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Healthy ways to cook meat without a frying pan
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Cooking your favourite foods on high heat can be a recipe for chronic illness. Try cooking methods that are healthier -- and just as tasty.
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By Rosie Schwartz, RD
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Do you love to fire up the barbecue to grill your favourite foods? Or bring out flavour with a little broiling? It turns out that even if the foods you're cooking were nutritional superstars to start, cooking them with high-temperature methods could put your health at risk.
Barbecued food has long been known to boost the risk of certain cancers due to the production of carcinogenic substances including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). And now a class of toxins called advanced glycation end products (AGEs) has been discovered in grilled, broiled and fried animal foods such as meat and cheese. AGEs have been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes and hyperglycemia, cardiovascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
While cooking protein-rich foods at high temperatures can create AGEs, other foods can also be sources.
How AGEs are formed
Acrylamide is a type of AGE that's formed when starchy foods, including potatoes, are cooked at high temperatures without any water present. So even if french fries are cooked in a healthy oil (particularly one without trans fats), they're still a source of acrylamide. If you love fries, cut them thick: large potatoes cooked as fries provide less acrylamide than small fries do.
There are nonfood sources of AGEs: tobacco smoke contains them, so the risks they cause should give smokers one more compelling reason to quit.
AGE readings tend to be higher in people with diabetes, and scientists are now speculating that these toxins may account for some of the complications that arise in other diseases as well, particularly conditions involving damage to the arteries. AGEs may act as pro-oxidants, substances that speed up the aging process due to oxidative damage. Many unwanted reactions can ensue -- oxidized cholesterol is more easily deposited in the arteries, and oxidation of cells may boost your cancer risk. And research shows that if you eat too many fried, broiled and grilled foods, you can overload your body's natural capacity to rid the body of AGEs, thus allowing them to accumulate.
Aging bodies retain more AGEs
A study at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences showed that AGE levels are more elevated in the blood of healthy adults age 64 or over, 35 per cent higher than in healthy individuals under 45. It seems that the older you get, the harder it is for your body to clear AGEs, possibly due to a decrease in kidney function that can come with increasing age.
The study also showed that the higher one's consumption of foods rich in AGEs is, the higher the blood levels of AGEs, and the higher the readings of C-reactive protein and other markers of inflammation. C-reactive protein is now considered a possible risk factor for heart disease, and inflammation is associated with the development of various chronic illnesses; for example, in the development of heart disease, inflamed arteries are much more welcoming to cholesterol deposits than healthy ones. Inflammation in the brain is also a factor in cognitive decline, so reducing AGEs in your diet could lead to a fuller life in your future.
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