The magic of a BBQ marinade

It’s never the healthiest way to cook but adding a few herbs lowers levels of carcinogens

Many of us rely to some extent on convenience foods or snacks that we can grab while on the go. But just stop to consider for a moment all the different ingredients you regularly put into your mouth without giving it much thought.

around 20 per cent of cancers are potentially caused by food toxins, the World Health Organisation says.

I’m not talking here about toxins produced by food poisoning such as salmonella but the substances contained in our food that, if consumed over a long period of time, can cause, promote or increase the risk of cancer.

Food toxins also substantially increase your risk of developing other chronic conditions including heart disease, dementia, autoimmune diseases and arthritis.

Some toxic chemicals are found naturally in foods while others are added during production or generated during the cooking process. They’re dangerous because they either cause genetic damage and increase oxidative stress and chronic inflammation or because they stimulate or block hormone function causing certain cells to grow too fast.

now I don’t want you to be paranoid about every morsel you eat. Bear in mind it’s the concentration of toxins in your food over time that matters. THE WORST CULPRITS RITS

THe biggest villains are a compound group called acrylamides, made when foods high in sugar or starch are cooked at high temperatures (120c or higher) by grilling, roasting, frying or baking for three minutes or longer.

This kind of cooking ‘browns’ food, adding to its taste and appearance — but also creates these food toxins, which are often found in crisps, biscuits, crackers and crispbreads.

now your body is certainly able to cope with the occasional unhealthy meal but taking in acrylamides every day will put a strain on it long-term.

Recipes that add sugar or honey prior to cooking ramp up acrylamide content which is why in the tables, below, produced by the U.S. Food and Drug administration, apparently similar foods contain vastly different levels.

Plain crisps, for instance, are four times lower in acrylamides than sweet chilli crisps which not only contain starch in the potato but also have processed sugar added before frying and to the flavourings afterwards.

If food is moderately browned or crisped, only a moderate amount of acrylamide is produced. It’s when the food is dark brown or black that the problems really start.

Interestingly, although baked potato snacks are often called healthy because they contain less fat, baking potatoes may be one of the worst ways to cook them.

Sadly, this includes home cooking too — anything that involves baking, frying or grilling at high temperatures, particularly if you’re cooking meat or starchy foods such as potatoes.

It’s not that you should never do it — but try to vary what you eat and the ways you prepare it. PERILS OF THE NAKED FLAME an InDIan summer means there may still be time for one last barbecue if the weather stays warm.

But scientists agree regularly eating fried, well-done, smoked or barbecued meats is associated with an increased risk of cancer — particularly colorectal, pancreatic and prostate cancers, as well as arthritis and dementia.

The most dangerous toxins made in grilled or fried meat are heterocyclic amines (HCas) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PaHs). HCas are formed when amino acids (the building blocks that ultimately form proteins), sugars and creatinine (found in the meat’s muscle) react at high temperatures, while PaHs occur when fat and juices drip on to the fire and rise up in the smoke generated, sticking to the meat’s surface. PaHs can also be found in exhaust fumes, tobacco and other smoke pollution.

In the body, these two compounds are broken down into Dna- damaging chemicals in a process known as bioactivation. While some are lucky enough to be inherently more resistant to these carcinogens, others are more sensitive.

you can counterbalance the effects of eating barbecued or fried meat by loading up on herbs, spices and vegetables.

a study by a barbecue-loving scientist at the University of

arkansas, u.s., found that the level of carcinogens in the meat and the bloodstream of the consumers was much lower if it had been marinated first in rosemary, oregano or parsley. It also helps if you pile your plate with plenty of veg, too.

But it’s best to see barbecued food as an occasional treat.

Chargrilled fish and veggies will also contain acrylamides — it’s the process of smoking the food over a hot flame that produces toxins. so all barbecued foods bring a higher risk of causing cancer of the stomach, windpipe and pancreas because of the toxins in the smoke itself.

smoked salmon is not prepared using high temperatures so doesn’t contain acrylamides.

MEAT AND THE RISK OF CANCER

altHougH meat is a great source of protein and vitamin

B12, too much is also a major contributor to human disease. this is particularly true of processed cheap red meat — such as bacon, sausages and meat in commercially-produced pies.

limiting consumption of meat to three times a week or less could prevent 31,000 deaths a year from heart disease, 9,000 from cancer and 5,000 from a stroke, according to a 2010 oxford university study.

It’s a well-established fact that cancer rates are lower among vegetarians. the european Prospective Investigation into Cancer (ePIC) study, in 2013, reported a strong link between colon cancer and red meat.

Processed meats often have chemicals called nitrites added to them by manufacturers to preserve them — but when digested, these can form volatile substances called nitrosamines which research shows can damage our dna by causing gene mutations. all meats also contain toxins called dioxins, which are concentrated in the fat. these poisonous chemicals are everywhere in the environment and produced by some industrial processes.

they can damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer — and end up in our food chain in animals’ fatty tissue.

saturated fats found in meat have also been shown to have a more harmful effect on cholesterol levels, heart disease and cancer than plant- saturated fats even though they may have the same calorific values. we’ll look in more detail at fats on the back page of this pullout.

But you can offset this risk by increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables.

Most studies show that meateaters who also have a high intake of vegetables, fruit, soy, whole grains and spices only had a moderately increased risk of developing cancer. saladdodging carnivores, however, had a particularly high risk.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A ROAST POTATO?

tHey’re a sunday favourite but sadly roast potatoes represent a perfect storm in cancer terms for several reasons.

first, they’re high in carcinogenic acrylamides, produced when starchy foods such as potatoes are baked or roasted at high temperatures.

this is then made worse if they’re also basted in the cooking juices from a joint of meat — roasting or grilling red meat produces another set of carcinogenic compounds you really should avoid.

last of all, you’ll have accentuated this if you stored your spuds in the fridge before cooking them. storing potatoes at cold temperatures leads the sugars they contain to develop — which means they’ll have an even higher concentration of acrylamides when cooked.

Boiled potatoes may sound boring, but they’re much better for your health!