Well Done Isn't Well Done

No gold star for you :-p

In many cases, it is not the food you are eating, but how it is cooked that has an effect on your risk of certain diseases and the rate of aging. For example, eating ocean fish reduces the risk of heart attacks, but only eating fried fish increases risk of heart disease. This is because heating food to temperatures of over 300 degrees Fahrenheit causes cell damaging chemical changes. Some of the chemicals formed are glycotoxins.....the AGEs that I discussed in a previous post on wheat. Because of these among others, a study from 2012 showed that men who consumed 1-2 servings of pan-fried meat weekly increased their risk of advanced prostate cancer by 35%. Men who ate over 2-3 servings weekly increased their risk by 40%. In other research, women who ate "well done" hamburgers increased breast cancer risk by 50% compared to women who preferred rare or medium hamburgers. Additionally, women who ate well done hamburgers, steak and bacon on a very regular basis had a 462% increased risk of breast cancer in the Women's Health Study!

Studies that show an association between glycation and disease are not all there is. A six week study on diabetic patients involved splitting them into two groups: one consuming food cooked at high temperatures, and the other on the same diet cooked at lower temperatures. The high temperature group saw their levels of glycated LDL "cholesterol" increase by 32%, but the low temperature group both lost weight and reduced their glycated LDL by 33%! While eating the same foods!
Another study on mice eating diets high in methylgloxyl (an AGE) found that AGEs contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. The fat that these mice gained then produced more pro-inflammatory chemicals that made their problems even worse.

So what can we do about this? Chemicals such as indole-3-carbinol and chlorophyllin are known to prevent AGE induced DNA damage; cooking with moisture e.g steaming or stir frying; or marinating foods in lemon juice, olive oil, mustard or garlic can also reduce AGE formation. So as always, there is hope.