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barbecued meats and smoked foods cause cancer

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deepsouth
deepsouth Posts: 1,796
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
per self magazine....

http://www.self.com/health/2009/10/reduce-cancer-risk-diet

"Cooking meats at high temperatures (as well as charring them) creates cancer-causing chemicals."

"Smoked foods in particular, smoked meats are linked to stomach cancer."




thoughts?



since despite brewing my own beer, i've lost about five of the fifteen pounds of weight i want to lose by mostly grilling and smoking my food and pretty much cutting out snacks. say it isn't so.
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    before anyone catches it.... my mom tore the article out and sent it to me at work and i found the article on the web.....

    i read lots of magazines, and self is not one of them.
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  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
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    It's been known for a while.

    We are all gonna die someday.
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    BigGreenDon wrote:
    It's been known for a while.

    We are all gonna die someday.


    i guess i was unaware that i was increasing my cancer risk by grilling fish and chicken.

    obviously eating chargrilled steaks isn't the best thing in the world for you, but i figured that was more from the actual red meat than the cooking process.

    thanks for your input.

    ;o)
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    cooking out doors on sunny days causes skin cancer as well ;) drinking adult beverages while cooking outdoors causes liver damage diabetes etc :whistle: looks like we have a race :laugh:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Life is about quality rather than quantity.

    Of course, I would love better data such as: "if you eat that then you will die 2 days earlier than if you had the salad." That would be helpful. :)
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    yes. same thoughts i had the last ten times this was posted.
    hahaha

    all things in moderation.

    i don't sear things to a char, for one. i don't eat bacon every meal... etc. etc.

    more likely to die from an accident driving to pick up an award at a "Vegetarian of the Year" ceremony than you are to die from walking to an all you can eat bacon buffet :huh: what did he say?
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  • Vetereggnarian
    Vetereggnarian Posts: 252
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    I think you both touched on it. Lots of things are "linked" to disease x, very few things have been shown to "cause" disease x. There are a lot more factors than just eating meat.

    Plus, low levels of toxins or radiation are thought to have a beneficial effect.
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
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    jason,

    I was reading a magazine in the doctor's office this morning that was praising the benefits of lard over vegetable oils. It went through the way lard and butter fell out of favour and all these oils were worse at the end of the day. There was one summation in it that said "It's pretty evident that eating will kill you"

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
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    It's true that there are chemicals produced that are known to be linked to cancer, but just try to find quantitative information about how much risk you are taking -- you won't find it.

    Is the BBQ risk dwarfed by the risk from the consumption of fat?

    There is an interesting bookset on food science topics that is available from Amazon: "What Einstein told his cook" (pt 1 and 2). The author totally downplays the risk.

    I know my initial reply probably came off as smart-a#$...sorry...
    Don
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    thats why you never see a hundred year old vegetarian giving the secrets of his long life. its always the guy that drank a nip or two before bedtime and an ale or two with his steak
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    I do believe smoke is an unavoidable problem. However, if you google "spices herbs reduce harmful chemicals" you will find a few links, one from Self, that indicates that the herbs and spices (so often found in rubs) counteracts the negative effects of cooking.

    Considering that people everywhere have been eating fire roasted food pretty much forever, I don't put the risks of BBQ nearly as high as sitting behind a diesel burning bus in rush hour.
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    so i'm the only one so far that didn't know that the grilling and smoking process was carcinogenic? i guess anything dealing with smoke causes cancer?

    i'd argue that a couple beers a day does more good than harm though.... ;o)

    i know "we're all gonna die someday" and "you have to die from something" etc....

    but people make choices not to smoke cigs because they cause cancer and some people don't worry about it, but you can't by cigs that don't tell you that they cause cancer, but last time i checked, BGE, Weber, etc, weren't issuing health warning with their grills and i often hear people losing weight and getting healthier by grilling out more and eating out less.


    the topic was meant to be serious (but i don't mind humor).
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  • JBUG99999
    JBUG99999 Posts: 263
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    Will have to read the article, but my understanding was the high heat sear/char was the culprit, not grilling and smoking in general...
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    i forgot the smoke, lung cancer :whistle: dont fall on a shishkebob either
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
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    BigGreenDon wrote:
    It's true that there are chemicals produced that are known to be linked to cancer, but just try to find quantitative information about how much risk you are taking -- you won't find it.

    Is the BBQ risk dwarfed by the risk from the consumption of fat?

    There is an interesting bookset on food science topics that is available from Amazon: "What Einstein told his cook" (pt 1 and 2). The author totally downplays the risk.

    I know my initial reply probably came off as smart-a#$...sorry...
    Don

    no worries. all good.

    thanks for this response here.
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    i'll say again.... Jimm Fixx had a heart attack while running.

    wine is alternately a posterchild and a villain. can i have a glass of red wine tonight? let me read the paper and see what the doctors say today....
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    they never tell you how relaxing by your bbq releaves the stresses of the day, probably helps lower your bloodpressure as well if they did the study :whistle:
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
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    I just dampened the Egg vents & mixed another cocktail! Where else could one find entertainment comparable to this!!~~ 8 - )
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  • beerguy
    beerguy Posts: 116
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    Life'll Kill Ya
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  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
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    What they don't say is that it takes 347.4 years for this to occur.
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    "CAN" be carcinogenic...



    extended high-heat grilling, excessive char, etc., that's what the danger is

    simply grilling a steak doesn't mean it is death on a plate.
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  • Bobby-Q
    Bobby-Q Posts: 1,994
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    I'm sure there was that one caveman saying that cooking that food over the fire was going to cause cancer.

    This seems like some more of that popular political based science.
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  • Dreggs
    Dreggs Posts: 147
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    What was the life expectancy of the average caveman?
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  • kricks
    kricks Posts: 244
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    These magazines put this kind of thing out all the time. I regularly get calls from my 80 year old mother on something else she shouldn't eat cause it will be bad for you. My response to her in "Mom, you are 80. What ever you have been doing seems to be working" To me, this kind of thing is no different. Granted if you regularly eat things that are BBAR, you may have ingested some newly created chemical compound the military may want someday and you may end up with a higher statistical likelihood of something maybe going wrong. But, have you looked in your pantry to see just what is in all the foods in there? Read through the list of additives, preservatives, flavor enhancers and the like. I'm sure those are all just fine. Really. Trust me.
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  • Chef Charles
    Chef Charles Posts: 871
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    I have heard this claim before and I don't lose any sleep over it. I did a quick internet search and came across the following information pamphlet ...

    http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/userfiles/file/FS%20Health%20Hazards%20of%20Grilling%20and%20Barbecuing%202009.pdf

    It is interesting to note that the smoke being referred to is that generated when fat drops onto the coals causing a flareup and not the smoke generated by the coals themselves.

    Tom

    Tom

    Charles is a mischevious feline who always has something cooking

    Twin lbge's .. grew up in the sun parlor of Canada but now egging in the nation's capital

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  • Nature Boy
    Nature Boy Posts: 8,687
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    Every year this comes out in the press. A few different chemicals are to blame, some caused by charring of flesh, and some caused by fat burning on coals. Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking", a fantastic book, discusses, from my recollection, 3 different chemicals that can cause cancer...though smoking meats does not seem to create any of them, unless fat is burning.

    My take is that when they inject these chemicals into rats, they develop cancer. Pretty small rats I am guessing. Main thing is, there seems to be some risk associated with both charring and burning fat. As has been said, everything in moderation. It's your decision how to interpret the facts you have, and the risks you take. Cancer is pretty damn scary. I see Warren Zevon was quoted already, Joe Jackson sings "everything causes cancer".

    One thing I always wondered...why is it when you do stuff to food that makes it taste really good (like frying and charring and lots of fat) it becomes bad for you?

    Cheers
    Chris
    DizzyPigBBQ.com
    Twitter: @dizzypigbbq
    Facebook: Dizzy Pig Seasonings
    Instagram: @DizzyPigBBQ
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  • mollyshark
    mollyshark Posts: 1,519
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    Life is linked to death.
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  • THA
    THA Posts: 198
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    I'll just die happy and satisified
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  • Eggscriber
    Eggscriber Posts: 276
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    ...anytime you expose animal fat to energy, whether it's heat, light or radiation, you can form free radicals which can damage cells and DNA. This causes cancer, period. That black stuff that is on meat cooked at high temp is loaded with carcinogenic compounds. There is no doubt that the safest way to cook meat is to steam or boil it...yum! This is no secret...
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  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
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    On balance, I feel like I eat much healthier since I started Egg cooking 4-5 nights a week. Everything I eat is fresh, no processed foods, and I don't eat out very much either. Made Canadian Bacon yesterday from pork tenderloin, nearly fat free. Tell me that is not better for you than store bought processed bacon!
    Course I did fix a couple of ABT's for lunch :P

    Capt Frank
    Homosassa, FL
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