USA TODAY: …But here’s the thing about grilling meat that we’ve known for a number of years and conveniently ignore when we’re romancing our grates: It makes chemicals that cause cancer. In a nutshell, high heat applied to animal protein makes carcinogens called Heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Add meat drippings to the mix, which create smoke, and you get a mess of polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)…
She pointed me to a UCLA grilled-burger study published in the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition last May. The researchers were interested in yet another heat-meets-meat cancer-causing compound called malondialdehyde, which also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Their antioxidants of choice: an herb and spice blend that includes ground cloves, cinnamon, oregano, rosemary, ginger, black pepper and paprika.
Compared with burgers seasoned only with salt, the heavily spiced burgers (1.5 tablespoons per half pound) reduced the concentration of the disease-causing compound by 71%, researchers concluded… (more)
