Nutritionists show you how to cook and eat grilled food without bringing cancer into your body

Barbecue – a year-round favorite dish of many people because of its delicious taste, however, regularly eating grilled foods increases the risk of cancer.

So is there a way to still eat grilled food and limit the risk of affecting health?

Produce toxins harmful to health

Sharing about this issue, Mr. Dr. Nguyen Van Tien – Center for Education and Communication of the National Institute of Nutrition confirmed that food baked with fire, with charcoal, or baked in an oven, rotated a lot all produce toxins harmful to health.

When grilling meat or fish over charcoal at 500-600°C, the fat that flows to the coals will form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are among the most common organic pollutants.

In addition to environmental sources from fuel combustion, PAHs are also found in foods. Studies have shown that food contaminated with PAHs comes from grains, oils and fats.

Illustrations

In the case of food being baked in an oven at a temperature of 80-100°C, Dr. Tien also warns that the creatine (or creatinine) in fish meat will become heterocyclic aromatic amine (HCA). This substance when entering the liver will turn into a toxic substance, then go to the intestines, creating a risk of colon cancer.

Notably, the secretions at first, gravy, fish sauce, and oven-stick are easy to convert into HCA. If you eat this water for pleasure or regret, it will be very toxic.

In case we bake food at temperatures above 200°C, many other types of HCA can form due to amino acid breakdown. These HCAs are located in the place where the meat and fish are burnt.

“Eating grilled fish, eating grilled food regularly, although delicious, the consequences are unpredictable,” emphasized Dr. Tien.

How to bake food to limit toxicity

Although with the above harmful effects, Dr. Tien also said that it does not mean that we “have to stay away from grilled foods”. Instead, it is necessary to have a reasonable way of baking to minimize the harmful ingredients arising during the baking process.

Specifically, below is the way to cook baked goods that should be applied to limit toxicity as recommended by Dr. Tien.

First, the “chefs” should use lean meat, remove fat, remove the skin (for poultry) to minimize the amount of fat falling on the fire when grilling (producing PAHs). Limit the use of meat with a lot of fat such as ribs, sausages, and sausages (also foods containing saturated fat that are not good for health). Because processed meats such as sausages and sausages also contain nitrosamines, which can cause cancer.

“When grilling meat, you should choose leaner meat more than fatty meat because when grilling, if this fat melts into the coals, it will easily cause toxins,” warns Dr. Tien.

Next, you need to marinate the meat before grilling with a mixture of vegetable juices such as orange juice (lemon, tangerine), ginger, chili, vinegar… because of its antioxidants. Should marinate or marinate food to be grilled with marinade before baking.

For sauces (sauce), in addition to enhancing the flavor of the dish, it can also increase the safety of baked goods because the liquid layer of the sauce covering the food will reduce the amount of fat from the food flowing. down, helping to limit the generation of toxins. The thicker the sauce, the better the effect.

In addition, Dr. Tien also emphasized the need to drain the food (or any liquid) before putting it on the grill: Wrap the fish in aluminum foil and then bake to keep the food moist and prevent the accumulation of toxic substances from smoke.

You can add some herbs, garlic, a few slices of lemon, a little white wine for deliciousness. Keep food in the refrigerator or freezer, keeping raw and cooked foods separate until baked. Do not leave the baked goods to the outside temperature for too long.

After preparing the ingredients and marinating them appropriately, Dr. Tien also guides how to bake safely and limit the toxins produced during the baking process.

Accordingly, we should bake food at a low or moderate temperature to limit smoke. Regularly return to the grill so the meat can cook evenly, avoiding scorching on one side.

Limit baking time by not cutting large, square pieces, but cutting food into small and thin pieces. It is possible to use grilled skewers alternately with small pieces of meat and large pieces of vegetables (bell peppers, onions, eggplants, pumpkins, pineapples…) to help increase the delicious taste, easy to eat, but also reduce the toxicity in the food. baking process.

“Limit fat from flowing down to the source of the fire below: Remove fat from foods before grilling. The safest option is to choose lean, fat-free baked goods.

In particular, the quality of the grill: also plays an important role. Should choose grills made of high heat resistant ceramic and stainless steel. Absolutely do not use aluminum griddle because the reaction between acid and aluminum while baking will create toxic substances, “said Dr. Tien.

Once the food is cooked, absolutely do not eat the burnt portion of the grilled food: PAHs can appear on the charred portion of any grilled food. Remove all scorched parts as that is where most of the toxins are stored in the baked goods.

Once again, Dr. Tien emphasized, although grilled food is delicious, eating too much is not good. Each person should only eat in moderation, eat at intervals and eat in moderation. Do not eat more than 1 grilled meal a week. After eating grilled food, you should rest for a week to a few weeks to remove all toxins from the body before eating grilled food again.

N. Huyen