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gertvegan
Jan 14th, 2006, 12:57 PM
The Five Worst Foods to Grill

August 2005

Three out of four American households own a barbecue grill, according to the Health, Patio, & Barbecue Association. Yet many consumers are unaware that grilling some popular food items can produce cancer-causing compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Which foods contain the highest concentrations of HCAs? To answer that question, nutrition professionals with The Cancer Project determined the level of HCAs found in commonly grilled foods.

HCAs, a family of mutagenic and cancer-causing compounds, are produced during the cooking of many animal products, including chicken, beef, pork, and fish. In January of 2005, the federal government officially added HCAs to its list of known carcinogens.

Read more here. (http://www.pcrm.org/health/reports/worst_grill.html)

aubergine
Jan 14th, 2006, 03:24 PM
That's a good link. I got a hard time last summer because my meat eating family take my being Vegan very personally and they were defending their food on the basis of it being healthy because it was barbequed. I'll stay with my (oven cooked) soy burgers thanks.

I like this paragraph:

"Plant-Based Foods Yield Negligible HCAs
Since creatine, one of the ingredients for the formation of HCAs, is mostly found in muscle tissue, it is not surprising that grilled veggie burgers and other vegetarian foods contain either no HCAs or negligible levels.6

Choosing plant-based foods instead of meat also lowers cancer risk in other ways. Not only are vegetables low in fat and high in fiber, they also contain many cancer-fighting substances. Carotenoids, the pigment that gives fruits and vegetables their dark colors, have been shown to help prevent cancer. Beta-carotene, present in dark green and yellow vegetables, helps protect against lung cancer and may help prevent cancers of the bladder, mouth, larynx, esophagus, breast, and other sites. Many studies have found that diets rich in fruits and vegetables and low in animal fat cut cancer risks. "

thecatspajamas1
Jan 15th, 2006, 02:04 AM
Great article!
(I'll be sure to show my dad)