It's BBQ time!

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Barbecue season is here, your backyard crucible is ready for duty, and your taste buds are eager to get reacquainted with the smoky, savory delights from the grill.

Then you recall a news item about studies linking grilled food with an increased risk of cancer. So your anticipation is tempered with the awareness that a Dr. Killjoy somewhere has decreed that the encrusted burgers, ribs and steaks you enjoy so much may also be tumor generators.

In actuality, the link between grilled foods and cancer in people is not well-established, according to Kathleen Newman, a registered dietitian at UC Davis Medical Center. Newman says there appears to be little reason for concern as long as you heed the mantra that applies to most lifestyle matters: moderation.

Cooking meat quickly at high temperatures - by grilling, frying or broiling - creates substances known as heterocyclic amines, or HCAs. HCAs have produced tumors in animal experiments, but no study has ever shown that HCAs produce cancer in people.

Even the strongest assertions of a link between HCAs and human cancer only go as far as stating that HCAs "are probable human carcinogens," and that an "inference" can be made that they increase the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Other researchers are even more circumspect. One states flatly that the connection "has yet to be established," noting that studies have yielded "inconsistent results." Another research team concluded that the risk for cancer "could range more than a thousandfold between individuals."

Still, Newman says that the potential harm from HCAs cannot be dismissed completely.

"There's not enough evidence to stop me from barbecuing," says Newman. "But I'm going to do things in moderation."

Newman, who counsels cancer patients on their nutritional needs, says that a healthy diet still hinges on variety and moderation, with an emphasis on vegetables, fruits, whole grains and moderately sized portions. Eating large amounts of meat in general, much less after grilling it every day, is not a good idea.

source: UC Davis Health Journal May- June 1998
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In vino veritas!

Kate · Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 6:06 am Post subject:

I have to give Ms Newman a lesson. True southern barbecue is slow cooked meats over a low heat or in a smoker. Grilled meats are cooked fairly quickly over direct flames.
I do love my barbecue!
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A closed mouth gathers no feet.

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

I hear ya!
A good tip would be to frequently turn the meat over the grill to maintain a lower temperature.

Also, leaving the meat into a marinade for several hours before grilling, will decrease creation of HCAs while cooking.
For example, a study found that chicken marinated for 40 minutes in a mixture of brown sugar, olive oil, cider vinegar, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and salt cut HCAs by 92 percent to 99 percent.

You can also precook hamburgers in the microwave for one minute before grilling, throwing away the juice from the meat, but i'm not really crazy about this method.

But still, I love the water smoker! Wink

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In vino veritas!

paulamathers · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 1:31 pm Post subject:

BBQs are great, i think she must just be jealous - maybe she's on a weird diet that includes no BBQ food and she's trying to spoil everyone elses fun Smile