Nothing says summer like a great barbecue. Trouble is, when you throw a hamburger or steak on the grill, saturated fat isn’t the only health foe you face. Cooking meat–especially over an open flame–leads to the production of pesky little compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), which have been shown to increase the risk of stomach, breast and lung cancers, among others.
Lucky for meat lovers like me, new research reveals that there’s an easy and flavorful way to dramatically reduce carcinogens: spice your meat before cooking it. In a recent study, researchers from Kansas State University found that adding spices like rosemary, cumin and tumeric to hamburger patties reduced HCA levels by 40%. Of all the spices they tested, rosemary had the highest antioxidant and anti-cancer activity. (If you’re not a fan of rosemary, coriander seeds, black pepper, mustard seed and galangal have also been shown to be powerful HCA fighters.)
Previous KUS studies have revealed that using an herb, vinegar and oil-based marinade on meat before grilling can reduce HCAs by as much as 79%–not too shabby for a simple step. Even better? The KSU researchers found that commercially prepared marinades and herbs were great at thwarting HCAs. So if you’re short on time, don’t feel the need to come up with a complicated homemade blend; the store-bought stuff will do just fine.
–Camille
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Camille
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Very interesting! I wonder what’s going on that the HCAs are reduced. Is the vinegar breaking down the protein so it somehow doesn’t form HCAs in the same way? Are the herbs like rosemary and galangal actually changing the HCA production, or are they counteracting the effects post-production, I wonder. So many BBQ questions….
April,
I did a story that touched on this recently, and apparently researchers think both of those theories are right–and that together, vinegar, oil and herbs somehow work in concert to beat HCAs even more effectively than herbs do alone.
Thanks for the info Camille! I’ve been eating a lot of barbecued food recently, and was worrying a bit about carcinogens. Great that these tips provide a two-fold benefit of health and taste!
great news! thanks! i loooove grilled meat and feel guilty everytime i cook on the grill. but i almost always use a marinade. no more guilt!