People are worried about the way we cook our food at home. New research has found that some common cooking methods can be bad for our health. When we fry, grill or roast food it can make chemicals that might cause cancer. This is a deal because we do these things every day.
The people who did this research looked at how food changes when it is cooked at temperatures. They found that when food has a lot of carbohydrates, proteins or fats and is cooked hot it can make bad chemicals like acrylamide, heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. For example when we make fries or toast acrylamide can form. Heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are often in grilled meats and charred vegetables.
The researchers looked at a lot of foods from around the world and found that the foods that were very brown or black had more of these bad chemicals. They wrote about their findings in a journal and said that if we eat these foods a lot we might be more likely to get certain kinds of cancer like cancer of the colon, breast or prostate. If we only eat these foods sometimes the risk is not so high.. If we eat them a lot it can add up over time.
One of the researchers Dr. Elena Ramirez said that when food is cooked and gets that brown color it is also making these bad chemicals. She said that our bodies can handle a bit of these chemicals but if we eat a lot of processed or restaurant food we are getting too much. The research also found that some foods are worse than others. Foods that are fried are often worse than foods that’re steamed or boiled.
Health organizations are paying attention to this research. The World Health Organization has already said that acrylamide might cause cancer and this new research makes that warning stronger. They are not saying we should never eat these foods. We should be careful. We can cook our food in ways that make bad chemicals. If we cook at temperatures or use methods, like steaming or boiling it is better.
There are some things we can do to make our food safer. If we are going to grill we can marinate the meat first to make it safer. We should also clean our grills regularly. The food industry is also looking at ways to make food safer. Some companies are working on ways to make food that do not make as much acrylamide.
This research is important because many people are getting cancer and we want to know how to prevent it. If we eat a diet with a lot of fruits and vegetables it can help. We do not have to stop eating our foods but we should be aware of how we are cooking them. If we make some changes we can make a big difference.
The researchers are going to keep studying this to learn more. They want to teach people how to cook. The message is clear: if we change the way we cook we can help prevent cancer.
