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| Harmful Chemicals in Grilled Meats |
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True
or False?: Regularly eating
meat cooked on a charcoal grill won't increase cancer risk.
Respondents
Who Agreed: 56%
Origin:
Nutrition advice in the media has been contradictory about the health
effects of grilled meats. Compared with frying in oil, grilling or
baking meats avoids adding extra fat and calories to the meal. But,
chemists have found grilling meats creates chemicals linked to cancer
in animals.
Reality:
You can increase your cancer risk by eating too much grilled red meat
or chicken or even meat pan-fried at a very high temperature. Meat or
chicken that is well-done or burnt appears to be the most problematic.
Based on the existing research, the best approach may be to enjoy
grilled meats occasionally, but not on a regular basis. This is a
judgment call, but it makes sense to limit your exposure to carcinogens
(chemicals linked to cancer).
The worrisome chemicals created by grilling meats are called
heterocyclic amines (HAs). They form during grilling, broiling, or even
searing meat in a very hot frying pan -- when the very high
temperatures break down the amino acid creatinine.
There is also some concern that fats from the meat dripping onto coals
create additional chemicals in smoke that may land back on the meat.
While HAs cause cancer in animals, it is uncertain whether the amounts
encountered on grilled meat actually increase cancer risk in people.
When you do grill or broil meat, you can minimize your consumption of
unhealthful chemicals in a few ways:
- Don't eat blackened or burnt
parts.
- Precook meats in the oven or
microwave, and then finish on the grill for just a few minutes.
- Substitute grilled
vegetables or fruits for part of the meat in your meal.
- Eat smaller portions of
grilled meats.
Many of the chemicals created when meat is grilled are not formed
during the grilling of vegetables or fruits, so people can enjoy
grilled flavor without unhealthful chemicals. Fruits and vegetables
that work well on the grill include onions, green and red bell peppers,
zucchini, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, pineapple, papaya, or mango.
Skewers that alternate small bites of meat with vegetables or fruit are
an easy way to maximize flavor and minimize unhealthful chemicals.
Don't substitute processed (luncheon) meats for grilled meat, though.
Processed meats contain different kinds of carcinogens that may be even
more harmful. What you eat is even more important than how it's cooked.
The best advice is to follow a diet in which foods from plant sources
predominate.
For more information, the ACS book, Cancer: What Causes It, What
Doesn't provides an educated perspective on what cancer health hazards
people may face in everyday life, and what's not worth worrying about.
Revised: 12/19/2005
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