Grilled Food Causes Cancer? Fact or Myth? Here are What You Need to Know about It!
Kitchenesia.com - You may hear somewhere that grilled foods are one of the causes of cancer. In Indonesia itself, we have vrious kinds of grilled food such as satay, otak-otak, blebet duck, grilled fish, grilled chicken and so forth.
While it is not entirely false, here are the facts about it that you need to know!
What causes cancer is not the grilled foods but the burnt part
It is important to take heed of this for your future well-being: don’t consume food that is heated above 150 degrees Celsius; from toasting to frying. This is so because it contains carcinogenic ingredients; and by consuming it in the long run will increase your chance of having a cancer.
Not only that, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins will produce by products that are notoriously harmful for our bodies if they are heated at high temperature. It goes the same with high-fat foods like meat such as satay, grilled meat, steak, fried food, toast and much more.
The higher the temperature the more likely to cause cancer
Carbohydrates such as flour, sugar, or bread in high temperatures will turn into a compound called acrylamide. The same thing applies to oil or food with high fats like meat. This compound emerges when the process of making foods such as French fries, toast or other carbohydrates are made by involving long heat above 150 degrees Celsius.
When heated for a long time at temperatures above 150 degrees Celsius, some fat will turn into compounds that are carcinogenic. Thus, the higher the temperature and the longer the heating process, the higher the level of carcinogenic compounds produced.
Does it mean we have to steer clear from grilled food at all?
It doesn’t necessarily mean so, you just need to be careful not to eat the burnt part especially in the long run. It is allowed to eat grilled food but with caution. It can cause cancer if we consume it for a long period of time. Because the nature of cancer itself is: it spreads overtime not once in a happenstance moment. You don’t need to worry too much as long as you take notice on the points above.
What you need to do to prevent your food from burning quickly
Here are some hacks: