5 Grilling Errors That Could Harm Your Health

 

Nothing compares to gathering family and friends for a warm weather barbecue weekend. Watch out for grilling errors, though, before you start cooking those healthful grilled meals.

Errors made when grilling can expose you to high concentrations of chemicals that cause cancer, such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs). When meat is cooked at high temperatures, such as on a grill, HCAs are created in the muscle tissue.

Although HCAs are most strongly associated with stomach and colon cancers, they also harm DNA and are associated with a higher risk of skin, breast, liver, lung, and prostate cancers.

Fortunately, there are comparatively simple methods to safeguard yourself against HCAs, carcinogens from grilling, and other lesser-known grilling errors that may pose a health risk.

1. You make use of marinades from stores.

Meat can significantly lower levels of carcinogens produced during grilling if it is marinated properly. However, if you look at the ingredients of most store-bought marinades, you'll probably find that a lot of them contain sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, two elements that are problematic and actually make grilling considerably riskier.

Charring is more likely when thicker, store-bought marinades with sweeteners like sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or even honey are used, which may increase exposure to carcinogens.

Instead, use marinades with herbs and spices, such as rosemary, which is carcinogenic, and a thinner vinegar or lemon juice base.

Teriyaki marinade was found to reduce carcinogenic HCAs by 67 percent in experiments conducted by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. HCAs were lowered by 50% in a marinade that contained garlic and turmeric.

However, sweet marinades can actually triple HCA levels, so proceed with caution.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, employing healthy marinating recipes can significantly reduce HCA levels. This is an uplifting perspective on the matter.

2. You turn on worming meds.

You are what you eat, so the saying goes. You're doing one of the most serious grilling errors if you're cooking factory-farmed beef.

Nowadays, drugs are so prevalent in agriculture that dangerous pharmaceuticals are frequently found in nonorganic meat. Penicillin and ciprofloxacin (antibiotics), flunixin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), ivermectin (an animal wormer), and other medications are detected at levels that are not in compliance with current regulations by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Some of these medications have been connected to renal damage, allergic responses, and neurological effects in people. Not all of these medications are neutralized by high temperatures, and in certain situations, they may become much more harmful.

Always select organic, grass-fed meats while grilling. Naturally, you can also barbecue organic vegetables. Simply stay away from those on the dirty dozen list.

3. You apply poison on your taters.

A quick and simple grilling method is to wrap potatoes (or even fish) in aluminum foil and drizzle with butter. The issue is that high temperatures have been observed to cause aluminum foil to leach.

That's alarming because aluminum has been linked to dementia.

According to a 2011 study that was published in the International Journal of Electrochemical Science, food wrapped with aluminum foil began to leach at levels that the WHO would find unacceptable.

4. You make use of nonstick accessories.

Because they can simplify an otherwise difficult cleanup, nonstick grilling tools such as spatulas, grilling griddles, pans, and mats are alluring. The issue is that perfluorooctanoic chemicals and similar substances, which are frequently present in nonstick cookware, have been connected to damage to the kidneys, liver, prostate, and brain as well as obesity and aberrant thyroid hormone levels.

Use grilling accessories without chemical coatings instead of nonstick ones, even if cleaning may take more effort.

5. You fail to precook

It is strongly advised by the American Institute for Cancer Research to precook meat before grilling it. This lessens the amount of "drippings" on the grill, which are converted to smoke that contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which cause cancer.

Lowering PAH levels can be achieved by partially cooking meat in an oven or stovetop and then quickly moving it to a prepared grill.