Here's to Healthy Grilling

Grilled foods might taste great, but according to the American Institute for Cancer Research, grilling your foods the wrong way may increase your risk of cancer.

Cooking meats at a high temperature or over an open flame can make heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that may increase your chance of getting breast, colon, stomach, and prostate cancer – but don’t panic!

When preparing the foods to grill and the rest of the meal, you can take steps to help stop HCAs from being made or to neutralize the HCAs formed.

• Use marinades or rubs that are made with extra virgin olive oil
• Use beer if alcohol is needed in your marinade recipe (wine causes more HCAs)
• Use a marinade of one part lemon juice to two parts garlic and two parts onion 
• Use rosemary, turmeric and/or Chinese ginger to season your food
• Mix different fruits into hamburgers and sausages – cherries have been shown to work the best
• Add garlic to ground beef
• To help neutralize the damage of HCAs serve any of the following at meals with grilled food: blueberries, red grapes, kiwi, watermelon, parsley, spinach, cruciferous vegetables, red wine, beer, and/or fermented dairy foods such as yogurt. (Always follow your healthcare provider’s recommendations about alcohol intake)

And, while grilling be sure to:

• Clean your grill first.
• Pre-cook the meats so they spend less time on the grill.
• Cook with low heat – under 300^o is best.
• Do not use BBQ sauces loaded with ketchup, sugars, honey, high fructose syrup, or tomatoes and very little else – the amount of HCAs have been shown to double and even triple after just 15 minutes of cooking.
• Turn your meat often.
• Use smaller cuts of meat, such as kabobs.
• Cook until the food is done, not overdone.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) may also cause cancer and are made from the smoke and flare-ups that hit your foods when fat is dropped on the hot coals or grill stones, so

• Trim the fat from your food so you don’t have as much fat dripping.
• Place your food on foil (with small holes poked in it for the fat to drip through).
• Scrape off any charred parts of your food. 

The most important thing tip, you can still enjoy your food!

Written by Elaine Hammes, RD, LD, GRMC Dietician