Scary cancer warning from World Health Organization few months back may have prompted you to turn your back to red meat and processed foods. Good news, though, how you cook your meat seems to lower the risk for cancer.
As reported by NPR, a new study published in the journal Cancer reveals that high-temperature cooking may increase the risk of kidney cancer if too much meat is consumed. More so, other studies found that high intake of well-done, fried or charred meat can increase the risk for colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancer.
Meanwhile, it was found that slow cooking which include baking and broiling lower risk for cancer. Other lower temperature cooking includes sous-vide which is often used by professionals. This method uses a Crock Pot or other types of slow cooker to cook the meat.
To know the connection between cooking technique and caner, the researchers at MD Anderson documented the cooking and eating habits of the participants who were all diagnosed with kidney cancer.
They have a control group which is composed of healthy and cancer-free individuals. The researchers then compared the habits of the two groups. They found that how people cooked their food really mattered.
Firstly, the cancer group consumed more meat overall. They were also found to pan fry their meat at high temperatures. Other times they cook it over an open flame until it is well done or charred.
If a meat is cooked too long at a high temperature, the chemical reaction that produces lots of aroma and flavour compounds, keeps on going creating other harmful compounds such as heterocyclic amines (HCA). This is a carcinogenic when consumed in high concentrations.
The study finds an increase by two-fold in the risk of kidney cancer with the intake of one particular type of HCA known as MelQx. This one of the most abundant HCAs commonly created in the grilling, barbecuing and pan frying of meat at high temperature according to the paper.
However, researchers admit that other factors may also affect the risk of cancer and consumption of red meat. The researchers were not able to measure the heme iron and N-nitroso compound exposures that may also play a role.
As of now, the researchers need to further study to completely establish relationship factors to cancer.
