OT: This just in- Smoking (cigarettes) while eating over-cooked meat causes cancer

coffeeguydenton

Just got out of a lunch conference on the latest research in the connection between meat and cancer. The conclusion? That's right, don't smoke cigarettes while eating well-done meat if you are a fast acetylator. If you do, you have a nearly ten-fold risk of colon cancer. The rest of you are fine. Oh, yeah, and dark beer decreases your risk of cancer. So the message? Always eat your meat rare and always enjoy it with a nice cold, dark beer. Oh yeah, and quit smoking! They also said sticking your meat in the microwave for at least 1 minute prior to grilling reduces the risk. This apparently requires the drainage of juices during the nuking so SV won't work. Won't be following that advice! Other don'ts included grilling with commercial BBQ sauce with HFCS. That one I will follow.

Gezr

Well, I always avoid putting my meat in the microwave but I seem to be doing the other things right so I'm just going to carry on as before.

bicktrav

Was this a serious conference?  Was the conclusion honestly "the rest of you are fine"?  Curious because I use the egg probably 4x per week, and I'm doing high-heat sears pretty often.

grege345

I smoke but I drink dark beer so I guess I'm hitting par

bud812

Consider this my obit then.    >:)

coffeeguydenton

Yes, it was a serious conference.  But there's a lot more to it.  They looked at a ton of different factors that affect the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines in various preparations of meat.  They went pretty crazy, testing it at various cooking temperatures, using various marinades, using various sauces, preheating before grilling, and so on.  What they demonstrated was that well-done meat has higher levels, as do meats cooked with commercial sauces, and meats cooked at higher searing temperatures.  Conversely, meats marinaded in wine, beer, or anything else with anti-oxidant properties, and pre-heated meats, had lower levels.  All that is well and good, but going back to the original post, they really haven't shown any correlation between these higher levels and risk of cancer except in the subset of people who are already smokers and are fast metabolizers of these compounds who also eat meat that is very well done.  In every other subset, there was no significant statistical correlation.  Furthermore, only 30% of the PAH's and HCA's that we take in are from meats, including grilled.  We get more from fresh fruits and vegetables, in fact, than from grilled meat.  So, all that is to say- don't worry about it and just enjoy your meat.  Or, as the presenter concluded, "You're probably going to die of a heart attack anyway, so you might as well go out with a glass of wine in your hand and good steak on your plate."

bicktrav

coffeeguydenton said:

Yes, it was a serious conference.  But there's a lot more to it.  They looked at a ton of different factors that affect the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines in various preparations of meat.  They went pretty crazy, testing it at various cooking temperatures, using various marinades, using various sauces, preheating before grilling, and so on.  What they demonstrated was that well-done meat has higher levels, as do meats cooked with commercial sauces, and meats cooked at higher searing temperatures.  Conversely, meats marinaded in wine, beer, or anything else with anti-oxidant properties, and pre-heated meats, had lower levels.  All that is well and good, but going back to the original post, they really haven't shown any correlation between these higher levels and risk of cancer except in the subset of people who are already smokers and are fast metabolizers of these compounds who also eat meat that is very well done.  In every other subset, there was no significant statistical correlation.  Furthermore, only 30% of the PAH's and HCA's that we take in are from meats, including grilled.  We get more from fresh fruits and vegetables, in fact, than from grilled meat.  So, all that is to say- don't worry about it and just enjoy your meat.  Or, as the presenter concluded, "You're probably going to die of a heart attack anyway, so you might as well go out with a glass of wine in your hand and good steak on your plate."

Encouraging conclusion for sure.  Thanks for the update!  

sumoconnell

I like that glass of wine comment - do the best you can while still enjoying your life.  Always reminds me of this - world death rate holding steady at 100%