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Tips for grilling!!!
Follow these BBQ guidelines from experts at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, and you’ll lose the carcinogens without sacrificing flavor.
1. Don’t Char Your Meat
Charring proteins like meat, poultry, or fish causes the formation of heterocyclic amines, or HCAs.
“Those HCAs can damage the DNA in your genes, which leads to cancer development,” explains Vicki Piper, RD, a senior clinical dietitian at UT.
Scraping off the burned parts won’t do any good, Piper adds, so pull it off before it gets black.
2. Go Ahead, Scorch Your Veggies
Unlike meats, vegetables and fruits don’t form HCAs when charred, Piper says. So if you crave that blackened flavor, feel free to burn your veggies. (To avoid pesky HCAs, scrape your grill for leftover meat scraps first.)
3. Marinade Your Meat
Soaking your meat in a vinegar or lemon juice-based marinade along with herbs like mint, rosemary, or tarragon can reduce HCA formation by up to 96 percent, Piper explains.
But beware of oil-based marinades, which tend to flare up when dripped on hot coals.
4. Trim the Fat
Fat from meat, fish, or poultry tends to drip. And when it drips through the grate on a hot grill, the resulting smoke is filled with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. PAH-riddled smoke can coat whatever you have on the grill, Piper says. So trim the fat off your meat before you toss it on the barbie.
1. Don’t Char Your Meat
Charring proteins like meat, poultry, or fish causes the formation of heterocyclic amines, or HCAs.
“Those HCAs can damage the DNA in your genes, which leads to cancer development,” explains Vicki Piper, RD, a senior clinical dietitian at UT.
Scraping off the burned parts won’t do any good, Piper adds, so pull it off before it gets black.
2. Go Ahead, Scorch Your Veggies
Unlike meats, vegetables and fruits don’t form HCAs when charred, Piper says. So if you crave that blackened flavor, feel free to burn your veggies. (To avoid pesky HCAs, scrape your grill for leftover meat scraps first.)
3. Marinade Your Meat
Soaking your meat in a vinegar or lemon juice-based marinade along with herbs like mint, rosemary, or tarragon can reduce HCA formation by up to 96 percent, Piper explains.
But beware of oil-based marinades, which tend to flare up when dripped on hot coals.
4. Trim the Fat
Fat from meat, fish, or poultry tends to drip. And when it drips through the grate on a hot grill, the resulting smoke is filled with cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. PAH-riddled smoke can coat whatever you have on the grill, Piper says. So trim the fat off your meat before you toss it on the barbie.
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