Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Let's Talk Grilling...!

I've read several articles lately that insisted grilling is bad for you. I figured that you might be interested in what the biggest argument was and how some folks think grilling is bad for us.

Since so many of us (including me) like grilling so much, I found many of the studies made no sense to me. I'm no scientist but, living in the South, grilling has been second nature to me for a really long time. So far I haven't noticed any ill effects, but in all fairness I've only been doing this for about 50 years. Read this and see if you agree or disagree.

Grill Death

Fallacy: Grilled meat is bad for you

When rats are fed high doses of nicely browned grilled meat they have a statistically higher chance of getting cancer. But that is rats. So far no study of humans has found the same result. Despite that, the US National Toxicology Program says that these chemicals (heterocyclic amines) are “reasonably anticipated” to be carcinogens in humans. Why? No one is really sure. Tripterygium wilfordii is deadly to rats but is consumed by humans as an oral contraceptive with no negative impact. A recent study of humans consuming grilled meat found no association between that and cancer. Let’s face it – for thousands of years humans have cooked meat and evolved (some might say) to be tolerant to it. When was the last time you saw a rat cooking a barbecue? Humans are not rats – what is deadly to a rat is not always deadly to a human.

Did you know: Potato chips, breakfast cereals, crusty bread, etc. are all crunchy because of the same chemicals as those that produce the nice browned effect on grilled meat. Furthermore, these chemicals are known to be antioxidants that suppress the bacteria that causes peptic ulcers.

If everything this article from Listverse says is fact, I'm in big trouble. With all these chemicals being bad for me, I figure I only have about 50 or 60 years left! The reason? All of the things listed in the last paragraph are some of my favorite foods!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. I have some A&W root beer cake that's very tasty!

7 comments:

Chickenmom said...

I'm with you, Mr Hermit - we are all still here. Goodness, I haven't had A&W root beer since I was a kid. Keep a bottle of it on the side for me and I'll take two slices of that cake!

linda m said...

Guess I'm right there behind you. I've been eating grilled food for over 60 years and I'm still here. I've never had root beer cake so I would love to try a slice. Hot and humid and looking like rain here.

Rob said...

You've been grilling for 50 years & mankind has been burning food over the fire for a lot longer and mankind is still around.
I suspect (no proof) that processed (factory) foods have done more to cause cancers than cooking over a fire.

Root beer? Does it have caffeine? It's early for me & I need that morning "help"... a month ago I had some cream soda, that was good & it had been a long time since I'd had cream soda.
Maybe a morning root beer is just what I need?

JO said...

More people with to much time on their hands I say. When I was a kid we used to spend our Sunday's up on Paterson Mountain and my grandmother cooked an entire pasta meal including the sauce on a grill. Well a few grills anyway.

Pass the pot please and a piece of cake.

Anonymous said...

Who cares! We're only living once and no matter what we're doing they scream risk of cancer :-) :-) :-)
I say enjoy life and if that includes grilling (and surely it must for all of us :-) ) and risk of cancer so be it :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

Chickenmom said...

Jo: Garrett Mountain? Please email me at: mychikensmom@gmail.com
I e-mailed you a few weeks ago, maybe it went to your spam folder..

HermitJim said...

Hey Phyllis...
My dad's favorite root beer when he was alive was "Dad's" root beer! Remember them?

A&W is pretty good stuff!

Thanks for coming over this morning!



Hey Linda...
I can't imagine doing without some good grilled food!

This cake is pretty good, that's for sure!

Thanks for the visit today!



Hey Rob...
I'd have to agree with you on that! Way too many chemicals now days!

Certainly good for a change of pace. Plenty of caffeine to go around!

Thanks for coming by today!



Hey Jo...
A person that knows their grill can fix nearly anything on it.

Thanks, sweetie, for dropping in today!



Hey Christer...
Have to agree with you on that, my friend. We should enjoy the time we have here!

Thanks for coming over today!