BESIDES THE TEN RECOMMENDATIONS TO PREVENT CANCER ALSO LOOK AT GRILLING AND BARBECUING MEAT: WAYS TO DECREASE CANCER CAUSING CHEMICALS IN COOKING

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If you read the recent healty medical Blog: TEN RECOMMENDATIONS TO PREVENT CANCER you observed that the American Institute for Cancer Research directed some of it's wrath at processed and cured meats. But it's not just what happens to meat before you buy it but also how you cook the meat that has an impact on the production of carcinogens (cancer causing compounds) in food.














I am repeating here the post about grilling and barbecuing and the nasty chemicals they produce as well as suggestions for lessening the harmful chemicals.



How can something that tastes so good be so bad?Grilling meat can produce carcinogenic (cancer causing) chemicals. "It's true—those juicy burgers,especially the charred ones can contain cancer-causing carcinogens".

Which of the following variables determine how many carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals) are formed when you grill or barbecue meat?


1.cooking method 2. duration of cooking 3. temperature 4. type of food







When you grill a steak and a potato which is more likely to produce carcinogens?
A steak or a potato

"When you grill meat some of the fat does drip down on to the charcoal and when fat meets that really high temperature it develops a carcinogen and the smoke carries the carcinogen back up to the meat which can be dangerous for our bodies."










In January, 2005 ,The National Institute of Health, officially added heterocyclic amines, chemicals created during the grilling of meat to it's hit list of cancer causing agents. Heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are chemicals that are formed during the grilling and frying and barbecuing of certain so called "muscle meats" such as beef, pork, poultry and fish .Muscles have a lot of protein and the building blocks of proteins are called amino acids. When amino acids are exposed to the cooking processes of grilling, barbecuing and frying, heterocyclic amines also called amino-imidazoazaarenes (AIAs) are created




Here you can read and see a video interview about grilling and ways to reduce the carcinogens when you grill and barbecue.

Is Grilling Linked to Cancer?

Cancer Proof Your Barbecue.

Summer Hazards: Sunburn ... and Barbecue?


See the NIH HHS news release with the cheery title

"List of Cancer-Causing Agents Grows". "The Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition, referred to as the “RoC,” lists cancer-causing agents in two categories — “known to be human carcinogens” and “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.” The report now contains 58 “known” and 188 “reasonably anticipated” listings. Federal law requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to publish the report every two years."





According to the NIH artice, "Research has shown that cooking certain meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are not present in uncooked meats. A few of these chemicals may increase cancer risk. For example, heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are the carcinogenic chemicals formed from the cooking of muscle meats such as beef, pork, fowl, and fish. HCAs form when amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) and creatine (a chemical found in muscles) react at high cooking temperatures."

Four Factors in Production of Carcinogenic Heterocyclic Amines

The NIH article goes on to say that "MeIQ, MeIQx, and PhIP are heterocyclic amine compounds formed when meats and eggs are cooked or grilled at high temperatures. These compounds are also found in cigarette smoke. They are listed in the report as “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens” because oral studies in animals showed they caused cancer in multiple organs including the forestomach, colon, liver, oral cavity, mammary gland, skin, and cecum. Several human studies suggest there is an increased risk for breast and colorectal cancers related to consumption of broiled or fried foods that may contain these or other similar compounds....

MeIQ is 2-Amino-3, 4-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f]quinoline,

MeIQx is 2-Amino-3, 8-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f]quinoxaline,

PhIP is 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine........

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocabons are substances that enter meat through smoke that’s created when fat drips onto hot coals or stones. The hetrocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are known to be mutagenic, .i.e. they produce changes in DNA. According to this article from the National Cancer Institute

National Cancer Institute Heterocyclic Amines in Cooked Meats "research has shown that cooking certain meats at high temperatures creates chemicals that are not present in uncooked meats. A few of these chemicals may increase cancer risk". The article goes on to say that "four factors influence HCA formation" :

type of food

cooking method

temperature

time

Looking for Ways to Cook Meats Poultry and Fish to Produce Less Mutagens

Here are some tips about

Meat Quality and Safety from Purdue University.
This is an excellent article from a few years ago called New Recipes for Making Seriously Browned Meats Less of a Cancer Risk.

Lawrence Livermore and Others Write About Grilling and DNA Altering Chemicals

Read some

suggestions for cooking meat so as to lower the amount of mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and here is an article called

Cancer Proof Your Barbecue.



See as well

Harmful Chemicals in Grilled Meats and

Foreman Knocks Out Barbecue Health Hazards and also

FAQ about Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

Cherries in Meat To Decrease Mutagenic Compounds?

Cherry Hamburgers on the Grill

For something completely different here's a story about researchers at Michigan State University who said that adding cherries to meat lessened the production of the mutagenic compounds, the heterocyclic polyaromatic hydrocarbons

Cherry Hamburgers on the Grill.