about creating harmful chemicals while grilling. Everybody should read this article before outdoor cooking.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that this could happen. This is something every BBQer should read about. I was under the assumption that heat reduced risks.
ReplyDeleteSkyla R
This is very interesting. Being a chicken eater myself, I didn't understand that there could be risks to eating beef. I always found chicken more delicious, and it would seem now that it is also more healthy for you. But adding spices does sound like a great way to solve the issue of carcinogens in beef.
ReplyDeleteThat is something I would have NEVER guessed! I go to BBQs all the time and now I will have to try to watch out for higher temps of cooking and try to get people to slow down and cook with a lower temp!
ReplyDeleteWill it ever end? We've always been told not to eat meat that is not throughly cooked. Now we can't cook our food to fast. It is comforting to know that adding spices and eating fruits and vegetables will help prevent the HCAs in our diet. I guess it's just one more reason to eat healthy and a variety of foods.
ReplyDeleteI totally see that burning meat is not good, but i had no idea that the tempature that meat is cooked at effects it as well.
ReplyDelete