Contents:
- Medical Video: How to eat a heart-healthy diet
- Why foods that are burned can increase the risk of cancer
- Do I have to avoid eating grilled fish to prevent cancer?
- Tips for burning food to make it healthier
Medical Video: How to eat a heart-healthy diet
Cancer is one serious disease that can affect anyone. Many factors can cause cancer, such as genetic factors and environmental factors. One of the environmental factors that can cause cancer is the food you eat. Yes, certain foods can cause cancer, such as meat that is burned at high temperatures. What about grilled fish?
Why foods that are burned can increase the risk of cancer
Most people like food that is burned. Yes, the food burned has its own distinctive taste. However, did you know that the burned food is not as healthy as you think? Burned food can be unhealthy and increase your risk of getting cancer. How can?
Burning foods such as meat, chicken, or fish with high temperatures can cause changes in the nutrients contained in these foods. Protein compounds in muscles that are in meat, chicken, or fish can react with high temperatures from combustion and form carcinogenic compounds. This carcinogenic compound is called heterocyclic amines (HCA). In addition, other compounds called policyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can also form and increase the risk of cancer. PAH compounds are formed when meat, chicken or fish fat drips into hot coals and causes smoke to settle in food.
HCAs and PAHs begin to form when the combustion temperature reaches 100C and can become more dangerous when the temperature reaches 300C. HCA and PAH can damage the composition of DNA in your genes, so that it can trigger the development of cancer cells. These cancer cells can develop into colon cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, until lymph cancer. This may occur because carcinogenic compounds HCA can spread to other tissues throughout the body through the bloodstream.
Do I have to avoid eating grilled fish to prevent cancer?
Apparently, you don't have to avoid consuming grilled fish. Food is not the only cause of cancer, there are still many other causes of cancer that are bigger. However, you should limit, not too much or often eat foods that are burned, especially meat that is burned.
Why? Meat or chicken has more protein and fat than fish. Thus, HCA compounds formed from burning meat can be more than grilled fish. In addition, meat or chicken takes longer when burned than grilled fish. The longer the food is burned, the more dangerous it is. So, the risk of grilled fish in causing cancer is actually smaller than if you eat meat or grilled chicken.
Tips for burning food to make it healthier
To further reduce the risk of cancer when you eat burned foods, it's a good idea to follow these tips.
- Marinate fish or meat before you burn it. Marination can reduce HCA formation levels by up to 99%. Especially, marination with acidic ingredients.
- Use spices to spice up. This can also reduce the formation of HCA compounds. You can use mint leaves, onions, garlic, rosemary, and turmeric.
- Don't apply sauce when burning. The use of barbecue sauce when burning can increase the likelihood of forming HCA as much as 1.9-2.9 times greater. We recommend using a sauce when you want to eat it.
- Eat grilled meat or fish along with vegetables and fruit, such as spinach, apples, watermelon, blueberries, and grapes. This can inhibit the activity of HCA compounds in the body.
- Don't burn food too long. You can cut the meat or fish in smaller pieces to make it cook faster.
- Clean the grill from carcinogenic residues that stick before or after you use it.
