The Dangers of Grilled Meat

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is being sued by a doctors group for allegedly selling grilled chicken containing dangerous levels of PhIP, a cancer-causing chemical.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said tests conducted in an independent laboratory revealed that PhIp was present in all 12 grilled chicken samples bought from six East Bay KFC restaurants in May.

PhIP is a compound formed when meat is charred at high temperatures, and was found to cause prostate cancer and breast cancer in animals, healthy living advocate Dr. Joseph Mercola explains.

The doctors group accused KFC of not warning customers that they are being exposed to PhIP when they order grilled chicken.

The group made the same arguments last year in a case filed against other restaurants that sell grilled chicken, including Burger King and McDonalds. The former agreed to warn customers of the presence of PhIP, but the latter and the other defendants held their ground until the case was dismissed.

But whether or not this new case against KFC is dismissed, if you’re thinking that grilling is a healthier way of cooking food, think again.

Besides PhIP, other chemicals commonly produced when you barbecue food include heterocyclic amines (HCAs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

HCAs, PAHs and AGEs have been linked to cancer, oxidative stress, inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and kidney problems.

So does this mean that you should stop inviting your friends over to your barbecues?

For Dr. Mercola, eating most of your meals uncooked can have a profound impact to your health because the important components of food, such as biophotons, enzymes, oxygen, hormones and  phytonutrients, are still intact.

Since it’s not always possible to do this, the next best thing is to avoid overcooking your food because aside from producing dangerous chemicals, overcooking gives added burden to your body to digest and assimilate what you eat because the higher the temperature you use for cooking, the longer the food stays in your gut.

If you’re eating healthy most of the time, your body will typically have enough reserves to compensate for the potential damage caused by eating grilled food.

Here are Mercola’s tips to help you reduce the amount of dangerous substances produced while grilling:

•    Choose only high-quality, organic and grass-fed meats, like grass-fed beef and free-range organic chicken
•    Marinate the meat before cooking. You can use red wine or beer for steak, and olive oil, lemon juice and garlic for chicken to help lower HCA levels.
•    Cook the meat partially before grilling or cook smaller portions to shorten the cooking time and give HCAs lesser time to form.
•    Use a rack or a cedar plank for indirect heat rather than grilling the meat directly on the coals.
•    Trim the fat off the meat before grilling to help lower the amount of PAHs.
•    Keep the coating thin to avoid charring the meat.
•    Cook the meat as little as possible. At most, the meat should be rare or medium-rare. Sear the meat quickly on both sides to leave the inside mostly raw.

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Tags: advanced glycation end products, Dr. Joseph Mercola, free-range organic chicken, grass-fed beef, heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons