I think life would be boring if barbecue parties were not invented especially during the hot
summer season. Grilling our choice cuts of meat from chicken, pork, beef, lamb, and fish is simply the best way to have fun and build camaraderie with your next door neighbor. But backyard barbecue can be more harmful to health aside from accidentally charring your fingers in the grill.
Health experts constantly gave warnings regarding the hazardous effects barbecue can give ranging from the undercooked food to charcoal fires. But the new cool fact that can freeze our grill is the medical discovery that burnt food causes cancer. The study states that grilled meat over charcoal, wood or gas makes the food and the gourmet vulnerable to carcinogens which are cancer-causing agents.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs in the smoke created when drippings of meat, fatty fish or chicken falls in the heat source which coats the food that we eat. Meanwhile, Heterocyclic amines (HCAs is found in poultry, meat or fish that is cooked in extreme temperature such as broiled or well-done red meat. Past researches showed the association of the development of cancers like
polyps or colorectal, breast, and pancreatic cancer with the high consumption of fried, well-done, and especially barbecued food.
However, we can still use our
barbecue recipe books and enjoy our smoky parties if we follow simple guidelines to a healthier and happier grilling. First is to cut down the fat that can trigger PAHs by grilling lean cuts only and shredding the skin out of the chicken. Also barbecue fish more often instead of meat to get rid of those oily drippings which causes other disease aside from cancer like high blood pressure, stroke and other heart ailments.
Use low heat when grilling since we already know that high temperatures makes as highly prone to cancer. Wrapping the food in aluminum foil also keeps the food from being covered by smoke and ashes. Last but the most important is to regularly clean your grill with your barbecue brush and trusted brand of dishwashing liquid to prevent the buildup of the combined power of germs and carcinogens. So follow these helpful and healthy tips to a safer, smokier and healthier barbecue party.
