10 Ways to Cancer-Proof Your Barbecue
Summer is here. With it come vacations, lush gardens, and barbecues with friends and family. Unfortunately, barbecued food has been linked to an increased risk of cancer. But you can have your barbecue and your health too with if you follow these suggestions adapted from my e-book Cancer-Proof:
1. Keep a watchful eye to avoid barbecue flare-ups and the resulting charring of your food. Charred food is linked with the creation of carcinogens.
2. Cook over lower temperatures. Use low to medium cooking temperatures. When foods like meat are heated over high temperatures or come in contact with flames, compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can form. Both compounds are known carcinogens. Of course you don’t need to pronounce them or spell them to reduce your risk of exposure to these carcinogens. Of course if you’re cooking meat or poultry always be sure that the inside temperature reaches a high enough temperature to kill microbes.
3. If you’re cooking meat or poultry, marinate it in olive oil and lemon juice-based marinades. Research shows that these two items reduce the formation of cancer-causing compounds by up to 99% while cooking, while adding flavor and helping to keep it moist.
4. Choose naturally low fat foods like vegetables, lean cuts of meat, poultry or fish. Heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are primarily formed when fats are heated to high temperatures or fall into the flames and create smoke. Low fat foods reduce the chance of these compounds forming at all.
5. Trim excess fat from meat prior to cooking it (for the same reason as number 4).
