Summer Grilling

When the weather heats up, pools are ready, and school is out, you'd better believe that everyone is in the mood to grill. It's a common misconception that "grilling" food is synomous with "healthy" food. While grilling foods CAN be much better for you, the traditional ways of grilling (such as lathering meats in sauces or oils) counteract the healthy potential. So, what are the best ways to grill foods, specifically meats, and how can we maximize the flavors without lathering them with oils in marinades or BBQ sauces? Here are some things to remember when grilling to take advantage of the healthy opportunity that grilling offers:

1. Use lean cuts of meat, 90 percent lean or higher. Usually cuts with "loin" or "round" in the name indicate leaner choices.
   
2. Use rubs instead of marinades. A rub takes less time and you get all the flavor without the oil in a marinade. Spray the grill with oil to get an even coating, instead of brushing it on. Grill at lower temperatures to reduce the potential carcinogenic compounds.
   
3. Whenever you're making it yourself, you have control over the ingredients and can use the best. In ketchup recipes, for example, you can use molasses as a sweetener instead of high fructose corn syrup or sugar. You'll get calcium and iron from the molasses. You're potentially getting all the flavor with fewer calories and additives, using more nutritious ingredients.
   
4. I think beyond meat when it comes to grilling. People don't realize how great summer produce is on the grill — zucchini, eggplant, Portobello mushrooms. Or try grilling Romaine hearts, sliced in half lengthwise. Stone fruit — peaches, plums, mangoes — grill nicely.
   
5. I'm always trying to look for ways to prepare foods in healthier ways. The T-Fal ActiFry can make two pounds of french fries using one tablespoon of oil. That's only 3 grams of fat per serving; fast-food fries would have 16 grams of fat.
   
6. I use a reasonable portion of meat for burgers, approximately one pound to make four burgers. Then I stuff them with sautéed spinach, roasted red peppers or caramelized onions. The burgers come out looking really fat and juicy and you get to bite into that big burger.
   

While researching ways to grill AND stay healthy, I discovered something that I never knew. :

While I did know that undercooking meat is bad because it doesn't kill bacteria such as E.coli and salmonella, which result in food poisoning, illness or even death, I did NOT know that overcooking it, or hyper cooking it, can be just as bad, if not worse. When cooking food at high temperatures or grilling meat until well done, the cooking process can create polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs). This is particularly true with fattier cuts of meat. So, what does that mean?

The first two compounds – PAH and HCA – are carcinogens; that is, cancer-causing agents. These have been linked to both stomach and colon cancer. One study showed that people who ate the most BBQ red meat came close to doubling their risk of getting colon polyps, which could lead to colon cancer. Another study showed a 47% higher risk of developing breast cancer among menopausal women who are a lot of grilled meat, possibly because the carcinogens traveled through the bloodstream from the digestive system into other tissues.

The third compound, AGE, does exactly what its name implies: it ages people. Helen Vlassara, M.D., from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, is a professor of medicine and geriatrics. She specializes in AGE research and was quote in an article in Women's Health magazine as saying, "If you have high amounts of AGEs in your body – no matter how young you are – you're on your way to developing chronic diseases you normally wouldn't see until you are much older." Some of those chronic diseases include Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease.

Between cancer and aging, BBQs can be pretty scary, but there are solutions.

Don't overcook:

When it comes to carcinogens, 212 degrees is the magic number. Once the meat hits that temperature, problems begin to arise.

• Make friends with a meat thermometer and use it often.
  
• Beef is done when is internal temperature is 160 degrees.
  
• Chicken and turkey are done when their internal temperature is 170 degrees.
  
• Precook meat and poultry (braise or steam for more moisture) and only use the BBQ for crisping up the outside.
  
• Place a foil tent over meat before grilling to seal moisture in and PCAs and HCAs out.
  

Pay attention to the temperature:

• When grilling with gas, use a moderate temperature.
  
• When grilling with charcoal, gauge the heat with a hand test. Place a hand about five inches above the grill and count the number of seconds before the heat is too hot to leave the hand in place. Two to four seconds is hot, five to seven seconds is medium and eight to 10 seconds is low. Aim for medium heat.
  

Don't let fears of cancer or aging stop summer BBQs. Just use a little common sense, and a juicy burger or chicken wing can be moments away.

Happy barbequing!

Until Tomorrow!
Keep healthy, keep safe and keep going!
Have an awesome day!

♥Fit~NOW~Girl♥