(05-09-10) Eating well-done meat doubles your risk of developing bladder cancer

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) You may want to think twice about cooking that meat well-done,
according to a new study out of the University of Texas. Researchers there have
found that charring meat by frying, barbecuing or otherwise heavily cooking it
can lead to the formation of cancer-causing chemicals in the meat.

The study explains that people who eat well-done meat double their risk of
developing bladder cancer when compared to people who eat meat on the rarer end
of the spectrum. This is due primarily to the heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that
form when meat is cooked at very high heat.

Researchers found that three different HCA chemicals form during high-heat
cooking that, collectively, raise a person's cancer risk by more than 250
percent. And in people who are genetically predisposed to developing the
disease from the meat, the risk jumps nearly 500 percent.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified a total of 17 different HCAs
that contribute to causing cancer, and prior research has already established
that these char-induced chemicals increase pancreatic cancer risk. But now it
appears that they contribute to bladder cancer as well.

The study sheds further light on the direct correlation between the foods we
eat and our overall level of health.

"This research reinforces the relationship between diet and cancer," explained
Professor Xifeng Wu, lead author of the study, to the American Association for
Cancer Research.

The study team made very clear in its report that meat itself is not
necessarily the culprit in increasing cancer risk, but rather the intense
cooking methods by which it is prepared. And it is not just charred red meat -
chicken, pork and even fish cooked heavily may also form cancer-causing HCAs.

Researchers did point out, however, that eating red and processed meat can
increase one's risk of developing bowel cancer. But no distinction was made
between grass-fed and grain-fed meat and whether or not animal husbandry
methods play a role in the health factors of meat, so it is best to investigate
this matter for yourself.

According to the U.K. Food Standards Agency, keeping meat away from direct
flames when barbecuing or grilling it will help to reduce the development of
HCAs and lower one's risk of developing cancer. Slow-cooking meat is another
way to inhibit HCS formation.

Sources for this story include:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8...

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In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.