4 Ways to Make Grilling Healthier This Summer

Cookouts are a summer staple. And while they do provide some health perks—fresh air, home cooking and time with friends and family—they can also come with risks. Follow these guidelines to make your grilled meals better for you. 1. Grill like a pescatarian Cooking most meat at temperatures above 300°F can produce potentially cancer-causing chemicals called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), according to the National Cancer Institute. But fruits and vegetables like corn, peaches, peppers, eggplant, pineapple, squash and watermelon hold up well on the barbecue and don’t form HCAs when they’re cooked. And though most types of fish produce HCAs when prepared at high temperatures, certain seafoods—including shrimp, scallops, oysters, crayfish and lobsters—don’t seem to form the compounds, says J. Scott Smith, a professor of food chemistry at Kansas State University. 2. Don’t overcook your entrée In addition to being carcinogenic, some of the toxins produced by grilling meat may also increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. They do so by interfering with processes that regulate inflammation and insulin sensitivity, says Gang Liu, a postdoctoral nutrition researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose research has linked high-heat cooking to an increased risk of the disease. To limit your exposure, “avoid cooking the meats until charred or very well done,” Liu says, and eat grilled foods in...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Diet/Nutrition healthytime onetime Source Type: news